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Author Topic: fork oil  (Read 2827 times)

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Offline cmorgan47

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fork oil
« on: July 20, 2006, 07:54:33 AM »
what do you use?

regular old ATF?
anything else?
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Offline Rushoid

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2006, 08:09:46 AM »
My fork seals were just starting to weep a little bit so I changed the oil with ATF (someone suggested this would swell the seals and prolong their life). However, my forks then started bleeding from the seals.  :o I had to wipe the forks, brakes, tank, etc. off after every ride. Soooo when I replaced the seals I put in BelRay fork oil.
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Offline DJ_AX

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2006, 08:24:47 AM »
Mine were leaking really bad... I tried ATF... still leaked. BUT... the seals were so far gone I really didn't expect it to fix the leak anyway. Just replaced my fork seals and it wasn't that hard thanks to all the helpfull info here! Put in ATF becuase that's what I had and it's been just fine! I looked around the Internet for info in addition to this site and using ATF seems to be a widely accepted practice.
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Offline tomkimberly

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2006, 09:01:54 AM »
Power steering fluid which is close to ATF. Added bonus is that it comes in small bottles and one or two is enough for the job.

Tom
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Offline bryanj

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2006, 09:21:42 AM »
Der, power steering fluid IS ATF. There are actually two types of ATF one for most everything and one for GM, who just love being awkward, BUT either will do for forks. Having said that the newer "proper" fork oils are actually better formulated and work perfectly well in any age of fork
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Offline Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2006, 09:39:20 AM »
The 3 "fork oils" I have seen are:

1) 30W motor oil or other weights for that matter
2) ATF
3) Fork Oil of various weights

I've probably used all 3. Any one better than the other?? Who knows !! I think the viscosity is the main difference with ATF having only 1 that I know of. So, main questions might be - How much do you want to spend or which one is readily availabe?
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Offline nickjtc

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2006, 09:50:32 AM »
When I got my 650 home after the first long ride (200 miles) after I bought it, fork oil was pissing out of the right seal.

After stripping the forks down I found that the seal retaining clips were rusted down to almost nothing! Not sure how moisture could have got in there........Anyhoo the actual seal change was quite straightforward and everything stitched up with no problems. Honda recommends ATF so I used it to finish the rebuild.

After 4700kms everything is leak free and working well.
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Offline GroovieGhoulie

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2006, 10:38:48 AM »
I just replaced my fork seals and refilled with Honda 10w fork oil.  ATF seemed way too thin and the front end was real springy.  Now the front end is firmed up, but still compliant.
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Offline cmorgan47

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2006, 10:41:12 AM »
Quote from: GroovieGhoulie on July 20, 2006, 10:38:48 AM
I just replaced my fork seals and refilled with Honda 10w fork oil.

you make it seem so simple here.... as compared to what i've been reading on your "easy way to remove fork seals" thread.
glad you did it first, now i know what tools to buy.
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Offline GroovieGhoulie

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2006, 10:48:46 AM »
Quote from: cmorgan47 on July 20, 2006, 10:41:12 AM
Quote from: GroovieGhoulie on July 20, 2006, 10:38:48 AM
I just replaced my fork seals and refilled with Honda 10w fork oil.

you make it seem so simple here.... as compared to what i've been reading on your "easy way to remove fork seals" thread.
glad you did it first, now i know what tools to buy.


Once I had the right tools it WAS easy.  ;D

The first fork took 12 hours (not counting sleep) but the second one took less than 10 minutes.  Tools and experience.
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Offline cmorgan47

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #10 on: July 20, 2006, 10:57:30 AM »
Quote from: GroovieGhoulie on July 20, 2006, 10:48:46 AM
Tools and experience.

too true.  i'm going to use your experience, and buy the right tools first.
thanks.
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Offline Bodi

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #11 on: July 20, 2006, 11:03:12 AM »
There USED to be 2 kinds of ATF, now there are about 8. Honda never even said which of the two to use. I use fork oil, 10w to 15w works for me.
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Offline GroovieGhoulie

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #12 on: July 20, 2006, 11:11:46 AM »
Quote from: cmorgan47 on July 20, 2006, 10:57:30 AM
Quote from: GroovieGhoulie on July 20, 2006, 10:48:46 AM
Tools and experience.

too true.  i'm going to use your experience, and buy the right tools first.
thanks.

Seal-puller definitely, but the hardest part was getting that allen-head screw out of the bottom of the fork.  You NEED a pneumatic air-wrench to get it out.  Turning it by hand will not work, even with a broomstick.  Also, get some regualr thickness PVC for the reinstallation of the seals.  slide seal over the fork tube, then insert fork tube into fork lower.  The slide the PVC over the fork tube and use it as a slide hammer to hammer the seal down evenly.  For my 400, 12" of 1.25" PVC worked PERFECT, but I think the bigger bikes need 1.5" PVC.
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Offline cmorgan47

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2006, 12:13:05 PM »
Quote from: GroovieGhoulie on July 20, 2006, 11:11:46 AM
  For my 400, 12" of 1.25" PVC worked PERFECT, but I think the bigger bikes need 1.5" PVC.

cheers to the little guys brother.....i've got the 400f too.
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Offline hcritz

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #14 on: July 20, 2006, 12:17:01 PM »
Hey Guys...
I use a mix of a good quality ATF and Teflon additive...sure seems to help with the Stiction of the forks on small bumps.
Honda Man also said he used a Teflon Oil....
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dave75

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #15 on: July 21, 2006, 09:57:28 AM »
How is the teflon additive marketed?  Is it a teflon additive for ATF or something else?
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Offline hcritz

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #16 on: July 21, 2006, 10:39:00 AM »
Hey Dave...
I use a "Generic" Slick 50...Teflon in a lightweigth oil...and mix 50/50 with ATF...Next change I'll go with a bit more Teflon.
In an earlier post Honda Man said he was uisng a lightweiht Teflon oil...but I haven't seen that available locally...
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Ibsen

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #17 on: July 21, 2006, 10:57:03 AM »
Motul 5-20W full synthetic fork oil on both bikes. On the CB650 I used 165cc in each fork leg. That is 10% more than the 150cc recomended in the manual.
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Offline puppytrax

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #18 on: July 21, 2006, 02:00:27 PM »
???

I'm wondering why you guys are talking about Fork Oil and ATF when my Honda manual specifies 10w30 motor oil...   ???
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Offline Jonesy

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Re: fork oil
« Reply #19 on: July 21, 2006, 06:02:38 PM »
Quote from: puppytrax on July 21, 2006, 02:00:27 PM
???

I'm wondering why you guys are talking about Fork Oil and ATF when my Honda manual specifies 10w30 motor oil... ???

Depends on the fork design. The earlier forks (on the 750's for example) had different innards. Around the time of the K3, they improved the design, and the manual then called for ATF.

BTW, ATF is about 7wt.
« Last Edit: July 21, 2006, 06:08:47 PM by Jonesy »
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