Fork oil change interval

Supertee123

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Aug 13, 2015
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Dublin Ireland
The manual doesn’t give times or mileage on when to replace the fork oil,oil will degrade/loose its viscosity over time and pick up metal particles from bushings etc.
What’s the feeling with fellow riders on when to change the fork oil/seals?

(It’s Recommend Seals and oils are changed together)
 

~TABASCO~

RIDE ON ADV is what I do !
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I have lots of experience with the super Tenere forks. But my 'thoughts' are in no way "the rules", just my opinion.

With 100% stock original forks I would suggest changing and cleaning the oil at approximately 15K miles (road) and 10K with a fair bit of (off road) use.

Ive pulled down (taken apart) a ton of stock forks. After 10-15K+ the oil is toast and full of crap. If folks have used a power washer I can tell most of the time because the oil is extra stinky and the spring has rust on it. (DON'T use power washers on your bike)

** one more note: the Super Tenere tends to be hard on the guides. I have once had a major oil leak in one of my forks. I think It started with bull dust (talcum powder) getting up there and then I had a lower guide go south. That material fell down into the seal and all hell flowed out.. Good times. LOL ** If you have your forks pulled down for any reason replace the guides, seals, wipers, oil, Etc. Clean them up and throw them back together. You WILL feel the difference and performance immediately come back.

Once you clean and install a better high quality fork oil a good round number is changing them every 25K or so. (if you want them at there 'best' performance. Just depending on use, abuse, Etc

I keep my forks top notch. Ive changed mine out a few times because of heavy off road use and fine silt "bull dust" having the seals weep. I don't mess around with doctoring them up, I just change the oil and seal. (and other parts guides, etc) I have a fork right now that is slightly weeping and will tear it down (probably the pair) before my next long cross country ADV trip. The fork currently won't keep me from riding around town or weekend rides.

Also, if you change the oil weight and or spring combo. Please read and and do a little home work or talk to someone you feel comfortable with about the forks. Changing the oil weight, the volume of oil and then also adding a change like a new stiffer spring with greatly change the way the bike will sit, ride, perform, Etc, Etc. You might be going from a worn out air marsh mallow, having the proper service work done and front end set up properly and it will be a WORLD of difference. Its not to say the work is wrong, but it will be way different. You might or might not like the "correct (freshen up) set up".... Just have an idea before you start telling someone I want this and that !!!!!! LOL

Ask me how I know such things ? LOL.
 

jrusell

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Aug 23, 2017
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460
Location
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Fork oil change every year at minimum, regardless of the miles.

I do mine every winter and then a dump and fill mid season. As stated above fork oil gets nasty pretty quick. Lots of metallic particles in there. Can't do it too often in my opinion.
 

Supertee123

Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2015
Messages
85
Location
Dublin Ireland
I have lots of experience with the super Tenere forks. But my 'thoughts' are in no way "the rules", just my opinion.

With 100% stock original forks I would suggest changing and cleaning the oil at approximately 15K miles (road) and 10K with a fair bit of (off road) use.

Ive pulled down (taken apart) a ton of stock forks. After 10-15K+ the oil is toast and full of crap. If folks have used a power washer I can tell most of the time because the oil is extra stinky and the spring has rust on it. (DON'T use power washers on your bike)

** one more note: the Super Tenere tends to be hard on the guides. I have once had a major oil leak in one of my forks. I think It started with bull dust (talcum powder) getting up there and then I had a lower guide go south. That material fell down into the seal and all hell flowed out.. Good times. LOL ** If you have your forks pulled down for any reason replace the guides, seals, wipers, oil, Etc. Clean them up and throw them back together. You WILL feel the difference and performance immediately come back.

Once you clean and install a better high quality fork oil a good round number is changing them every 25K or so. (if you want them at there 'best' performance. Just depending on use, abuse, Etc

I keep my forks top notch. Ive changed mine out a few times because of heavy off road use and fine silt "bull dust" having the seals weep. I don't mess around with doctoring them up, I just change the oil and seal. (and other parts guides, etc) I have a fork right now that is slightly weeping and will tear it down (probably the pair) before my next long cross country ADV trip. The fork currently won't keep me from riding around town or weekend rides.

