Airgap after fork spring/oil change?
 

Searched the forum for this but couldn't find a definitive...

I'm soon to be putting heavier springs (8.5N) and heavier oil (10wt) in the forks of my K3 650S. Does the air gap need to be different compared to stock to compensate for anything or can it remain as standard?

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change
 

I used 120mm air gap no springs or preload tubes , to fine tune how much travel ure using you can increase or decrease the air gap , if you bottoming out then decrease the air gap by 10mm at a time so 110mm 100mm ect ect I wouldn't go any less than 80mm as you risk the fork seals blowing out under pressure, this works in reverse as well so more air gap if your not using most of the forks travel , you want about 20mm travel in reserve this can be measured by a zip tie around one of the stanctions to measure the travel after a "normal " ride

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change
 

Stock air gap is a bit small. 120mm works fine.

If you are bottoming them occasionally it won't hurt anything.

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change?
 

Thanks for the replies guys!

One of the reasons for getting new springs etc was to stop the bottoming out; would it only be in severe cases they'd bottom out with an air gap of 120mm?

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change?
 

Reason they bottom out with stock springs is you have no support from springs... you have blown through all travel just with gentle braking or rolling off throttle.

With right springs it is not a problem at all, and it is minutes of a job to adjust later.

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change?
 

Adjusting it later, I assume I don't need to remove the fork etc, just take the top off and remove oil using some kind of oil removing device thing?

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change?
 

Yeah you can work out how many ml of oil = 1mm of air gap and suck some out with a syringe (or add some, given your concern about bottoming out)

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change?
 

Completely forgot the name of the device I was referring to.

Can use a similar thing to squirt oil or whatever (I'm no cook) on a Turkey.

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change?
 

Ah, that seems simple enough, thanks for the help!

Re: Airgap after fork spring/oil change?
 

Common mistakes are trying to measure the air gap before pumping the fork about a bit to clear the air from the damping chambers and setting the gap with the fork extended rather than collapsed.