BannedCR500Riders.com

What weight / brand fork oil should I use in my 01 forks?

Kent

Do you like the damping it currently has?

Yes it was the factory setup. It was working fine for the type trail riding I do.

Kent

ive had real good results with quality 5 wht oil. i think the recommended is 7 or 10wht.

if your forks are feeling soft then use the thicker 7 or 10 wht.
if your forks have a lot of push or are harsh, try a 5 wht.

I dont personally think changing the oil weight is a good idea. Thats what valving is for. Keep the brand and weight of the oil the same and revalve them till you are happy. I personally like Maxima and have been running it for a while (3 oil changes this year). If you are racing and need the ultimate oil Ohlins seems to be the local favorite (of racers)...

M.F.D.B. wrote: (3 oil changes this year).

damn, is there an easy way to change the fork oil? i dont want to tear my forks apart every year to change the oil in them......

NightBiker07 wrote:

M.F.D.B. wrote: (3 oil changes this year).

damn, is there an easy way to change the fork oil? i dont want to tear my forks apart every year to change the oil in them......

YEAR? I hope you dont ride much! Oil change is super easy so there is no excuse to ruin your handling and advance the wear of your suspension.

Heck twin chambers (mine) are twice the work to change (unless you are only changing the outer) than regular and it only takes an hour to do both start to finish. In many Honda Service Manuals they have a chart that tells you how much oil is left in the fork in relation to how long the fork has been draining and you use this to calculate how much oil to add.

So:

Remove fork, crack the "bolt" loose, unthread and turn upside down in a bucket.

Measure the amount of oil needed to refill.

Refill and tighten the bolt.

Pretty easy?

I used to be scared to death of suspension until I finally broke down and did the first re-spring/re-valve. Once you realize there isnt any Tom Cruise VooDoo in there its very simple...

M.F.D.B. wrote:I dont personally think changing the oil weight is a good idea. Thats what valving is for. Keep the brand and weight of the oil the same and revalve them till you are happy. I personally like Maxima and have been running it for a while (3 oil changes this year). If you are racing and need the ultimate oil Ohlins seems to be the local favorite (of racers)...

its much easier to change oil wht than change fork shims.as far as im aware, there are no adverse effects from changing oil weights.

thestuz wrote: its much easier to change oil wht than change fork shims.as far as im aware, there are no adverse effects from changing oil weights.

Its much easier to just keep riding your bike than to clean the air filter, doesnt mean its right.

Heres a few things that come to mind:

Changing fork oil to "fix" suspension is like changing to main jet when your needle is to rich/lean.

Changing the weight of the oil effects the whole stroke equally. Which happens to be EXACTLY what the clickers do.

Not once in my experience has the entire valve curve been equally "wrong". This is the only time changing the oil alone would fix anything.

Changing oil weight when sorting out the suspension is like changing your pre-mix ratio when sorting out jetting. You need to keep everything else constant and focus on one change at a time so that the effect is easier to keep track of.

Im no expert suspension guy, but I have re-valved 3 different bikes both Showa and KYB and not once in any of the literature did they tell me to change the weight of the oil. Also, over the last year I have been tinkering with my YZ and talking to lots of different suspension companies including the guy who does Ty Davis's (Zip-Ty Racing) and they all same the same thing with oil, stick to the same weight...

correct and fair enough. i used to do the same thing. i just find thinner 5wht oil has given me better results. i used to stick to the thick stuff but the local suspension pro got me onto the maxima 5wht. he is a qualified ohlins suspension specialist and does most of the road/dirt race suspension in the state. he never mentioned any adverse effects and i havent found any. and the results have always been good.

5 wt. is what all my bikes have and is the weight I used on all the revalves ive done...

I ride a ton. I bet that when i replaced the seals/sliders and changed the oil, i was dumping out the oil that came in them from the factory.

What bolt are you referring to?

if the service manual outlines the procedure, ill dig through there.

M.F.D.B. wrote:

NightBiker07 wrote:

M.F.D.B. wrote: (3 oil changes this year).

damn, is there an easy way to change the fork oil? i dont want to tear my forks apart every year to change the oil in them......

