[imola20ae]

OK, I have a shop manual butit doesn't really clarify. I read in a thread that the front forks take 638-640mL oil (i think).

With that said, I have had a fork seal leak for a while. The shop that found it said that it looked to them like it was pretty bad and has been leaking for some time (he noticed it when I was getting my Coastal's installed)

My question is this: Can I just open the fork cap and poor in oil to the correct level, top it off if you will??????

Side note: I think I fixed the leak by using the fork seal "tool" fix. So if it is done leaking I want to top it off. The
shops are charging $190-240 to do both tubes with me just taking the tubes up there off the bike. CRAZY TALK

Any help would be appreciated.

Roger

 

[Guest]

You can just loosen the for cap and add oil, BUT it's not as simple as it sounds. You will need a bike jack to take the weight off the forks and then lower the bike a little to raise the cap as it is attached to an inner rod. You can then add oil around it or loosen the nut that locks it to the rod (shown in manual) and remove it. The hard part will be adding the right amount of oil. The easiest way to know would be to remove both caps and measure the level in the good fork and add enough in the other to match it. Just measure from the top of the fork down to the top of the oil. You can lower the bike a little with the jack to bring the oil within sight of the top once the caps are off. Make sure you use the same Suzuki oil that the factory used or the viscosity will be different. If you want to change the oil all together that's a much more involved task. But you can use a suction pump with a long hose to remove most of it from the top and add new. What ever you do, make sure you note the oil level in the good leg and don't move the jack untill you refill both legs to that same level.

Now if you have an interest in upgrading the action of the front forks you can use a heavier oil and add 2 oz more to each leg. this will stiffen up the fork action for better handling. But if you're happy with the way it handles now, don't bother.

 

[imola20ae]

So put it up on the stand with no load on the forks. Then loosen the cap and place a slight load on the front wheel so the cap will rise. Once the cap rises I can add oil. However I need to do the same thing to the "good" side so I can match the levels. Does that sound about right??

 

[Guest]

So put it up on the stand with no load on the forks. Then loosen the cap and place a slight load on the front wheel so the cap will rise. Once the cap rises I can add oil. However I need to do the same thing to the "good" side so I can match the levels. Does that sound about right??

Simply put yeah. But you can't use the bikes stand it has to be a bike jack that lifts the whole bike up and down.

 

[imola20ae]

That's what I'm using. Right now I don't have the front wheel on. I think it will be easier to wait until I have the wheel on to compress the fork, right? Instead of using a floor jack and a small block of wood to compress each fork independently.

Also: If you have a shop manual, on page 9-14 (exploded view) is "B" bolted all the way down "9", and when I unscrew the cap, "9" should spin with the cap until I get the cap all the way off of the tube. Then if I wanted to do a complete tear down I would need to hold the the bolt "B" with the "tool".

 

[Guest]

That's what I'm using. Right now I don't have the front wheel on. I think it will be easier to wait until I have the wheel on to compress the fork, right? Instead of using a floor jack and a small block of wood to compress each fork independently.

Yeah, I would put the wheel back on so you can compress both forks at the same time and keep them both at the same level.

 

[imola20ae]

Thanks a lot for your help. I probably won't get my wheel back until Thursday. I will know by then if the leak has stopped too. Thanks again for your help. Roger aka Imola20ae