[chuychacon]

I taped a sock to a handle and ran it in and out like cleaning a shotgun barrel ,then a light spray of oil and let that drain out

[Guaire]

I taped a sock to a handle and ran it in and out like cleaning a shotgun barrel ,then a light spray of oil and let that drain out

That’s clever.
  Today’s fork oils are formulated to resist foaming in use, ATF not so much.

[gizzo]

I found that l out myself. Drained the factory goo and refilled with ATF. It was fine around town riding but the damping quickly vanished squirting through the hills.  At least it got the forks cleaned out. 

[chuychacon]

Got test ride in
450 ml of 15w Maxima fork oil, dressed to ride I weigh 175lbs so off pavement you can feel the rough road more and going down steep dirt hills and hard braking it nose dives
But on pavement it seems more compliant and better in the corners ,but I also just lower the clip ons below the clamp
emergency braking seems to be more level
Where I ride! I should get a Himi

[hpwaco]

Finally completed fork oil change ( Maxima 10w - came in pint/16oz/476ml container - had to buy 2 ) and installed new gaiters.  When the fog/drizzle stops and temp gets back in the 60s I'll try it out.

[Guaire]

I found that l out myself. Drained the factory goo and refilled with ATF. It was fine around town riding but the damping quickly vanished squirting through the hills.  At least it got the forks cleaned out.

  Two good ways to clean out the forks, that’s good research!!

[hpwaco]

Finally got the gt out today and went for a 25+ mile "round the block" ride to check out the newly replaced (10w) fork oil.  Seat of the pants seems to indicate slightly stiffer action but that's just a guess.  Braking dive appears to be unchanged.   Nothing fell off so all is secure and no leaks.   Wish I had thought to measure the spring length when I had them out. Another of my all to frequent senior moments!

[Paul_42]

Hi peeps. No riding for the next 2 weeks so i thought i would drop the forks and replace oil and do chain and sprockets.Came across a couple of things.
1. After taking 22mm top cap off and looking down the guts to the bottom washer after the spacer is taken out. Am i supposed to see an oil in this top shaft or is it below spring washer height. I understand tip it out and replace with X amount but my brain would like to know where its gotta sit so my ocd doesnt stress me to pieces
2. Book says 2w35. I am almost 100kg with gear on, if I went to 10 weight would that be ok?. Also one hell of a rank smell like contaminated diff oil.
Thanks in advance gents.

[gizzo]

Take out the spring and compress the fork.  Should see the oil somewhere around 120,150mm below the top of the tube.  Something like that. I just measured how much came out and put that much back in. That old oil reeks, right? 

[Paul_42]

Too easy Simon, yeh, she really stinks of off oil.

[KD5ITM]

Royal Enfield of Fort Worth, one of the top sellers of Royal Enfield in the country told me that they use 10 weight Bel Ray oil when doing a fork job.

[Paul_42]

Thanks KD5ITM. From what I can see looking down the tube, what bit of film I can feel looks like castrol 2T.

[ROVERMAN]

Dumb question, if you had a long enough tube could you suck the oil out using a fluid extraction device?
Roverman.

[Richard230]

Dumb question, if you had a long enough tube could you suck the oil out using a fluid extraction device?
Roverman.

I have done this before on a couple of damper-rod design forks, but how effective it is depends upon the fork internals having no restrictions at the bottom of the fork that you can't get by with your suction tube.  However, you should be able to suck up at least 80% of the fork oil, even if there is a restriction at the bottom of the tube.

[Paul_42]

Ok. Fork oil done. Book states 430ml per leg.
Left leg 300ml. Right leg 330ml.
Oil level once guts reinstalled and back on bike uncompressed is 190-195mm from top of fork.