Also, if you change the oil weight and or spring combo. Please read and and do a little home work or talk to someone you feel comfortable with about the forks. Changing the oil weight, the volume of oil and then also adding a change like a new stiffer spring with greatly change the way the bike will sit, ride, perform, Etc, Etc. You might be going from a worn out air marsh mallow, having the proper service work done and front end set up properly and it will be a WORLD of difference. Its not to say the work is wrong, but it will be way different. You might or might not like the "correct (freshen up) set up".... Just have an idea before you start telling someone I want this and that !!!!!! LOL

Ask me how I know such things ? LOL.
Thanks for the information Tabasco,I’ve just done a full fork rebuild @80000km, I’ll probably replace everything @100000.The bike definitely feels better after a fork rebuild.
 

Paolino

New Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2016
Messages
3
Location
Italia
Have to change fork oil and looking for alternative to the oem damper rod fork tool. Does anyone have any trick or suggestion in order to avoid to buy the oem tool? Are there any measure in oder to build the tool?
Thanks
Paolo
 

Paolino

New Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2016
Messages
3
Location
Italia
According to my experience is always better to clean well everything before the oil change. For this reason I prefer to remove also the cartridge....lf someone has got dimensions of the holder I can build it...
Thanks
Paolo
 

sdbcable

New Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2018
Messages
7
Location
Michigan
I have lots of experience with the super Tenere forks. But my 'thoughts' are in no way "the rules", just my opinion.

With 100% stock original forks I would suggest changing and cleaning the oil at approximately 15K miles (road) and 10K with a fair bit of (off road) use.

Ive pulled down (taken apart) a ton of stock forks. After 10-15K+ the oil is toast and full of crap. If folks have used a power washer I can tell most of the time because the oil is extra stinky and the spring has rust on it. (DON'T use power washers on your bike)

** one more note: the Super Tenere tends to be hard on the guides. I have once had a major oil leak in one of my forks. I think It started with bull dust (talcum powder) getting up there and then I had a lower guide go south. That material fell down into the seal and all hell flowed out.. Good times. LOL ** If you have your forks pulled down for any reason replace the guides, seals, wipers, oil, Etc. Clean them up and throw them back together. You WILL feel the difference and performance immediately come back.

Once you clean and install a better high quality fork oil a good round number is changing them every 25K or so. (if you want them at there 'best' performance. Just depending on use, abuse, Etc

I keep my forks top notch. Ive changed mine out a few times because of heavy off road use and fine silt "bull dust" having the seals weep. I don't mess around with doctoring them up, I just change the oil and seal. (and other parts guides, etc) I have a fork right now that is slightly weeping and will tear it down (probably the pair) before my next long cross country ADV trip. The fork currently won't keep me from riding around town or weekend rides.

Also, if you change the oil weight and or spring combo. Please read and and do a little home work or talk to someone you feel comfortable with about the forks. Changing the oil weight, the volume of oil and then also adding a change like a new stiffer spring with greatly change the way the bike will sit, ride, perform, Etc, Etc. You might be going from a worn out air marsh mallow, having the proper service work done and front end set up properly and it will be a WORLD of difference. Its not to say the work is wrong, but it will be way different. You might or might not like the "correct (freshen up) set up".... Just have an idea before you start telling someone I want this and that !!!!!! LOL

Ask me how I know such things ? LOL.
What oil do you use?
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
I am ashamed to admit that I just did my first fork overhaul at 72,000 miles. Only about 5-10% off road use though. Based on the information I read above I was surprised to find things in better shape than I expected. The coating on the bushings looked fine, no wear through to the base metal. When I poured the oil out it was clear enough to see through it. Every internal part was covered with a very thin layer of dark material that I figured was probably microscopic wear debris from the bushings and perhaps a little dirt? I wiped and rinsed everything off with rags and brake cleaner to make everything shiny again. I also thoroughly pumped out the cartridges. I installed new seals, dust wipers and bushings and used Lightweight Red Line Synthetic fork oil with about 30% Red Line 5 wt. blended in. Trying to replicate the Yamaha fluid viscosity as close as possible based on that chart of fork oil viscosities that we've seen on the internet. I was pretty happy with how the forks worked so didn't change the springs, preloads or a big change in fork oil viscosity.
 
