I've been told the Type E is 10w and SE Heavy is 15w. I don't know what viscosity spec of the SE Extra Heavy, but I would guess it is 20w. The Heavy gives the ride a slightly more taut feel, and others have endorsed it saying it enhances the handling of the bike and reduces bottoming. I haven't given it a thorough-enough test yet, but will report back after a longer ride.

 

Good write up.
Drain plugs on mine were a bitch as well we I pulled them apart to chrome. Had to use visegrips as you said to get'em out. New ones are in at INCH pounds!

My fork oil was pretty dirty also, that was at about 8K miles. Since I had them apart I replaced all bushings and seals anyway then. So waiting till 15K to replace oil again, probably next month. From what I saw, I would change no more than every 10K, with SE oil.

Convert oz to ml next time, any measure cup will get you close then. If I remember right, 10.8 oz was about 330ml.

 

This thread was excellent! Between reading this and the "Hurt Feeling Report", it's been a productive morning.

Mr. Iclick, very good presentation.

 

Thanks, I was more thrilled with the outcome than anyone, as I've been dreading this for some time. I also like a challenge and refused to take it into the dealership for service just to avoid a little work. Anyway, they wanted three hours ($225) for labor.

Like I said before, I've become spoiled using vacuum on the old air forks of my '96 RK, which was a 15-min. job, and it went against my grain to spend 1/2 day just chaining fork oil. I've had forks out and apart before, but it was just the idea of that much work for a fluid change. I thought that HD should've designed it more in tune with routine maintenance, like installing a schrader valve on the side of the fork below the damper valve so a vacuum pump could be used as before. I guess that would cost an extra 25¢ per bike, though. Actually, as easy as this was there would be no need for it.

 

BTW, this technique should work on '06-'09 forks, which I assume are identical, but I wouldn't want to speculate how it would work on forks with a cartridge installed in one side. I would assume it would work on any FLH fork without a cartridge.

Those with air-forks (pre-2000) should use the vacuum method prescribed in the manual, as it is very quick and easy. If you don't have a vacuum pump, Harbor Freight Tools has a venturi vacuum device for $10 that attaches to an air compressor. That's what I used.

 

This has me thinking. Why cant we put a schrader valve in the cap nuts? I would think all it would take is drilling and tapping a hole, and use a thread sealer when installing the valve. I havent had mine apart yet to see if there is room for this, if not put in a 1/8" pipe plug and remove it to install a valve at serv time if the bars are in the way. Thoughts?

 

Using the funnel and tube method is easy enough that I doubt if there would be much benefit to drilling the plug. The plug is steel and you'd have to drill accurately through the center of the plug, including the threaded portion, probably 1" or so. There is plenty of room for a typical 90° lever-type tire fitting for a Schrader valve, which is what I used on my RK.

I thought about applying a vacuum from the tube I used, but again it was easy enough without vacuum to just avoid the extra hassle. I meant to look at the drain-plug area to see if there was a countersunk area around the hole for fitting a small plastic hose like on my old RK, but forgot to do it. On that bike you could insert the hose for sucking the fluid into the fork and it would stay inserted. Without that countersunk area I doubt if you could use the vacuum method at all. If anyone has their forks apart, maybe they could look, although you'd need to remove the screw first.

I just sealed the funnel and tube into a ziplock bag for storage and will use it only for that purpose from now on so the two don't get misplaced. I just don't see a good reason to chain fork any other way, as this is quite easy.

 

Did you get some testing in yet???

 

No, was going to ride to New Orleans today (70 miles) but too much rain down there. Went in a friend's cage instead. It's 60% chance tomorrow, but will try to take a test ride in between showers. I want to go find some good potholes, something that is in plentiful supply here in LA.

 

Changed my fork oil this evening based on the information in this thread and I tell you it couldn't have been easier. After only 5500 miles the oil that came out was nasty smelling gray/black and it was very easy to add the oil from the top. Thanks for the thread.

Jim