I'm going to be taking apart my Front end for powder coating soon. I am looking for a little softer ride in my forks. What type and weight of Fluid should i use?

 

If i am not mistaken your bike uses 20w fork oil stock so you can lighten it up with 15w oil. they sell 10w but i do not recommend going with that as its not heavy enough to keep you from bottoming out on the bumps

 

Yeah i really wouldn't care to bottom out. lol. i have only taken apart my old 96 Kx 125 forks. How hard is it to take these Harley forks apart?

 

It is very simple. stick a jack under the bike to raise the wheel off the ground, remove wheel and fender. pop up the rubber covers on the top of the lower legs. Then take a small screwdriver and remove the clip. It will take a 6 or an 8 millimeter allen(cant remember which but i believe its 6mm) and i take a cordless 3/8 drive impact and remove the allens by going up through the bottom of the fork legs. once they are removed you can just slide the legs down and a few times to knock out the fork seals. Dont forget to drain fork oil prior to removal. dont forget new fork seals. You will also need a two piece fork seal installer to replace the seals. If you dont have access to one i would remove your entire fork legs and tubes together and have a shop install the new seals when you hit that point. shouldnt charge but a few dollars if anything and you will also have to remove the fork tube caps to refill the fork oil when its all back together.

hope im not being to scatter brained for you. Haha. any other questions or anything i wasnt clear enough on let me know.

 

I'm running 10 wt in my forks now, and am considering going to a 7 wt in the future. It's my understanding that the oil weight affects mostly rebound, but not compression as much. Also consider that you can increase the stiffness of the front end by adding more fluid - but do so by very small incriments. The forks hold both air and fluid. Air compresses more readily than fluid. By adding a small amount of fluid, you decrease the amount of air, thus decreasing the compression of the fork. Remove fluid, you increase the amount of air, increase the compression, and there start bottoming out.

 

Actually twiceretired its the other way around, the oil has a great deal do do with compression and also effects the rebound on a stock setup.

It seems that the issue with compression is the very small and poorly positioned 'vent' for the oil on compression and the resistance on the valve for the rebound. There are several kits that attempt to change this effect to the riders style.

There are tons of articles, tons of advice, but I have not seen anything other that changing oil weight that appears to really alter the ride in small increments.

If drill you it out, solder it up, change springs, etc. - the effect is drastic. And sometimes that is required (2 up 500+ lbs - you need a drastic solution).

For me, I have been playing with 5w, 10w, and 15w oils. I am getting close, but not there yet. oh damn that was 2K miles ago - guess I should start playing some more

...gene

 

Thanks for the info Gene. As I stated, "only my understanding" based on discussions with suspension experts. I tried what they suggested, and it seemed to work. Like you, I'm going to keep experimenting until I get it figured out.
Frank

 

If you're keeping the stock forks, invest in a pair of Ricor Intiminators and switch to Amsoil 5wt Shock Therapy. You'll be amazed at the ride and handling. Just make sure you follow the instructions exactly.

I've got 10wt in my inverteds and it makes a substantial difference.

 

Thanks for the tip on the Ricor. I'm looking into them now. Question though, and not being a smart-***. I get the impression that you're a fan of the Amsoil shock oil, but it sounds like you're using something different. May I ask why?
Frank

 

I'm using the Amsoil 10wt. Marzocchi recommends 7.5 weight, but I wanted something a little firmer. I'm assuming that that's what went in when the forks were installed, and the difference is amazing.