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~TABASCO~

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What oil do you use?

Just depends on the rider and how they would like it to work "better" for them. Also it depends if im changing out the springs. The "brand" doesn't really matter to me as long as its a "quality" name brand. The weight is more important along with the volume.

You can use virtually use any brand of fork oil. I personally have full Ohlins, so I use their fork oil.
 
R

RonH

Guest
Over the years changing fork oil, although the oil came out all filthy black ect, I could never really ever tell any difference in anything due to the new oil. I finally decided my change interval is when seals leak and at that time disassemble, replace what is "necessary" and reassemble with new oil. I don't change bushings or anything else unless they are bad. Some prefer the "x" amount of miles, replace everything even if still good. That's fine. I prefer ride til it doesn't work and replace what is needed along with the oil at that time. If it's 10,000 miles, OK, 100,000 miles , OK. I just ride and don't care anymore about changing the fork oil.
 

Cycledude

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Jan 29, 2016
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Rib lake wi
I also Prefer to change the fluid when seals start leaking, I use Valvoline synthetic ATF Fluid And change all seals and bushings with All Balls brand.
 
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B

ballisticexchris

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I also Prefer to change the fluid when seals start leaking, I use Valvoline synthetic ATF Fluid And change all seals and bushings with All Balls brand.
ATF fluid works surprisingly good. I used to use it in my XR forks.
 

Dirt_Dad

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If Tabasco says it, I believe it...period. I doubt there is anyone who has seen more insides of more Teneres than him.

I'll admit, I'm pure neanderthal when it come to suspension. I can tell really, really good suspension, and everything else gets pretty murky to me. The really good stuff is wonderful. To me, that's identified as the faster you go in the rough stuff, the smoother the ride gets. It's rare, I once had an sport ATV that could do it, and I found CW's KTM 690 Enduro R did that for me. When it works, it's mind-blowingly awesome to a person who enjoys going fast in the dirt.

Below that, everything else is hard to distinguish for me. Over the years on various bikes, I've changed oils, springs, emulators, this, that, and other things. Always with the same promise, "you're going to really feel this." I absolutely 100% believe the people telling me this, are sincere, and can tell the difference. I must admit I am not sophisticated enough, sensitive enough, perceptive enough, or just not a good enough rider to tell the difference. I fully believe the problem is me, and do not think for a second the people who do feel a difference are insincere.

I definitely have not changed my fork oil as frequently as recommended here. I use fork socks and have never had a leak of any type at 42K miles and counting. My bike sees a fair amount of dirty conditions. I don't recommend anyone follow my example, but it works for me.
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
This bike is a whole different animal than I'm used to. My experience is 25-50 hours on my dirt bikes when racing, and 50-100hrs when mellow trail riding. After each ride on all my bikes I rock the forks back and forth to check for bushing wear. I also check every moving chassis part for bearing wear and steering head tightness.

For the type of riding I do and after speaking with the Race Tech service manager, 10,000 miles max is considered a good service number for both shock and fork. Providing its street ridden. It was recommended to me 5,000 miles max for heavy off road use on these type of bikes.

I simply blows my mind how many riders fail to properly maintain their machines. Suspension components gradually yet drastically degrade over time. It's amazing how controllable the bike is and the amount of feedback you get with fresh suspension.

And don't forget changing the shims at the same time as the oil. They are a wear item as well (due to fatigue).
 
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