Replacing fork seals and fork set up?

Hi all, Got the bike back together yesterday and thought it was ready for its mot but looks as if one of the fork seals is leaking now

I'm after a guide on replacing them that will be good for a first timer, I'm handy with a spanner but never done this before.

Also i'm obviously gonna have to change the oil so I was wondering what oil I should go for as the front end sags abit when im sat on it and feels to soft for me? and I was also reading somewhere that I can adjust the preload by adding an extra washer? I have a set of bent forks in the shed that I was going to take the washers out off and add into the good forks.

The bike is a 2001 curvy sv650s and I weigh approx 14st with all the gear on.

Any help will be great. Thanks

Good luck with it! I am also interested for help with this as I want to change the springs and oil in my forks.

[rictus01]

Fork seals are easy enough, not sure there's a guide on here, do a search you may find one, but basically it's take the fork off, dust seal lifts out, remove wire clip for inside top, use fork tube as slide hammer to knock out seal, then repeat in reverse to fit new ones, tip is to use the old seal on top on the new one when fitting , saves damaging it.

If you have the original springs in then no oil will stop the sag as they are pretty soft anyway, heavier oil will mask the problem a bit but not correct it, generally a 10w oil is used, but some prefer 15w, up to you, but do make sure you flush the forks as the old oil is likely to have broken down into very thing liquid and sludge, the standard spacers at above the springs are tubes and you can add washers on top to change the preload, do you know have to set the correct sag on them ?

Cheers Mark.

Originally Posted by rictus01

Fork seals are easy enough, not sure there's a guide on here, do a search you may find one, but basically it's take the fork off, dust seal lifts out, remove wire clip for inside top, use fork tube as slide hammer to knock out seal, then repeat in reverse to fit new ones, tip is to use the old seal on top on the new one when fitting , saves damaging it.

If you have the original springs in then no oil will stop the sag as they are pretty soft anyway, heavier oil will mask the problem a bit but not correct it, generally a 10w oil is used, but some prefer 15w, up to you, but do make sure you flush the forks as the old oil is likely to have broken down into very thing liquid and sludge, the standard spacers at above the springs are tubes and you can add washers on top to change the preload, do you know have to set the correct sag on them ?

Cheers Mark.

So I dont actually have to take the fork bottoms off??? What should i use to flush the old oil out of the forks? and no I dont no how to set the correct sag on them.

[rictus01]

well the seals (and retaining clip/wire thing) are all that hold the two parts( chromed bit & bottom bit) together, so once the seals are out you have the two apart anyway, drain the oil; then you'll have to remove the spacer and the spring (both slide out if you invert), for flushing anything will do, I tend to invert the forks for half an hour then a quick flush with a parafin/diesel mix I keep for just that kind of thing.

refit springs spacers and seals, compress the forks and set the oil level, before expanding them and fitting the top caps.

If you want to do the sag adjustment then you'll have to first find out where it's set currently, so get the forks done and back on the bike, there's and easy method to check, I've written it out a couple of times so you should be able to find it on here, one you know what changes need to be made ( don't forget to do the back at the same time) then you can add washers (or another bit of tube) accordingly.

Cheers Mark.

Hi

Its been a while since i came onto the old sv site

here is a link on when i did mine last year, The day of the royal wedding,
http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.p...highlight=fork
hope it helps

stew

Doesn't seem that hard at all really (bet I will regret saying that). What's best way to go about putting the right amount of oil in??

[rictus01]

yeah easy enough, with the new forks seals fitted, compress the top part down into the bottom, without the spring or spacer in fill with oil until you have the level to the correct air gap (top of oil to top of fork), then extend and slip the spring/spacer in, you don't measure the amount of oil, rather how far from the top the level comes, and no I can't remember what the air gap is on the SV as I haven't done one in a while, a word of caution though, some will advise you adjust the airgap to change the feel of the forks, unless you really know what you're doing don't! it's the wrong way to do it and you could end up with hydrolic lock, just stick to standard and use the oil weight to get the same result.

Cheers Mark.

ok to sum up:
Forks off the bike
undo top cap
slide spacer, washer and spring out
let oil drain
dust seal off
metal clip out
bottom of fork in the vice and pull on the stanchion to bring the oil seal out
slide new seal on to stanchion
push stanchion into fork bottom
metal clip on when seal is seated
dust cap on
compress the fork
fill with correct amount of oil
expand fork
check air gap
spring, washer, spacer and top cap back on

am I right? lol

[rictus01]

two things.

break the top caps in the bike, but don't remove the caps ( easier to hold them/ they are under tension)


check air gap with forks compressed and no spring/spacer in it.

But yeah about it.