Your Frequently asked questions answered
1.When should I change my fork oil?
Normal road riding, every 2 years or per your service manual. Off road or racing will be dependant on use and climate.
2.How do I change my fork oil?
Please use your service manual in the first instance but as a guide:
1. Unscrew the drain bolts on the bottom of your sliders. Make sure you have a bucket handy, as it can sometimes squirt out with some force. Note the quantity and condition of oil. If you have only an egg cups worth of oil then you'v been riding around with no oil which normally indicates an oil seal problem which will become apparent once you have refilled your oil. If the oil is very thick and greyish then the oil probably has not been changed in a very long while. I would suggest in this instance to change the oil again after a few weeks of riding. The idea being to flush out the debris that has been built up inside the damper assembley. Other wise rebuild the fork and clean thoroughly. Once the oil has finnished draing, I would leave for 30 minutes, then replace the drain screws.
2. Support the bike so that the front wheel is off the ground. If you are lucky you will have at the top of the fork tube a small screw that can be removed and new oil added. Generally you will need to remove the top nut. I suggest removing the petrol tank as a slip with a spanner can spoil a nice tank. Unscrew the top nuts from the fork stanchion tube. There will be some pressure behind these nuts as they are holding the fork spring in place. So be prepared for the top nuts to pop up when they are released.
3. Fill each tube with the required type and quantity of fork oil. Ensure you place the same volume in each tube.
4. Refit the fork stanchion top nuts.
3.How much and type of fork oil?
In the first instance check your owners manual.
As a guide use the following:
1.Remove the fork springs and compress the fork legs to the bottom of the travel. Using 10w fork oil fill each leg up to a point that is five inchs below the top of the stanchion tube.
2.Extend the forks, refit the springs and top nuts
3. If the ride is too harsh then replace the oil with 5w, if its too soft the replace with 15w oil.
4.My trials bike has started to bottom out?
From our discussions we know you do not have an oil leak and that the bike was ok in the winter months I suggest the following:
1. That you drain the oil, note how much drains out. Refill using 10w oil as noted in question 3 above. Note how much you have filled the legs up with. You may find that you had insufficient to start with.
2.Using the bike on hot summer days will make the oil thinner so try replacing with a thicker oil such as 15W.
5. How can I best prepare my part for chroming to keep costs low
Provide the part clean, degreased and stripped of all paint. Often any further work makes it difficult for the proffesional polisher.
6. Chroming: If I blast all my rust off surely it will save me a few quid?
NO. That embeds 1000's of micro particles in the surface of the metal, taking about twice as long to polish out which costs you more.
7. I've heard you cant replate Mazak?
Mazak degrades with age. It can but the results ar'nt very good.
