FORK OIL CHANGE

[NKL]

Except the air gap is measured at full compression

[jwray76]

But if you have the front wheel in the air (ie forks fully extended) and the springs out then you should have a repeatable position so an air gap measurement should be consistent.

OK I'm what some people here & elsewhere call the wrong side of 45 (actually I prefer to think it's the right side) but if simply draining the oil out of the engine sump, where it's had a far harder life, is OK, I can't see why it shouldn't be so for the forks.

+1...I have no problem with removing the forks either, however the discussion is regarding if a drain is possible. Of course if there was a drain I would probably change the fluid yearly in addition to the complete fork tear down every few years.

[jwray76]

Except the air gap is measured at full compression

yeah traditionally, however this could be backed out to a consistent number at full extension.

[Bixxer Bob]

... but if simply draining the oil out of the engine sump, where it's had a far harder life, is OK, I can't see why it shouldn't be so for the forks...

It's too late in the evening to start getting technical, but I NEVER got engine oil out of a sump after 10,000 miles that was metalic grey whereas that's exactly what I got out of both my bike's forks after similar mileage. (Recently rel-laced the bushes in the 'Bird after 60k miles).

It's worth stripping and flushing properly to get rid of that gunge if nothing else.  And like most jobs on a Tiger, it's only daunting the first time - it soon becomes routine.  :D

[Chris Canning]

The internet is a wonder for finding that odd part,or in my case nearly 8 years ago when I was after a speedo converter for my 17" wheel,but when it comes how folks ride and spanner utterly useless.

I come from an age,you want it doing,do it yourself,so my priority has always been a bloody big garage,plenty of room,heating and carpeted(at some cost and not just money :roll: ),and learning to spanner from a young age,this winter I have had the front forks off(and a lot more),oil drained,let e'm stand over night,you can even now buy fork oil syringes to measure and drain off excess,the hardest part??,making sure the speedo drive is in the right position when fitting it back on the wheel,but really more time consuming than technical.

Most important of all,If you don't know,make sure you know someone who does. :D

[sTe140Ve]

Thanks a lot to everyone. I kind of knew all along I was going to have to drop the forks to do an oil change and thats no problem. Being a lazy wotsit I hoped someone may have known of a short cut.

[Danny955i]

Thanks a lot to everyone. I kind of knew all along I was going to have to drop the forks to do an oil change and thats no problem. Being a lazy wotsit I hoped someone may have known of a short cut.

There's no real shortcut... But, while you're at it... you may want to check your seals under your boots... If your seals are leaking, you may want to just pop the forks off and bring them to any motorcycle dealer to have them swap in fresh oil and seals... A seal job requires the actual separation of upper and lower fork tubes and is best left to someone experienced.

For your endeavor:

1. Safely get the front end off the ground... your choice on this one. Jacks, center stand, ceiling hoist.. whatever.

2. Remove all bolts connecting the front (shiny) part of your fender to the forks. (Remove front portion of fender.)

3. Remove all bolts connecting the rear (flat) part of your fender to the forks. (Remove rear portion of fender.)

4. Remove the front brake calipers from each fork tube. To do this, start on the LEFT HAND (sitting on the bike) side. Undo the two bolts holding the caliper to the fork, undo the bolt holding the brake cable to the fork. Using a coat-hanger or piece of wire, suspend the caliper from the oil radiator mount. Repeat Step 4 for Right Hand side.

5. Loosen axle bolt, slide axle out allowing the whole wheel assembly (spacer, wheel, and speedo sensor) to  to drop out of the forks. The metal spacer will re-install with the LARGE FLAT portion facing the wheel.

PAUSE: Take the wheel and place it to the side. Pay close attention to the ring inside the LEFT-HAND side of the wheel, this is your speedo ring. If you look inside the speedo pickup (the black unit hanging from the bike) there is a small, circular magnet in the center which picks up the signal from the spinning wheel. The grooves in the magnet must match with the prongs in the wheel upon reassembly.

6. Loosen the 2 upper bolts in the trees (the 2 brackets at the top of the fork, the upper of which the handlebars mount to). You do not have to remove the bolts, just loosen them. (both sides)

7. Before loosening the lower tree bolts, get yourself a wrench sized to the 2 large bolts on the top of each shock. Ensure the bike's front end is at FULL LOCK to the LEFT and crack loose each of these bolts. This is the ONLY WAY to get these bolts loose without having to put your forks in a bench vice.

