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So I changed my fork oil...

4K views 26 replies 13 participants last post by  SWOCS 
#1 ·
How many of you guys are like my dad and never change their fork oil? He's had a 1986 shadow for about 10 years now, I called and asked and he's never changed/checked his. I decided to change my fork oil and this is what I got out of the left leg...



it was thick.. and the spring and spacer were covered in thicker, greasy, poopy looking "crap". It must have gotten water in it at some point. I flushed it out with some fresh atf, worked the forks, drained it again, and refilled with new. In a few hundred miles i'll probably change it again if the seals don't leak. I talked my dad into changing his, ya'll should too!
 
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#2 ·
I've never changed fork oil just to change it. Never held on to a motorcycle longer than a couple of years and my dirt bikes blow seals often enough to keep the oil from getting too old. If your oil looked like it did, why didn't you completely disassemble your tubes, scrub everything out and go ahead and replace the seals and bushings while you were there?
 
#8 ·
It's on the list, along with some springs. I pulled the springs and spacers out and cleaned them, cut the spacers down and put them back in. Flushed as good as i could with ATF. I have a lot more stuff to do before i pull the forks apart. Like make a seat, riding on a bungee corded sweatshirt isn't very fun.. and put fenders on, as salty/muddy water isn't very tasty!
 
#5 ·
JIMBO: You do know that carb cleaner is hard as heck on bushings! Brake Kleen might do you a lot better.
 
#9 ·
The hardest part for me with the forks was seating the new seals with a make-shift PVC tool. Everything else really just slid on or apart and was a breeze. Progressive fork springs are only $68, I only planned to do seals and oil but on a whim I ordered the springs and they really are firmer. Used 15w hydraulic oil as well.



(stock top, progressive lower)
 
#11 ·
A) How do you know if you need new fork oil?

B) I'm new to bikes, and my 2002bike, probably has 13+ year old original oil in the forks and original seals.

Is changing fork oil and new seals a big job? Can a pretty-good home mechanic do this, or should it be left to a professional mechanic?

How to learn the step-by-step procedure to change the fork oil and replace the fork seals with new ones?
 
#14 ·
I changed everything up front at 15K miles. The oil was discolored and the forks felt "soft" and compressed fairly easily. They had never been serviced.

I followed this walkthrough exactly - https://youtu.be/vrmYJgcGX30

I'm a home mechanic with basic tools and I managed to do both forks unassisted in a few hours in a very small, messy garage.

tobimaru,

Thank you, that's helpful.
 
#24 ·
I just purchased new seals, bushes and the progressive springs.. my front end is wayy too soft and bottoms out easily.

I had actually opened the top of my forks, used a syringe and pulled out as much fork oil as I could. I then replaced it with 15W oil, but my ride is still on the soft side with too much front end dive under braking.

I'm hoping the new bushes + stiffer springs + complete flush with 15W oil will help. I may slightly overfill the forks to help stiffen them up temporarily until I get the parts.
 
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