Found another advantage of naked motorcycles today.
Was at a traffic light. looked down, and noticed rather a bad weep from LH fork seal.. BUGGER Worst time of year for this to happen.
Fortunately I was able to book into my mechanic (MAD, for those in Brissie) for tomorrow - the last day before he closes for the Christmas break.
I've no doubt he's capable of the job, but I note in some of the 'how to' threads here it mentions to use a 10W fork oil, and also mentions the
oil/air gap.
Mine has progressive springs in it, though I've no idea which ones (unless
@Bov can tell me?) so I need to know what advice/suggestion I should tell the mechanic (if any) when I drop it off.
Perhaps
@Tony Nitrous might know?
Anyone who has suggestions they are most welcome.
Ive known Mick @ Motorcycle Mad for about 15 years.
We used to ride a lot in the old "Brisbane Bikers" days before he had his own shop.
He's not the cheapest and he's often busy, but I take that as a good thing.
The last set of forks I had rebuild by a shop I think I used Springwood Suzuki as I was working away, but I'd trust Mick with mine.
For actual settings I doubt mine would suit others, I've been told I'm wrong before.
Tell Mick how you ride and how you like it.
Send a PM to Lord Barmy himself, he knows the air gap for progressives without even looking it up. I know it's on here somewhere, but I don't have them so never used that bit of info. Seth probably knows too and a few more.
I think is was more, like 105 for std & 140 for progressive, but that's just from beer infused memory
Oil/Air Gap:
Standard springs: 108mm
Hagon progressive: K2-K4: 150mm, K5-K8: 160mm
Ohlins progessive: K5-K8: 140mm
Of those Mike, i'd choose the Hagon options if you don't know
Fork oil:
5W Fork oil recommended with standard springs
10W Fork oil typically used with aftermarket progressive / linear springs
See, told ya. Rattled it off while he was having his cornflakes for breaky.
@gsxbarmy Top guy again
I would have needed to look them up in the garage to see air gaps and oil weights/amounts.
:onya:
Well I got the seals done.
The bushes needed doing as well. I'd have thought they would last longer than 118,000kms but I saw the ones they pulled out and they definitely had some notable scuffing on them. They probably could have lasted for longer but it does make sense to change them at the same time.
As far as the springs that are actually in the front - they aren't progressive. At each end they have a short section where the winding is more open than the rest of the springs length. Only about 15mm though, bugger all. I presume the theory is that the initial compression is a tad gentler.... but its such a small amount ?
There are steel spacers around an inch long above each spring too.
No indication whatever of any brand on them.
Weirdness.
Didn't have time to do any fancy suspension adjustments or anything.. they were in a last minute rush before the Christmas break close. I was lucky they could do mine at all !
They had some poor buggers bike in the workshop .. a yammie sports bike IIIRC... and whoever had last 'mechaniced' it didn't tighten up the cam carrier bolts or something along those lines. Anyway it all let go and destroyed the head... That would have been, umm, exciting at the time.
Same boat here with a fork seal letting go a few weeks ago .....
Decided to do a complete overhaul of the forks as bike has 70,000 k's on her.
Parts replaced were:
Forkin seals - All Balls
Bush kit - All Balls
Progressive springs - Wilbers 600-277-000
Forkin Oil - Motorex Racing 10W
All said and done, it's amazing how the front end feels. It's nice and tight, and is smooth into corners encouraging confidence. I bought the bike second hand and it feels amazing now.
Attached some photos regarding this. Buffed the lower forks, and notice the worn bushes replaced. Also info regarding air gap in fork.
Anyway, the advice here inspires the backyard mechanic in me. Sweet. :onya:
Top job Sheepy. :clapping: Same springs i have, one of the better mods for 14. Sure makes it nicer.
Quote from: SheepDog on Monday, 18 February 2019, 02:56 PM
Same boat here with a fork seal letting go a few weeks ago .....
Decided to do a complete overhaul of the forks as bike has 70,000 k's on her.
Parts replaced were:
Forkin seals - All Balls
Bush kit - All Balls
Progressive springs - Wilbers 600-277-000
Forkin Oil - Motorex Racing 10W
All said and done, it's amazing how the front end feels. It's nice and tight, and is smooth into corners encouraging confidence. I bought the bike second hand and it feels amazing now.
Attached some photos regarding this. Buffed the lower forks, and notice the worn bushes replaced. Also info regarding air gap in fork.
