Poll: What weight fork oil do you use?

[XLinAL]

Originally Posted by Dave Mickley

went to put in 15w and the motorcycle shop said you had to rebuild the forks if you change the oil. O dummy me was just going to take out the phillips head screw and push up and down on the handlebars until the oil stopped coming out and put 9oz. of 15w oil in the the top of the forks. they said you can't do this because it messes up the seals and dampening valves. Dave

That's pure BS.

Do it how you said. Just be sure to take all the weight off the frontend before you take off the fork caps.
And have lots of rags handy. That oil squirts everywhere when you compress the forks.

Oh yeah, 15W and Progessive springs in mine.

[XLXR]

I agree, Pure BS. There are no "dampening valves" in the forks, just holes in the dampening rod.

[XLXR]

[QUOTE][/I weigh 150lbs, so I'm not sure if I should go w/ the 15w or the 10w.....any suggestions? I'll be putting standard length progressive springs on in a few days.
2 Weeks Ago 20:31
QUOTE]

rx3732, I haven't heard of anybody get a good suspension at 150 lbs. I assume the one Progressive spring is for 180 lb riders. You might even be able to go as low as 5 wgt, with no preload. If that doesn't work, you might try Works Dual Rate springs, but in a lower spring rate than I have.

[XLFREAK]

Bell Ray 15 weight.

[kmorris913]

[QUOTE=XLXR;815598]

[/I weigh 150lbs, so I'm not sure if I should go w/ the 15w or the 10w.....any suggestions? I'll be putting standard length progressive springs on in a few days.
2 Weeks Ago 20:31
QUOTE]

rx3732, I haven't heard of anybody get a good suspension at 150 lbs. I assume the one Progressive spring is for 180 lb riders. You might even be able to go as low as 5 wgt, with no preload. If that doesn't work, you might try Works Dual Rate springs, but in a lower spring rate than I have.

Okay, so what is the best set up for a 150lb rider, or is there one? I've been planning on getting Progressive springs but are they going to be worth it or will they just give me a different set of problems with the ride?

Right now I'm still using stock HD oil.

[XLXR]

I have not read any reports from 150 lb riders that got a good suspension set up. You will have to experiment on your own. But if I was going to spend money, I would go with Works Dual Rate springs because they have a lot more flexibility to tune them to your liking, and match them with you shocks. Works actually has two springs, you can change either one separately, and you can change the crossover point where they change from initial rate to the final rate. I think I have a full explanation on the link below, the Wobble link is too long, the other link is a summary.

Progressive has their spring rates posted, but you will have to call Works for their recommendations. I would guess you will want an initial and final spring rate set up that is less than Progressive recommends. But how much less, I can only guess. The weird thing is so much of the rider weight is on the shocks, as a heavier rider, my forks initial spring rate is less than Progressive's. That is one reason I can't give a specific recommendation for the best fork spring rates.

But you will still have a problem with shocks being too stiff. I bought a pair of RK air shocks from a guy who was 150 lbs, they were too stiff for him. At my weight, I feel the RK air shocks are too stiff initially, but also bottom out too much. That indicates I need a shock spring with a softer initial rate, but harder final rate. Adding air pressure only makes them stiffer, and I have also changed the shock oil to 5 w, and reduced the oil level in the shocks to minimum. I cut apart a pair of RK shocks and took the springs out and measured them at 80 lbs/in. I have some WP 3 way shocks on order, with the spring rate I wanted, 75 initail and 97 final, but they have not come in yet. Again those rates are far different from Progressive recommendations.

I would not recommend Works shocks at all. The have a ball and spring check valve system that is not very tunable. They could not get the Pro Racers to work for me. I also would not recommend Progressive shocks, because they do not custom tune shocks. I also tried the Race Tech straight rate spring and emulator, don't even bother trying that either.

So bottom line, my GUESS, would be Works Dual Rate springs, Ohlins shocks, and then a lot of fine tuning on your part. If you want to do the work to get a good set up, I will be happy to help you. If you don't understand what I am trying to explain, let me know. I know this can all be greek to somebody new to suspension set up.

One last thing, get the suspenion right, and everyone else will wonder why you can ride so much faster and longer than they can.

[kmorris913]

Thanks. That was a great, informative answer. I think I grasp initial and final rates and follow what you are saying. This gives me a good base to start from instead of blindly jumping into tuning my suspension. And, it will hopefully save me some money. Well, it already has. I was planning on getting progressive springs in a couple of weeks.

Thanks again.

[waiteitei]

use automatic transmission fluid

a lot cheaper and works just as well

[XLXR]

I've done that on other bikes, get the synthetic kind. I would guess it is about the same as 10 w.

[loki03xlh]

screamin' eagle fork oil (dunno what weight it is) plus progressive springs.

I'm 250 and like the ride much better than stock.