Fork Oil level

Hi all,

Just done the lazy method of changing the fork oil i.e. not removing forks from tripple clamps.

I'm going to do it again in about a week or so to make sure I've got all the sludge from the bottom of the forks.

Does anyone know the gap (in mm) from the top of the tube to the oil level for a curvy 1999 s? I know the manual says about 480ml but as I'm not sure if I'm syphoning out alll the existing oil & I dont want to overfill.

Stu.

I think you're on a hiding to nothing if you're concerned about the air gap.

That's gotta be one of the worst comments I've ever read on a forum!
Setting the oil level in the forks by the air gap is just about the only accurate way to get the oil in leg the same.

104 mm.

The easiest way to get it correct is to slide a piece of tube taped to an allen key (so that the leg of the allen key is 104 mm from the end of the pipe) into the fork (when it's vertical) and suck out the excess oil. The fork must be compressed when doing this.

Not being concerned about the air gap can cause a little bit of a problem if you add too much oil. The extra air presure can force the oil up past the seals when hard on the brakes... getting oil on the brakes! Not good.

Carl

[jambo]

I would always advise taking the forks out to change the oil having done it a bunch of times on several different bikes. The crud is right at the bottom and takes a good minute or so to come out when the forks are inverted. To be honest the only way to be sure is to strip the forks but that's a little excessive.

That said if this is what you're able / have time / equipment to do, make sure the springs and spacers are removed and the forks are both fully compressed when setting the air gap.

Best of luck!

Jambo

I left mine like this -

http://picasaweb.google.com/sv650r/A...58525808621058

I use a welding rod and a clothes peg, anything will do as long as it measures right. Good way to get the oil out if ya put too much in is, Go the chemist and ask for the biggest syringe they got, needle not required! I got one that holds about 10floz for 50p then if you got too much suck it out with that.

I found a nifty little tube with adjustable depth rest that plugs onto the end of my Mityvac brake bleeder. Simply set the depth you want the fork oil at and lock the rst in place on the tube, plug onto the Mityvac and pump the excess oil out.

Before I got the Mityvac I used a piece of petrol pipe shoved through a tight hole in a block of wood that rested on the fork top. Again I would set the depth by pulling the tube through the hole until it was the correct depth. A large syringe was used to draw the oil out.

When I'm changing fork oil I usually prop the legs upside down in my oil drainer like Grinch does, then flush the remaining crud out with parrafin and blow it out dry with compressed air.

Thanks for all your advice, mine were around the 100mm from the top of tubes so panic over.

This is only a temp oil change till I have the time/space to remove forks properly as they need smartening up too! Bloody road salt

Ta everso.