Fork oil swap.

[steveR]

My 600 doesn't have them but to be frank it makes it easier to get all the old oil out and reset the level (and clean out the gaitors) if you take them off. Be wary of draining the oil out the damper bolt holes; if you loosen the bolts it can be a pain to get them tight again as the damper can spin round inside the fork.

My tips for oil changes?

1. Loosen the fork caps before loosening the yoke clamps.
2. Flush the old oil with a little fork oil.
3. Drain them upsidedown overnight.
4. Leave the damping and seals alone unless there's a reason for it.

I use 5 wt oil but I'm on a 600. Not sure what yuo need or how much.

Good points, thank you, especially the overnight tip and leaving the seals alone. Do you change the o-ring in the fork cap, assuming there is one?

I was picking up a battery for family scooter today and asked the local dealer for a price and was quoted about £110, forks on the bike! As I said to the lass, if I got the forks off, I'd do it myself! A task for the winter when the bike is effectively off the road I reckon.

I have now located the pdf of the service manual on my PC! And it does indeed go through the procedure of removng the fork legs to change the oil.

[steveR]

Sounds the same as the dero, as in no drain hole.
fill up and use a syringe to suck out the excess to the exact level both sides

Ta!

Can you remember what level you topped up yours to? Any idea of the approx quantity of oil/fork leg? I'll pick some up when I am in the local mx shop as they tend to be the cheapest locally.

[FatFergie]

Do you change the o-ring in the fork cap, assuming there is one?

There is one and I'd only disturb it if it looked like it needed changing.

[FatFergie]

about point nr 1, in the repair manual they gave tip which is the opposite, they mension to loosen the about yoke clamps abit before loosening the fork caps, this will preserve the tread of the forks from being damanged.
just my 2 cents

Good point. It is important to check that the cap isn't in the clamp. The normal position on a 600 has the cap above the clamp but some people push them flush with the top yoke. The reason I said to loosen the cap is that it's hard to undo if the fork is spinning around in the yoke. It also means it's easier to control the spring as the tension is released.

I'm not sure why the threads would be in danger of being damaged?

[steveR]

There is one and I'd only disturb it if it looked like it needed changing.

fairynuff!

[StumpyFingers]

Given time I would remove one leg at a time and drain it, then replace it in the yokes and realign with the other leg and tighten the lower clamp bolt. Repeat for the other side then top up both legs with identical amounts of new oil.

[T ALP]

My tips for oil changes?

1. Loosen the fork caps before loosening the yoke clamps.

Best to loosen the TOP YOKE CLAMPS then loosen the cap nuts
if the stantion tops are flush with the top of the yoke, if you don't
it certainly won't do the cap nut thread any good and it certainly will knakker the cap nut hexagon. (its the pressure)

[steveR]

In the end I went for a spring AND oil swap, using hagon springs.

But jeez it is a hard, jittery ride now. I used 5wt oil as supplied by Hagon with a tiny drop of SAE 10 blended in, as there was barely enough 5 supplied. I have used the Hagon recommended air gap of (I think 140mm) and am now starting to think that the springs maybe too much! Nice when braking mind

However, I am sure I have seen something about fine tuning the forks by varying the air gap and I am now wondering if that may be an option?? It is an easy enough job to pull a few cc's of oil out of each fork, but I am reluctant if it is not going to do any good....

Thoughts anyone? Worse case is to pull out the hagon springs and go back to standard, though I suspect that they were due a change after 8 years.

[T ALP]

In the end I went for a spring AND oil swap, using hagon springs.

But jeez is a hard, jittery ride now. I used 5wt oil as supplied by Hagon with a tiny drop of SAE 10 blended in, as there was barely enough 5 supplied. I have used the recommended air gap of (I think 140mm) and am now thinking the springs maybe too much! Nice when braking mind

However, I am sure I have seen something about fine tuning the forks by varying the air gap and I am now wondering if that may be an option?? It is an easy enough job to pull a few cc's of oil out of each fork, but I am relutant if it is not going to do any good....

Thoughts anyone? Worse case is to pull out the hagon springs and go back to standard, though I suspect that they were due a change after 8 years.

Going by memory the air gap is 141mm, I would certainly have a go at altering the gap by a few mil. you don't know until you try.
Think most people have said those springs are an improvement

[trophydave]

I was picking up a battery for family scooter today and asked the local dealer for a price and was quoted about £110, forks on the bike! As I said to the lass, if I got the forks off, I'd do it myself! A task for the winter when the bike is effectively off the road I reckon.

£110 for changing your fork oil.I have just bought a litre of 10w fork oil,cost £8.00.Pulled the forks,drained them overnight,filled them with diesel to flush them,drained them overnight again,filled them up with fork oil,pumped them a few times,checked the levels,job done.O.K. it took a couple of days but only because I let them stand draining for so long.How long do you think they let them drain for in a shop?Five minutes?An hour while they go and do another job?I changed the steering head bearings at the same time,total cost for parts was £23.00.