Author Vacuum fork oil change (Read 1538 times)

swanson · **on:** Sep 27, 2021, 09.21 am

Hello to everyone

What do you think about vacuum emptying the fork?

Certainly, there is a little left at the bottom, but you can rinse with new oil. And with this simple technique, you can do it more often.

I only have a side crutch; how to relieve the springs?

good road

Max2007 · **Reply #1 on:** Sep 27, 2021, 09.28 am

What about dirt on the bottom of the forks? This is not healthy for the forks!!

swanson · **Reply #2 on:** Sep 27, 2021, 01.21 pm

when you empty by suction, you cannot remove everything; there is always a little left at the bottom.
I do this for my cars.
at the end, you put 10 cls of oil and you start again

Matlock · **Reply #3 on:** Sep 28, 2021, 02.40 pm

I always remove my fork legs to flush out the tubes (with a bit of diesel) and then leave them inverted overnight to completely drain/dry out. Then refill and refit. I'm always surprised at how much dirt comes out of a sealed fork leg, but it does come out and if it's left in there, it's going to cause premature wear somewhere.
If you can't remove the fork legs, then I'd use the vacuum method, but refill, work the forks up & down and then quickly vacuum out again, before finally refilling one last time. That way you'll at least get rid of some of the residue of dirt that will be sat at the bottom of the fork legs as it will be suspended in the fresh oil you just poured in.
I hope that makes sense.

Showkey · **Reply #4 on:** Oct 14, 2021, 01.39 pm

Since the fork cap is threaded on to the fork leg……….not sure how you can get the cap off without disassembling the fork off the bike. The fork cap is under spring tension. The spring is compressed, the fork tool is inserted to hold the spring. The cap can then be removed. Do not think this can be done on the bike.
Think the only way to change the fork oil is removing the fork legs from the bike.

See the shop manual pictures.