fork oil 15 or 20? advice req'd.

my machine is in the capable hands of rob berrington smith to have various bits n bobs tweaked today.

a bit of a debate over what weight oil to use - he's putting in k-tech fork springs (not the progressive type). i weigh 14/15 stone, is 15wt going to be ok, or should it be 20wt?

there will be a gsxr 1000 k2 shock installed too. oh, and new rubber! :drool:

W.

[BillyC]

Hi Will...

I have 15wt in mine, and we weigh roughly the same. My forks are plenty hard enough - anything harder, and the ride will be rediculous! Especially around London. Remember - it's a harder spring anyway, and the SV's standard oil is only 10wt.

The air-gap is also important. Joe can recommend an airgap for you - mine was 92mm if I recall correctly. This has worked well for me.

cheers - you flatter me Billy... "we weigh roughly the same" . i am sure i am considerably more lardy arsed than you, fella!

rob b-s suggests that 20wt oil will act as a more effective damper for rebound, ie, with lower weight oil, the forks will rebound quicker, perhaps too harshly. i have no idea.

Originally Posted by will

a bit of a debate over what weight oil to use - he's putting in k-tech fork springs (not the progressive type). i weigh 14/15 stone, is 15wt going to be ok, or should it be 20wt?

From the table I have from Elmerfud - suspention man to the Pennine massive, I recon for someone of your weight, the springs should be 0.829Kg/mm & you should use either 10w or 15w oil... If you're keeping the standard springs, go fo 20w oil

I agree with Billy, 15wt is more than hard enough and if you're setting the air gap properly 10wt may even be better. As the SV's forks aren't cartridge based it's always going to be a compromise but you'll not go too wrong with either 10 or 15 (I put 15 in but next time might try 10).


.

15 it is then.
thx
W.

yep, go with 15
as you ride all year round, 20 will 'stiffen up' in the cold weather, and in all likelyhood give you quite a hard ride, just when you don't want it

i agree with out cartridge emulators 20wt will be too much , however with them and racetech springs 20wt is perfect

[carelesschucca]

I'm running 20 with WP springs in the front and less air gap (i filled it up to correct level then added another 15ml in each fork) I still want less rebound than I have

Originally Posted by BillyC

Hi Will...

I have 15wt in mine, and we weigh roughly the same. My forks are plenty hard enough - anything harder, and the ride will be rediculous! Especially around London. Remember - it's a harder spring anyway, and the SV's standard oil is only 10wt.
The air-gap is also important. Joe can recommend an airgap for you - mine was 92mm if I recall correctly. This has worked well for me.

double check that, I thought stock fork oil in the Sv was 5w