Topic: Fork oil, using motor oil?

[MCRider]

Fill the fork tubes with Jack Daniels.  It won't be much volume, but if you break down... yup, you got a few nips to keep you level headed.

Yeah! Best idea yet!

[ekpent]

Fill the fork tubes with Jack Daniels.  It won't be much volume, but if you break down... yup, you got a few nips to keep you level headed.

Hey thats what I use in my battery. Works well and tastes good too 

[Terry in Australia]

Fuggin hell, it must be great living in "The land of milk and honey", over here Jack is 50-60 bucks for a quart, so all I put in my battery is water! You rich baastards schidt me............. 

[BobbyR]

Fuggin hell, it must be great living in "The land of milk and honey", over here Jack is 50-60 bucks for a quart, so all I put in my battery is water! You rich baastards schidt me............. 

Hell even Makers Mark doesn't cost 50-60 Bucks a Quart here. Oh wait, we went politically correct. It is 750ML which screws us out of some booze, but they forgot to lower the price. We do live in the Land of Plenty. Plenty of taxes, but the hooch is cheap, takes our minds off it.

Oh yeah I use 30 Wt in my forks. At my age you want everything between your legs firm.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah that sucks Bobby, but 750 ml is a helluva lot less than a quart, which is 1125ml, from memory. If they're charging you the same as they did for a quart, you're getting screwed, you probably just don't realise it 'cause you're drunk..........

[seanbarney41]

Can we get a full size of those pics? I HAVE to read the captions..

I will get you a link when I sober up....

[Lostboy Steve]

Sweet.....

[Davidov]

Holy argument starting topic!
I get synthetic oil for free on occasion, so I had it readily available.

After reading ALL of the replies, I assume motor oil is ok to use. 

[steam-powered man]

on my cb550k that i built w/drag bars, risers, shorties and a cafe' seat (never knew how to classify it) i used motor oil per the manual, then i switched to motul racing 5wt synthetic fork oil.  omg what a nice change!  i'm a firm believer that huge improvements in oil specifically made for forks has resulted in greatly reduced "stiction".  will never go back to motor oil, regardless of what the 35 year old manual says.  so there.   

[BobbyR]

on my cb550k that i built w/drag bars, risers, shorties and a cafe' seat (never knew how to classify it) i used motor oil per the manual, then i switched to motul racing 5wt synthetic fork oil.  omg what a nice change!  i'm a firm believer that huge improvements in oil specifically made for forks has resulted in greatly reduced "stiction".  will never go back to motor oil, regardless of what the 35 year old manual says.  so there.   

See  this is what people forget. These old bikes and their history is varied. The owners can season most of this stuff to taste. It is your bike and when you find something that works well for you, nobody can tell you it is wrong. Ride it, love it and if course you will keep fixing it.     

[Davidov]

I should at least contribute a review on using synthetic 5W-30 engine oil.
It is VERY hard. There is hardly any dive on the front forks, and hitting some rough roads at low speeds is almost unbearable.

I've driven lowered cars with "sport" suspension, and rode a variety of motorcycles. I could compare it to a rigid frame chopper of sorts, almost no dampening action.

I am switching to fork oil when I get a chance!

[ekpent]

I should at least contribute a review on using synthetic 5W-30 engine oil.
It is VERY hard. There is hardly any dive on the front forks, and hitting some rough roads at low speeds is almost unbearable.

I've driven lowered cars with "sport" suspension, and rode a variety of motorcycles. I could compare it to a rigid frame chopper of sorts, almost no dampening action.

I am switching to fork oil when I get a chance!

Good job on the review and get back.  So often people try to help and give input,for better or worse,and then never hear another word or outcome from the original poster. Keep us posted if you find the good stuff.