8. Once the top-fork bolts are loose, you can loosen (ONE SIDE AT A TIME) the bottom tree clamp holding the fork in place. Once these are loose you can simply twist the fork out of the trees and down out the front of the bike.

Congratulations... you have removed your forks!

Next... fork drainage.  HAVE A CLEAN DRY WORK AREA READY FOR PARTS: You will be removing springs, spacers, and washers that are soaked in oil... have a clean towel ready.

****You must remember 1 thing before continuing... this is a suspension part, which means there is spring tension inside... there is anywhere from 10-50 ftlbs of force pushing UP against the upper fork bolt at rest. If you compress the shock, you increase that force drastically.

The trick to removing the upper fork bolt without damaging the bolt or the fork tube threads is to SLOWLY unscrew the bolt until you can see the rubber O-ring gasket on the bolt body. This is located right before the threads begin on the bolt. Once you see this o-ring, grab the fork tube with your left hand near the top... using the palm of your right hand push down slightly on the top of the bolt and spin (with your palm) the bolt to the left... If this won't work, try using your fingers, but you MUST apply slight pressure to the bolt for ease of turning and to prevent damage once the bolt comes free.

Once you see the o-ring it's about 4 good half to 3/4 turns with your palm until the bolt pops out.

Once the bolt is out, set it aside.

Next, slowly... SLOWLY... compress the shock... there is no longer any spring load on the shock so it will not re-extend on it's own... however, there is a spacer, washer, and spring that need to come out. Once you begin compressing the shock you can pull each of these items out and set them aside with  your bolt.

Find a nice place to set your shock aside UPRIGHT and repeat process for your other shock.

Your shocks are officially empty... of rebound mechanism... there is still a lot of oil in the bottom of your shocks.

To remove this oil, get a graduated measuring bowl... something with mL on the side of it (even an old oil bottle with a view window on the side will work as long as it says measurements on the side)... if you use an old bottle, you will need a funnel.

Doing one shock at a time... pour the shock upside-down into the measuring cup and slowly pump the shock in and out.... you WILL NOT get all the oil out... but it will help to loosen the oil for the next step.

Hang your shock upside down over this measuring cup for about 3 hours FULLY COLLAPSED. This will allow all the heavy, gunky, excess to flow out.

After 3 hours, check and see how much oil came out. This is the EXACT amount you need to put BACK into your shock.

Repeat for 2nd shock.

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Filling the shocks.

At this point you want to be picky about what you fill your shocks with... heavy oil gives a more road-worthy ride, lighter oils give you a softer ride for off-road. 10w is a good choice for all-around usage. YOU MUST MUST MUST... use FORK OIL. You cannot use ENGINE oil for this.

Remember the measurement of how much oil came out of each fork? Well now's when that has to get replaced.

Doing 1 let at a time, replace the volume of oil removed.... Once this is done, pick up the shock and pump it all the way out, and then compress it all the way back... do this 4-5 times.

Set the shock aside and repeat for shock 2.

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TRICK:

This is a trick I use when re-installing the shocks... it helps to get things 100% sure'd up... it may not make sense... but if you follow my direction and read my explanation, you should see where I'm coming from.


OK: So by now you have NEW oil in your shocks at your desired weight, all your internals are sitting on a towel in your workshop, and your bike looks like a dog with no front legs... Let's fix that shall we?

RE-INSTALLATION:

1. Take 1 shock and FULLY extend it. Place the bolt back in the top of the shock WITHOUT placing any of the internals back in and slide it back into the bike on it's proper side. (The Speedo side will have a little prong that MUST be mounted facing the wheel on the left-hand side of the bike).

2. When sliding the fork into the tree clamps ensure the top of the fork tube (NOT THE BOLT) is flush with the top of the top plate. Once it is flush, fully tighten the LOWER tree clamp.

3. Your shock is now secure, repeat steps 1 and 2 for the other side.

4. Remove both bolts in the tops of the forks. Using your hand, foot or small floor jack, FULLY compress one fork.

5. Grab a piece of wood (paint stirrer) or stiff card-board to use as a dip-stick. You may use anything you like, but wood is the easiest to read.

6. HOLDING THE STICK FIRMLY (DO NOT DROP IT IN THE FORK) slowly lower the stick into the compressed fork until the bottom of the stick touches oil... (you may have to dip and re-dip to get oil on the base...)

