Fork oil removal advice

296 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by TMF, 7 d ago

MeanieMal

Discussion Starter · 26 d ago

Hi, I'm in New Zealand with a 2002 Mean Streak with 24,000 miles on it.
The front end is so soft, when braking it dives down fast. I'm having a lot of trouble getting comfortable on this bike, and feeling nervous about leaning it. Braking even gently around town makes me feel like I'm going to drop it due to the front end..I hate it enough to ditch the bike if it can't be sorted.
I want to change the fork oil, and might try 15 weight. My question is, if I simply use a long narrow suction tube and pull out what I can and replace with new, do the forks have to be compressed, or fine with the bike on it's side stand? What way will give me more oil? I could get the shop to do it, but they have quoted me not far off $1000 just to change oil, and fork seals since they are there anyway.
Have excellent quality tyres, pressures good, rear end feels good..but it feels unsteady to me..not what everyone says about the Meanie.
Would like to try this first, if it made a difference I may get it changed professionally..and I'm happy to replace head bearings myself...I love my Meanie but it gives me no confidence leaning.
Cheers guys

Save

1 - 5 of 5 Posts

Obo

· #2 · 24 d ago

You could just suction it out.... forks don't have to be compressed. Best to have the bike level as you normally need that when refilling and measuring the fluid height. As they are not "empty" of fluid you can't just add in "x" ml or new fluid, nor can you just replace the "x" ml you took out (as it might have been low to begin with thus why it was soft...)

The best way to get the oil out is to remove the forks and stand them upside down overnight. That way you get any "crud" that's sitting on the bottom of the fork that just sucking it out will not
get.

If you have a service manual it's not a hard task. You don't have to do the seals, just remove the forks, take the caps off, drain overnight upside down and refill as specified. Put it all back together and ride to test.

You can do a heavier oil, but it may be the springs are just getting worn after 21 years. You could always see about the cost to replace them with something a bit more stiff as well.

If your not comfy doing all the work see if you have a friend who is who can help you.

I know that's kind of a quick answer that flies off in multiple directions.

Try it with a suction and you're only out your time and a couple of bottles of fluid if it's not better for you.

See less See more

Save

MeanieMal

Discussion Starter · #3 · 12 d ago

Obo said:
You could just suction it out.... forks don't have to be compressed. Best to have the bike level as you normally need that when refilling and measuring the fluid height. As they are not "empty" of fluid you can't just add in "x" ml or new fluid, nor can you just replace the "x" ml you took out (as it might have been low to begin with thus why it was soft...)

The best way to get the oil out is to remove the forks and stand them upside down overnight. That way you get any "crud" that's sitting on the bottom of the fork that just sucking it out will not
get.

If you have a service manual it's not a hard task. You don't have to do the seals, just remove the forks, take the caps off, drain overnight upside down and refill as specified. Put it all back together and ride to test.

You can do a heavier oil, but it may be the springs are just getting worn after 21 years. You could always see about the cost to replace them with something a bit more stiff as well.

If your not comfy doing all the work see if you have a friend who is who can help you.

I know that's kind of a quick answer that flies off in multiple directions.

Try it with a suction and you're only out your time and a couple of bottles of fluid if it's not better for you.

Thanks very much, may try the overnight draining and refill with amount in owners manual..worth a try, $700 here in NZ to change the fork seals and oil...appreciate your answer.

Save

Reactions: 1

nelsonsavinghub

· #4 · 10 d ago

This can be extremely useful for readers, as it provides quick and direct information about the designer, Toyota oil change coupons the company behind the site.

Save

TMF

· #5 · 7 d ago

Keep the basic formulas and techniques of fork tuning in mind. If you go the easiest route you'll pull the top cap with the bike's front end off the ground. Carefully and slowly remove whatever is under the cap and the spring. Measure the oil level to get a baseline. Rule 1: thicker oil gives more damping - both rebound and compression. More compression damping means less likelihood of bottoming out. Rule 2: The higher the oil level the more resistant the fork will be to bottoming out but in general normal damping is not affected much. Rule 3: When you are playing around with fork oil weight use the same manufacturer otherwise all bets are off. One company's 8 is another's 12 and so on. I am optimistic you can tune your way out of the bottoming and underdamped action you describe.

Save

1 - 5 of 5 Posts

Top Contributors this Month