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Fork oil measuring tip (installing Intiminators)

5K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  TJE 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi lads,

Thought I'd share a little idea I stumbled upon yesterday, when installing the Intiminators. Surely someone MUST have done this before and it's probably completely common knowledge, printed on some of the very first page of the big Change Fork Oil manual, but here goes anyway ... just in case someone is missing that exact page!

The Intiminators had been lurking in my drawer for about 12 months, and I had been waiting for a chance to remove the forks (prefered to ride the bike instead) and had also been quite nervous about getting the oil-levels equal and precise in both forks (hopeless perfectionist)

Read a lot on this forum, and in one post, Yen Powell's I believe, he actually sends it off to the shop because he was worried about the same thing. Not much other guidance to be found ...

I had been entertaining this idea about using a syring with a small plastic tube with a marking at 106mm - as are the prescribed oil levels, compressed and without springs and spacer ...

Being the Lunar New Year holidays here in Asia, EVERYTHING is closed, so I had to use something I already had in the house.

First thing that caught my attention was my espresso machine, which has a small tube that sucks the water from a tank ... what a ridiculous thought, sacrificing the poor coffee machine, I told myself, but rather fancied the idea of an automated suckion device anyway :rolleyes:

Checking out the aquariums airpump, I came to the same conclusion. Then looked around some more and in a cupboard I found this small spray bottle for stinky shoes (will hopefully revive my MC boots when the 40+ degree summer comes) Unscrewed the pump and measured the length of the tube, and was totally and completely amazed at seeing that it was EXACTLY 106mm:


pic1

What are the odds of THAT? :eek:

I tried pumping some of the old oil (that I had drained the night before, leaving the forks up-side down on a rag, to drain the last oil) to see if it could pass the tube and nozzle, and it was no problem at all! :thumbleft:

I then filled in the new 5w oil, extended it a few times, bumped it on the ground some, until no more bubbles appeared on the surface, and then dropped in the Intiminators (or rather, pushed hard with a spring) ...

Being careful to hold the pump on the edge of the compressed fork, I pumped happily away into a cloth, until the oil stopped coming out, at 106mm (moved the end of the tube a little away from the inner sides of the fork, as the surface tension made the oil crawl up the sides a little):



pic2

Unless there's more air hiding somewhere inside, I would say that I'm pretty confident that I nailed it right on the 106mm, give or take 1/2 mm ... :cool:

Nice weekend to you all!
/Thomas
 
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#3 ·
I just use the depth guage on my vernier like a normal dipstick
 
#8 ·
So reading the opening paragraphs on there page it seems they are like a, or act like a glorryfied progessive spring?? would that be the correct thing to compare them to?
 
#10 ·
Like I said, I didn't actually try them out yet, but the reviews are quite convincing, and I would guess that the effect is a lot different to, say, progressive springs. Completely different technology ...

I really wish there were news on their supposedly upcoming IAS rear shock for the AT ... As you can see, Yen notes that after installation, his original rear shock feels completely outdated.

Price is allright, if they can really revamp an old shock, and make it top of the line. Installation is a no-hassle also, which for mech-impaired people like me, is a big plus :thumbright:

Yen_Powell made quite a good writeup on his initial experiences with the front fork inserts here

Cheers,
T
 
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