Stiff front forks.
 

Been having issues with my forks recently on my SV650s (K7 pointy).
I have owned the bike from new (bought in March 08) and ride it all year.

Now I'm aware that the suspension on this bike is of a 'budget' nature and my forks have 'clonked' over heavy bumps since new but in the last few months, as the weather has turned colder, the forks performance has deteriorated notably and they seem quite stiff as if the oil viscosity has increased a lot and they clonk over very small bumps, and quite regularly.

Generally they seem a lot stiffer to move up and down on the brakes and the handling seems to have gone downhill a bit also.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this - I'm aware that the oil is probably due for a change but I thought the oil would get thinner as it breaks down, it feels like it's got thicker!
Any advice?

Thanks

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

As it gets colder the oil will thicken, so you may be noticing it due to the average temperature going down. Other than that, there may be some gunk clogging up some of the damping holes if it needs changing - drain, pump some paraffin though to clean the forks, drain, refill with fork oil of choice and they will be much better for it.

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

Thanks for your response :o) Is this a fairly straight forward proceedure - can you change the oil with the forks in situe? Thanks

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

You need to take them out and turn them upside down to get the oil out.Just a thought but could your handling issues be caused by something else?Tyre pressures or head race bearings can make the front feel vague and odd.

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

Stiff forks on an SV... Don't knock it. :-D

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

pop along to my place with some fork oil and biscuits ;-)

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

You've had the bike from new and never done anything to the forks, and they are too stiff? Unusual, something is isn't right. The clonk is caused by hydraulic lock as the oil stops flowing through the damper rod.

Take the fork apart and inspect, replace with new oil and new progressive springs, or stiffer linear springs would be an improvement. Choose the oil you use by it's cst@40 degrees rating, NOT by it's watt rating. You want between 35 and 45 cst@40.

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

You are lucky to weigh 4 stone. Cos that's what standard SV forks are set up for!

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

Blimey! I never knew fork oil was electric! :D

Re: Stiff front forks...
 

It's not.

But Friends are.