FYI there are much better and more detailed videos out there, this video is missing some critical steps and is showing some wrong techniques, like shoving a rubber hose on the damper rod ! don’t do this ! For about $15 You can buy or easily make a special tool to do this all out of clean metal ,This can introduce chunks of rubber into the valving and orifices, You don’t want any foreign matter inside your forks. He did not demonstrate using the damper rod to pump all the old oil out nor did he demonstrate pumping the damper rod to bleed all the air out once you put the new fork oil in, and last but not least, very important, he did not properly measure the fork oil height, This video was a hack job!
Since no one else is going to say anything here I’ll step up and speak.
If this post had been on any other thread I hope that I would have stepped up and said this.
This post is probably one of the rudest post I have seen in a while.
I have watched plenty of video’s on the internet and a lot of them just plain Suck.
But I have kept my mouth shut and my ID in my pocket and just moved on.
Did my video suck?, Yes I think so.
It was mostly an experiment to see if I could string together short clips into a video.
Then I seen it might help someone take the job on themselves.
I don’t live in the modern world and I never will so maybe I’ll give up on my video attempts.
Now to address your criticism of my video.
#1 Rubber hose chunking off into the forks, Really, When is the last time you seen a fine cut flexible rubber hose chunking off chunks If this had any merit to it then all carbureted bike using a rubber fuel line would have chunks of rubber clogging the needle and seats. Did my video say to use a rubber hose from the 1950s?
#2 I didn’t demonstrate pumping the damper rod to get all the oil out. True. When I stated that I drained all the oil out leaving them upside down with the cap loose I overlooked telling guys to pump the cartridge while upside down. But I also left out several steps that I just took for granite that it would be done. It wasn’t a thorough video.
#3 I did not demonstrate pumping the damper rod to bleed all the air out after putting in the oil. True. That would be because there is absolutely no reason to do this. If you are pouring the specified amount in then this is a completely unnecessary step. Once you put the cap back on and pump the fork a couple times the air bleeds out and the dampen returns.
If you are setting oil height for the amount it is very important to have the spring removed and bleed the cartridge by pumping all the air out.
#4 I did not properly measure the oil height. Correct , I did not measure the oil height because I know the amount of oil I want in my forks
"a measured amount”
Measuring oil height is used on almost all racing forks. Racing forks have to be very precise because once you have them dialed in correctly that amount can be duplicated easily on the next service. And with racing forks needing serviced about every 25 hours it is very important to have it down pat. Sorry but under the very best conditions my Super Tenere is not a racing machine.
Measuring oil height does nothing more than making it possible to get the exact same setting every time you service the forks.
If you just got home from your around the world week ride and your forks look like this, Then by all means keep measuring your oil height, you have them dialed in perfect.
If you just got home and they look like this .
Then just try dumping in oil from over your shoulder, you might get lucky and end up with a better setup than you have by doing your measuring.
I can prove just what I’m about to say here. It might blow the cap off of some guys forks “head” but to bad.
Let's say you are riding down the road and your forks just bottomed out. You need to add a small amount of oil so it takes up the volume and compresses the air a little more at the end of the fork stroke. So as your riding down the road you pull the caps off and add one ounce in each fork. That fixed it. What if you had added that two ounces to just one fork ? Guess what there would be NO difference. Your bike can not tell the difference because the forks are bolted tight at the bottom with the axle and at the top with the triple clamps. The forks MUST move up and down in complete unison.
What if your riding down the road and you want to change the ride height so you turn both screws in one turn or one screw in two turns, There is NO difference, the forks must move up and down in unison!
What if your riding down the road and you feel that the forks are diving down to fast entering a sharp corner, So you take your screwdriver out and turn in the compression clickers three turns each, that fixed it. What if you had just turned one clicker in six turns.? Guess what , NO difference can be felt. That is because the forks must move up and down in complete unison.
So you just measured your forks oil height and got it perfect, or you poured in the specified amount and they are not exactly the same. Guess what NO difference. That is because the forks must move in unison .
Now would I intentionally put different amounts of oil in?, No, would I adjust only one side clickers, No
It makes it easier next service to have everything equal so it’s easier to duplicate on the next fork service.
So you need proof of all my rambling, Lets just take a look at these.
These are some of the most high tech forks available on a production RACE bike today.
My SX
These are White Power forks on modern “ Ready to Race” KTMs
These forks are fantastic forks allowing a 60+ old man to drop 10 to 15 feet out of the sky, jump after jump Lap after lap and hardly feel the landing.
They allow the front tire to track like it’s on rails never deflecting off track , never feeling the least bit odd or out of whack.
These forks are three pounds lighter than conventional steel sprigged forks because they don’t have steel springs. They have about 120 PSI in the Left fork, That’s right, only in the left fork. No spring [air spring] at all in the right fork 0 PSI
Look a little closer , What? There is NO damper adjustments on that left fork. That’s right when you remove this fork it is a air powered pogo stick. All the bikes fork dampers are on the right fork only! All the rebound and compression damping is controlled in the right fork So why doesn’t the bike feel lopsided or jump goofy? Because the forks must go up and down in unison!
Well I'll see how this blows up, In the meantime "I don't need to see your identification, Move along now"
Steve