7. Once you find a position where the stick hits the oil place the stick back in the fork touching or partially submerged in the oil... using a pencil, draw a line at the top of the stick where it protrudes from the top of the fork.

8. Remove the dipstick and measure from the TOP of the oil line to the pencil line at the top of the fork.

*What you're doing is measuring the air-gap in your shock. This gap is going to affect the compression of your shock and it is crutial that BOTH shocks have the same amount of air in them.

9. Record the measurement.

10. Repeat steps 4-9 for the other shock.

REMEMBER: Your shocks MUST be fully compressed when taking this measurement.

THE FINAL STRAW: If one fork measures 3" from top and the other measures 2.5" from top it is OK to ADD oil to the lower fork. Remember, if you replaced exactly what you drained, they should be VERY close to how they were at the factory. (You can find the actual required measurement on this site if you search for it...)

THE LAST STEPS:

Ready to be done? Ok...

Once your shocks are balanced... FULLY EXTEND THEM... I mean FULLY... as far as you can tug them down... tug them down.

Install the following into both shocks... Springs, Washer, Spacer, Top Nut...

TO INSTALL YOUR TOP NUT: First, ensure that there is NOTHING in the threads on the bolt or in the fork tube. Just like you removed the nut with your palm, you need to re-install it the same way... pressing down and spinning to the right... once the threads catch, you can spin the nut hand tight.

Tighten/Torque your top nut.

Loosen your bottom tree clamps and raise EACH fork so that the top of each fork is 1/4 inch above the top clamp for stock ride-height.

Tighten/Torque top and bottom tree clamps.

Reinstall handlebars.


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ONE LAST THING... you may want to spray a TON of brake-cleaner into your speedo drive at this point... it will wash out any dirt/grime collected over the years... also, if you can pull out the magnet, do so carefully... inspect for damage, and chip off any rough areas with a fingernail or emery cloth... the magnet should be 100% smooth... then, using a HIGH QUALITY grease... grease the magnet well, slide back into the black housing grooves facing OUT.

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Reinstall front wheel. (Right spacer goes in wide part facing wheel, speedo drive installs with prongs in wheel recessed in speedo drive grooves.

Reinstall axle...

Reinstall brake calipers...

Reinstall fender...

Done? YEP!

Now... This would also be a good time to check wheel bearings, head-stock bearing, and any other hard-to get at task when parts are off the bike this way... again, checking boots for damage (replacing if needed) and seals for leaks is also recommended. Checking break pads for wear is also a good idea.

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FINAL THOUGHTS:

Clean your brake rotors with brake-cleaner ANY TIME you use grease around the front wheel...

Pump up your brakes before riding...

Check, re-check, and check again ALL nuts and bolts touched in the process....

Take it SLOW when you get on the road... You will be AMAZED at how differently the bike will handle. Having proper oil does huge things to handling...

If you find your bike is turning MUCH too slow... try loosening the fork clamps and raising the forks up a bit... Just be sure you raise each fork the same amount... 1/4 to 1/2 inch above the top plate is good.

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I've done this time and time again on multiple bikes and it works for me... It's very involved... but if you take your time it won't take but 1 Saturday afternoon (minus hang time on the shocks) to get it done.

Good luck!

[Chris Canning]

Blimey,how the hell did you remember to write all that down,thats twice as difficult as doing the job :D .

My only tip,before you do anything undo the fork caps,not all the way but just loose,because if you forget you'll be cursing.

[iansoady]

Blimey,how the hell did you remember to write all that down,thats twice as difficult as doing the job :D .

My only tip,before you do anything undo the fork caps,not all the way but just loose,because if you forget you'll be cursing.

But could be helpful for those new to it.

I however would do your items 2-4 and 7 BEFORE your item 1 whilst the bike is still standing firmly on its wheels.

[Chris Canning]

Blimey,how the hell did you remember to write all that down,thats twice as difficult as doing the job :D .

My only tip,before you do anything undo the fork caps,not all the way but just loose,because if you forget you'll be cursing.

But could be helpful for those new to it.

I however would do your items 2-4 and 7 BEFORE your item 1 whilst the bike is still standing firmly on its wheels.

No doubt helpfull Ian,but having had 3 sets of different wheels,2 different sets of brakes,and god knows how may different tyres on the front of my Tiger,I don't even have a thought pattern,I just do it,comes as a shock seeing it written down  :shock:

And yes come to think of it I do the same as you  :?

