servicing your forks

[youngster775]

A common question and topic that I've been hearing alot about lately...does anyone really know how often we should have our forks done? when was the last time you had them done? I had no idea that they needed to be done every season, until now. I just had mine done and It changed the way the bike responds dramatically. I couldn't believe how filthy the fork oil was! your taking soo much out of your suspension causing the valving to not respond correctly. something to look into.... 

[Justin]

Something to look into would be changing your avatar.  

[Qwik]

Race Tech recommends changing there fork oil at 30hrs.

[2wcp]

A common question and topic that I've been hearing alot about lately...does anyone really know how often we should have our forks done? when was the last time you had them done? I had no idea that they needed to be done every season, until now. I just had mine done and It changed the way the bike responds dramatically. I couldn't believe how filthy the fork oil was! your taking soo much out of your suspension causing the valving to not respond correctly. something to look into.... 

That what your owners manual is for. The factory reccomends for street conditions that you change it every 2 years. On track bikes, every season. If you ride as much as Eddie rode last year then twice in a season.

[Justin]

Something to look into would be changing your avatar.   

Thank You.  MUCH better.

[Oneup]

I service the forks twice a season and the shock once a season.  This is what Dave Moss from Catalyst Reaction recommends.  Keep in mind that I'll be on track 50-60 days this year.

[youngster775]

How many of you are guilty? 

[Justin]

I used the oil from the forks and put it in YardSale's 2stroke mix. My forks are still empty, I think

[cobra23]

Guilty as charged.

I had the front end just the way I like it on the last track day, about a year ago.

Sam Vondrenko is a racer and freind here in Wa. he leans into the forks and bounces them and starts chastising *&^*%%$!! me for such a junk set-up. I told hime the oil has never been changed, some relief followed by more*&^%$^%$!! CHANGE YOUR OIL!!

(Just a note Justino....you see Reno does have the nicest riders  )

So after 10 miutes of the brow beating, I am now ready to change the fork oil, and probably send the forks to http://www.gpsuspension.com/services/ for a rebuild.

I would like to do the work myself, the Ducati service manual is not so good....I don't speak/ read Italian. They are just Showa forks, probably used on many Japanese bikes.

Does anyone know of a webpage or site with a set of decent instructions??

[2wcp]

Probably 95% of people that come into the shop don't know that forks need to be serviced. Some people don't realize there is even oil in it until it starts leaking.

[Moto Source]

For an aggressive street rider and/or track day rider, I recommend doing the fork oil once a year.  Years ago when I was racing, I did my fork oil and shock oil twice a season.  Granted, I was doing all of the AFM, some of the WERA, some of the CCS and several of the AMA races along with some track day's.  A lot of time was spent on the track!  Good times for sure.
Anyone who is serious about riding should have their forks and shock serviced once a season or more.   If you wait too long damage can occur to the bushings and sliders due to contamination.  Check your wipers for cracking, if they're showing signs of wear, the seals will probably fail sometime soon.
I've been doing quite a few sets of forks lately, I think maybe riders are understanding the importance of this type of maintenance.

[slowF4]

Ok when It comes to fork oil.  stock oil is 10w what oil would be best to change it to, to get a better feel from the front 5w 15 w.

[2wcp]

Ok when It comes to fork oil.  stock oil is 10w what oil would be best to change it to, to get a better feel from the front 5w 15 w.

It would be better to change your valving. Either a gold valve kit, or a drop in cartridge kit. 

[youngster775]

It would be better to change your valving. Either a gold valve kit, or a drop in cartridge kit. 
[/quote]
I dont understand, could you please elaborate for us steve?

[MotoPutz]

Valving is a general term for restricting oil flow.  In reality, the valve restrictions work together with the oil flow holes (orifices) to control the different shaft speeds.  Generally speaking, the stiffness of the valves determine how much low shaft speed damping there is and the orifice size determine how much high shaft speed damping there is.  The combination of  reed valve stiffness and orifice size combine to create different amounts of damping for different shaft speeds.  Manipulating the valves and the orifices allows the suspension tuner to "tailor" the damping forces at different shaft speeds.  The resulting damping levels at each shaft speed determines the damping curve of a suspension component.

how your forks react to the road has to do with how the oil in your fork can move inside your forks. Race Tech gold valves have larger holes which can let more oil move through the valves.

Gold Valves® are Race Tech's Custom Valving Kits. They are designed to break through the limitations of stock piston designs. Research has shown that the stock piston ports induce unnecessary harshness. Gold Valves are designed to reduce piston restriction so harshness is dramatically reduced. This allows the valving stack to be personally tailored to the individual rider. Tests have proven that bottoming resistance is actually increased as the harshness is decreased. Traction is also improved.

Changing the valving in the forks is basically arranging a stack of flex washers so that your fork react differently to bumps, taking more or less pressure to open the valves to allow the oil through...



Sometimes stock suspension as good components that just need to be tuned or you can just buy a complete after market cartridge that with replace all the internals of your fork...


Tell me if I got something wrong here...


Here is a link to a explaination of suspension (read at your own risk): How Suspension Works