fork seal and suspension questions.

just out of interest, i know its a different bike and all, but the answers should be the same.

one of my fork seals is weeping out oil only a little, but its still a leak.

how much do you recon it will cost me to get a dealer to change the seals ?
is it worth getting new springs too ? ( the standard springs were fine for me, but wasnt sure whether or not springs deterioate with usage and time ect ect)

and is there a nice little guide to work out what the correct springs are and what oil i should use for my weight ?

there is a company www.mctechnics.co.uk that can do a front end springs, oil and setup for 175 quid, im just trying to work out the difference.

also, what does re-valving involve? im not really familiar with forks and suspension

Originally Posted by bikageboy

just out of interest, i know its a different bike and all, but the answers should be the same.

one of my fork seals is weeping out oil only a little, but its still a leak.

how much do you recon it will cost me to get a dealer to change the seals ?
is it worth getting new springs too ? ( the standard springs were fine for me, but wasnt sure whether or not springs deterioate with usage and time ect ect)

and is there a nice little guide to work out what the correct springs are and what oil i should use for my weight ?

there is a company www.mctechnics.co.uk that can do a front end springs, oil and setup for 175 quid, im just trying to work out the difference.

All i can say is if you take it to mctechnics you wont go wrong,

as for a simple seal change and new oil, i guess about 2 hours plus parts.

although i was quoted £60 for the sv all in

Mctechnics came to my local IAM groiup to give a talk and very interesting it was to. I asked about putting progressive springs in my SV650K2 forks and was told not to as linear springs were much better, after all Ohlins are mostly linear and if I can't afford better springs just change the oil to a higher viscosity which I did. What a difference it has made, the bike just seems planted.
There is a hole through the bottom of the engine cases which will take a 10mm bar. So I got hold of some stainless bar and some stainless tubing that fits neatly over the bar for additional strength.
I put the bike on a rear paddock stand.
Jacked the bike up under the engine carefuly using some wood between the jack and the engine until the front wheel is off the ground..
Put the 10mm bar through the engine cases and slide the tubing over the bar on either side up to the engine case.
Let the bar settle on axle stands but leave the jack under the engine.
This way the bike is resting on a triangle and is steady enough to remove the forks.
I couldn't get 10mm bar only 8mm which started to bend a bit but even so it did the job of keeping the bike steady so 10mm should do the trick.
We managed to get the forks out without removing the mudguard which saved some work.

Just had mine re-rsealed and new oil ( after they were done last july ) and it cost me £75 all-in. Bit expensive but it had to be done and i couldn't wait to get it in somewere cheaper as i use it everyday for work.

£75 is only two hours labour, pair of seals and a bottle of oil and thats at £30 per hour

1 hour to remove and refit forks + 1 hour to change the seals (1/2 hr per leg)

[northwind]

If you can, get the forks pulled and take them in. But 1 hour to remove and refit? Wouldn't take me that long, and I'm a shaved chimp.