Fork Oil

Hoff

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Location
Denmead, Hants
Bike: 2017 F700GS

How often is the fork oil changed on the 700GS.
No mention of it in the maintenance schedule or Haynes.
Just a reference to high mileage!!
What a PITA having to take forks out etc, on my old F650GS single there was a nice drain plug at the bottom of the forks!

Cheers
Paul
 
It's possible to remove the fork tops (adjusters) and use a suction device to remove most of the old oil on some bikes hth
:beerjug:
 
If you see the sludge that comes out of most of the forks we strip,you would perhaps think about a regular service schedule.
Fork oil is hydroscopic,it absorbs moisture,there is air present inside the leg,which will contain water ,the water over time will settle at the lowest point leading to corrosion .that aside regular oil changes will improve the performance of the suspension.
 
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I rate this guy but bear in mind he is a race bike tuner so intervals discussed will be shorter for peak performance :thumb2
 
Thanks for the replies.
As I use the bike mainly on road then I think 24000 miles/40000 Kms would be a good starting point.
Cheers
 
Thanks for the replies.
As I use the bike mainly on road then I think 24000 miles/40000 Kms would be a good starting point.
Cheers

Would you leave your engine oil in that long?

:beerjug:
 
Thanks for the replies.
As I use the bike mainly on road then I think 24000 miles/40000 Kms would be a good starting point.
Cheers

Would you leave your engine oil in that long? Roads are harsher than race tracks! See how it works constantly in this short video clip


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:beerjug:
 
Crap, now I am going to have to rethink it.
How often do you change your fork oil?
Thanks for the replies!!
 
Crap, now I am going to have to rethink it.
How often do you change your fork oil?
Thanks for the replies!!

Changing old oil is the single best improvement you can make to your suspension.

As it 'go's off' there's a gradual decline in performance which may be hard to detect over time, then there's the deterioration of some internals due to moisture and debris.
 
I would say every 1 or 2 years for a hard working or off road bike.
Every 3 to 5 years for normal use.
 
It's only about a tenner for a litre So I tend to do it to a new to me bike (because it rarely gets done at service or PDI in my experience ) and then annually OCD moi?:D

:beerjug:
 
Looks like I may need to reconsider too! But I'm also going to be caught out by a lack of a drain plug, which seems like it'll change a ten minute job into a 'forks out' job.
 
Looks like I may need to reconsider too! But I'm also going to be caught out by a lack of a drain plug, which seems like it'll change a ten minute job into a 'forks out' job.

You may be able to use a vacuum device such as a decent sized pump action nozzle for say a 5 litre bottle and some tubing which will pick up most of it Take the load off the front wheel and then remove the fork caps carefully They shouldn't spring up too much then remove the springs/spacers etc I've done it successfully :rob

10if0wl.jpg
 
I've got into a routine of giving the front end some TLC every three years, for me that's around 18 to 20,000 miles.
While I have the forks off, I service the brake calipers, change the steering head bearings and renew the fork oil.
Its approaching 92,000 miles and it's happy :)
 
You may be able to use a vacuum device such as a decent sized pump action nozzle for say a 5 litre bottle and some tubing which will pick up most of it Take the load off the front wheel and then remove the fork caps carefully They shouldn't spring up too much then remove the springs/spacers etc I've done it successfully :rob

10if0wl.jpg

Waste of time.
This won't get anything like all the oil out let alone the shitty gunge :D

Do it properly and it'll take around 30 mins to do both legs....probably less time than messing around with that enema divice.
 


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