YEAR? I hope you dont ride much! Oil change is super easy so there is no excuse to ruin your handling and advance the wear of your suspension.

Heck twin chambers (mine) are twice the work to change (unless you are only changing the outer) than regular and it only takes an hour to do both start to finish. In many Honda Service Manuals they have a chart that tells you how much oil is left in the fork in relation to how long the fork has been draining and you use this to calculate how much oil to add.

So:

Remove fork, crack the "bolt" loose, unthread and turn upside down in a bucket.

Measure the amount of oil needed to refill.

Refill and tighten the bolt.

Pretty easy?

I used to be scared to death of suspension until I finally broke down and did the first re-spring/re-valve. Once you realize there isnt any Tom Cruise VooDoo in there its very simple...

I thought I had lost my service manual but found it and it said 5 weight oil so that is what I used.

Thanks
Kent

NightBiker07 wrote:I ride a ton. I bet that when i replaced the seals/sliders and changed the oil, i was dumping out the oil that came in them from the factory.

NightBiker07 wrote:What bolt are you referring to?

Most people call it the fork "cap". Its the top of the fork, where your clickers are.

NightBiker07 wrote:if the service manual outlines the procedure, ill dig through there.

It most certainly does.

kw4570gov wrote:I thought I had lost my service manual but found it and it said 5 weight oil so that is what I used.

Thanks
Kent

Ive done one Honda, one Suzuki, one Yami, all used 5 wt...

M.F.D.B. wrote:So:

Remove fork, crack the "bolt" loose, unthread and turn upside down in a bucket.

Measure the amount of oil needed to refill.

Refill and tighten the bolt.

Pretty easy?

I know this is old news, but this method will only drain about 1/2 of the fork oil.
You need to separate the cap from the damper rod so you can remove the spring and pump the damper rod to remove ALL of the oil from the cartridge. Should still only take an hour or so...

5 weight is good...

StinkFinger wrote: I know this is old news, but this method will only drain about 1/2 of the fork oil....

You better hurry up and tell the manufacturers this...

atf works too dont it ? changed the ohlins yesterday, said 7.5wt, figured tranny fluid was close enough

Do what you want, but I guarantee you are just adding new oil to the 10 ozs of old oil that is still in the cartridge. If you turn the forks upside down, without removing the caps, the oil must drain through the tiny damper holes on top of the rod..... should take 2-3 months or so..

Remove the cap and spring, pump the rod, and get ALL of the old oil out..
Go fuck yourself, and good night..

http://dirtbike.off-road.com/dirtbike/T ... ail/364083

Super Hunky Rulz!

AlisoBob wrote:Super Hunky Rulz!

x2

i check the air space. works better in case theres some old fluid still in there. i take the spring out and pump the damper

StinkFinger wrote: I know this is old news, but this method will only drain about 1/2 of the fork oil.

If you are referring to the same forks im referring to (twin chamber) then this is INCORRECT...

StinkFinger wrote:You need to separate the cap from the damper rod so you can remove the spring and pump the damper rod to remove ALL of the oil from the cartridge.

If this is in reference to the old style single chambers than you may be right as I have no experience with those. But if you are serious about performance and have a steelie, I would highly recommend hitting up ebay for some twin chambers and get some real forks. With the newer high/low speed shock this would make as good handling a setup as a steelie could ever hope for and relatively cheap...

StinkFinger wrote: Go fuck yourself, and good night..

Right back at you dick breath...

First of all, the poster asked about the fork oil weight in his 2001... I can only assume it was a single chamber fork, because that is what is stock on a 2001.

You beat your cum catchers and told us about an oil changing method that wasn't true, or effective.

I actually had a set of dual-chambered Showas on my bike and didn't like them. Granted, they were early 1997 250 forks, but they didn't perform as good as a properly adjusted single chamber in the environment around here.

So bottom line, eat some food before you slip through your asshole and strangle your-self. See, I'm hella sophomoric!

StinkFinger wrote:

You beat your cum catchers

Thats a fukin wicked term!!!