Front suspension too hard!!! Curvy

Originally Posted by clio172

Northwind - I'm not sure yet, I may attempt it myself by removing forks, otherwise get my local garage to change the oil might try 12.5, he'll charge me about £40, it's just how many times it needs to go in to get it right! I could get him to change the oil and end up putting the same in!

Blue_SV650S - interesting thanks i guess someone could have put the tubes in without cutting them to the correct length? It is possible that they are not ohlins as I think they were installed before the previous owner got the bike so I could be wrong!

Thanks for your help everyone, at least i'll have an idea what to look for!

Checking the sag is your first port of call, there are plenty of posts on here about how to do that if you are unsure how to check! ... its free to do too!!!

[northwind]

If they're Ohlins, then they don't need different spacers, they're OEM replacement.

Originally Posted by northwind

Whenever I've checked oil levels, I've done it with the forks out of the bike

Only way to do it, IMHO. Once you've done it a couple of times, you'll wonder what the fuss was all about. :P

Originally Posted by Blue_SV650S

Do you have a rear paddock stand??? Use of that and a trolley jack will make the front accessible. Your other option is to recruit a beefcake mate to pull it up on its sidestand.

If you do use the paddock stand, make sure the measurement is taken with both wheels on the ground, bounce and let it settle, slide cable tie down to dust seal and then put on rear stand and jack up front till the forks are fully extended.
If you measure it (bounce etc) on the paddock stand you will get a different reading as the weight distribution is different with the rear wheel higher.

Generally around 18mm preload will give around 25mm sag, if you take the top caps off (fork fully extended with no weight on) the seat cap should sit 18mm or so from the top of the fork tube.