[Putts255]

I for one am very thankful for the step by step above.  It will be copied, pasted in a word document and then printed for my own homemade service manual.  

This is one of the things I have to do in the spring on my 2001 Tiger that I bought in September.  It had all of 3,720 miles on it when I put it away for hibernation, but I doubt the fork oil was every changed, its due at 10 years old.

This write up will be very helpful, good job and thanks again!!!  

Paul

[Danny955i]

You guys are welcome... Again, this is just what I do... feel free to switch order around as you see fit... The way I jack my front end up is to suspend the bike from the ceiling of my garage, I never have an issue loosening a bolt... I can see the issue if you had a jack-stand or something flimsy holding up the front end when having to torque the top fork bolts or handlebar clamp bolts...

THAT BEING SAID!!!

I've done this twice to my Tiger... I first got the bike in August of 09' with 1200 miles on it... it is an 01 and had been sitting for those 8 years... so in August, I did the oil...

I did it again in 2010 August (1 year) because the bike had 16,500 miles on it...

Every 10,000 miles, or 2 years, you should do the oil... plus, I do a lot of wheelies and I smash the CRAP out of my front end daily.

So, I will say this... after putting 15,300 miles on in 1 year, and riding like a hooligan... the oil was NOT that bad... however, due to heating and cooling the air in the shocks had condensed... causing the bike to ride lower in the front and giving less of an air cushion. When I pulled the bolts I heard a definite suck of air into the shocks...

So, I recommend the following...

Every 10,000 miles or 2 years, change your fork oil... Every 3000 miles (or every oil change) crack open the fork bolts and pull down on the front wheel to fully extend the forks and suck as much air in to the shocks as you can... This will help your handling 10 fold.

These shocks are ANCIENT technology... we're talking from the 50's... There's no adjustment, no bleeders, and no drainage bolts... they're just a straight-forward high-travel dirtbike shock...

Not much you can mess up, but keeping them close to 100% in-spec and tuned up REALLY affects your suspension/breaking/handling performance.

My suggestion for the future is to upgrade to a progressive spring in the front... It will help to alleviate some of the noticeable performance deterioration over months of use and abuse... and be safer to boot.

Cheers!

[KuzzinKenny]

An easy way to keep the front wheel off the ground ( IF you have a centre stand  :roll: ) is, put bike on centre stand, get a strong bag or bucket, hang bag or bucket from rear carrier, fill with anything heavy thats lyin around till the bike balances ( you should be able to tilt it back or forward without any effort ) it shouldn't take much !! so when you take the front wheel off, the bike will be rear heavy and sit safe   :?  i hope !!  :)

DO check yer centre stand, as some bikes lean to one side or the other, mine leans to the right so i put a small spacer under the stand at that side, till the bike is level !!

KK

[Danny955i]

An easy way to keep the front wheel off the ground ( IF you have a centre stand  :roll: ) is, put bike on centre stand, get a strong bag or bucket, hang bag or bucket from rear carrier, fill with anything heavy thats lyin around till the bike balances ( you should be able to tilt it back or forward without any effort ) it shouldn't take much !! so when you take the front wheel off, the bike will be rear heavy and sit safe   :?  i hope !!  :)

DO check yer centre stand, as some bikes lean to one side or the other, mine leans to the right so i put a small spacer under the stand at that side, till the bike is level !!

KK

Another trick is to back your bike up to a car or truck... put it on the center stand and use a tie-down strap hooked to the rear rack to the bumper of the vehicle to pull the ass end of the bike downward...

but we're getting pretty 'shade-tree mechanic' on this... lol. Best not give unexperienced people shady ideas. :)

[Bixxer Bob]

.....however, due to heating and cooling the air in the shocks had condensed... causing the bike to ride lower in the front and giving less of an air cushion. When I pulled the bolts I heard a definite suck of air into the shocks...

Just my two pennth, the sucking noise is most likely not related to riding style in any way, it's a sealed environment so it's probably the difference between the temperature of the air when you sealed her up and the temperature of the air the next time you opened them.  Likely it was colder when you opened them up than it was when you sealed them.  It could, of course, be a partial vacuum due to some oil or air being forced out of the tubes somehow, but I can't picture that.

Hang on, it could also be if there was some weight on the tube when it was done up and no weight on the tube when it was opened.  The spring in that case would cause a partial vacuum, but again, it's not likely, is it?