Ahhh, wire coat hangers! God's gift to us folks without the proper tools.

Another handy little tool you can make with one that's relevant to forks is a little gadget to set the fork oil level.

What you do is tape a couple of feet of clear plastic tubing to a foot or so of wire coat hanger, lining up one end of each and taping them together. Then you make a mark on them at the depth that the oil should be from the top of the forks as per the workshop manual.

Then you overfill the fork oil a bit by eye or by sticking a tape measure in. Then you lower the hanger/tube into the fork so the mark is at the top of the forks. Now just suck on the tube until no more oil comes out and the oil is then at the right depth - tada!


Once you have the right depth (or if you overfilled the forks by more than the tube can hold and the oil gets near your mouth) then put you tongue over the tube end, lift it out and put the oily end in the fork oil bottle, then take your tongue off the end and the oil will run into the bottle. Repeat if necessary.

 

Largest plastic syringe you can get (60cc/2oz at my local vet) hooked up to a gauge like this made quick and accurate work of setting the oil level. I also used it to suck out all of the oil before replacing it with RedLine 10wt suspension oil. The difference is unbelievable. I don't know if it is the springs, the 1" drop, the new oil, or the 21" wheel with 120/70 Metz up front, cause I did all at the same time. But it rides totally different. Way smoother over bumps, and no fork dive when hitting the front brake. Also put Lyndall pads front and rear, so it is grabbing pretty hard.