Anyway, the advice here inspires the backyard mechanic in me. Sweet. :onya:
Hi
@SheepDog,
Same here, rh fork seal failed today, fork oil running down the fork leg. Any chance of listing the part numbers for the seals and bushes. I'm keen to do the spanner work myself, but I've never done m'cycle forks before. Pretty sure I'll stick with standard springs, but then again I have no idea what's in them now, Bikes got 40,000km on it and I've had it for about 8000 km of those. Any other tips and tricks would be appreciated.
Cheers Eric
Hi Eric, nice to hear from you.
Parts I used are as followed:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/All-Balls-Fork-Seal-Kit-Suzuki-GSX1400-2002-2003-2004-2005-2006-2007-/273428086393?hash=item3fa9957e79
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/All-Balls-Fork-Bush-Kit-Suzuki-GSX1400-2001-2002-2003-2004-2005-2006-2007-2008-/132821382868?hash=item1eecc576d4
Just chased around some bike shops and got best price i could for fork oil (Motorex Racing 10W), very happy with the product.
I made a tool that supports the inner section/damper which is fixed via a allen head bolt via the bottom of the shockie. You just need it to support the inner to re-attach everything. There is info on this website about the tool with 4 prongs on a pipe. Bare with me I'll see if I can post the link (maybe someone can locate it for me). I'll attach a picture sometime of my home made tools, another is the PVC tubes used to slide the seals into place. $5 bucks or what ever from bunnings in materials then knocked up.
I'm in north Brisbane.
Thanks for that, I've read the posts and making the tools doesn't seem too hard.
In I'm WA, so "popping over for a chat" is a bit of a mission, :hat: but thanks for 5e gesture.
I rang the local Suzuki bike shop, they quoted $340 to do the job if I just drop bike off, or $280 if I bring just the forks in.
That's just for seals and new oil, I asked if that includes new bushes etc. and was told that "would be extra". Seems a bit steep to me...
I reckon I'll have a go myself, follow what's on here and at least I've got a backup plan if it goes pear shaped. (Can't be harder that working on my Land Rover Discovery IV.)
Thanks also for the links, I'll chase them up and get that all ordered. At the moment the bike's parked up as the leak is too bad to keep riding, came home today and the whole lower part of the RH fork is coated in oil, some on the brake caliper as well.
If your happy working on a oldlandrover you'll get on just fine following the info here .
If you get stuck just ask .
Good luck .
:onya:
Thanks, btw the bikes older than the Disco, and the bike is far simpler. Just ordered the seals and bushes as per Sheepdogs' advice.
Maybe a silly question, but how do I know if I've got std or progressive springs? I dont know the history of the bike. Are progressive springs a different length or can you only tell by the winding of the coils once they're removed?
Have a look at this thread
http://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=2783.0
It has a picture of an early fork internals .
They are different to the later models but hope it helps you check if yours are standard or not.
The picture shows both early and later models internals
Yours should be the same as the k2 ones on the left.
Good luck
:cheers:
Took some photos of the tools I knocked up.
Used some PVC tube to seat the seals. 50mm internal size with nicks cut along to compress them down to fit around the 46mm chrome forks, then clamped together on the tube.
And a bit of iron tube lying around cut and shaped to hold the damper within the tube while tightening the hex nut from the bottom of the shockie. I'll see if any one can identify what the pipe was used for previously. Hint .... kids loved it.
Swingball? (That's what we call it here.) Tennis ball on a string goes up & down a big spring type thing.
Give that man a cigar. :cheers:
I don't smoke, but a large Jimmy Black n coke would go nice . .
Quote from: Eric GSX1400K3 on Friday, 29 March 2019, 12:20 AM
Thanks, btw the bikes older than the Disco, and the bike is far simpler. Just ordered the seals and bushes as per Sheepdogs' advice.
Maybe a silly question, but how do I know if I've got std or progressive springs? I dont know the history of the bike. Are progressive springs a different length or can you only tell by the winding of the coils once they're removed?
A standard spring has the same spacing all the way down the spring coils, a progressive spring has shorter spacing between the coils at one end of the spring.
Quote from: mjgt on Friday, 29 March 2019, 06:11 PM
Quote from: Eric GSX1400K3 on Friday, 29 March 2019, 12:20 AM
Thanks, btw the bikes older than the Disco, and the bike is far simpler. Just ordered the seals and bushes as per Sheepdogs' advice.
Maybe a silly question, but how do I know if I've got std or progressive springs? I dont know the history of the bike. Are progressive springs a different length or can you only tell by the winding of the coils once they're removed?
A standard spring has the same spacing all the way down the spring coils, a progressive spring has shorter spacing between the coils at one end of the spring.
Thanks that's exactly what I thought. Seal and bush kit ordered, will strip the forks down this w'end and make the tools I need, should be sorted by next weekend