Fork Oil

[1monkey1]

Evening all.
I am going to change my springs and fork oil soon.
It just says ss-08 or equivalent
My question is, what type of 10w oil?
Mineral oil or  Fully Synthetic oil?
I noticed in the manual I will need 505 ml of oil. So I have to buy 3, 0.5 Litre bottles. Only need 10 ml out of the 3rd bottle. What a bugger!

[Sam]

Firstly, I thought that Suzuki specify 524ml of oil per fork.
More importantly though, it is best to set it by measuring the air gap at the top, which Suzuki recommend is 143mm.
Additionally if you are changing the springs to a different make (such as Hagon) they will usually give their own recommendation (Hagon recommend 150mm).

[1monkey1]

Only going on what the downloaded manual says for now.
Not looked at hagon instructions yet
Service manual 8.48 says 505 ml each fork.
Easier to get an idea of how much needed now, than realising half way through filling up the 2nd fork on a Sunday afternoon, only to find out you ain't got enough

[mjc506]

5ml isn't going to make any difference.

I personally use silkolene 10w fork oil, but (one)fortunately, all manufacturers 10w is different. If you're a light rider, and/or you prefer a plush fork action, and aren't worried about brake dive, go for a lighter oil. If you're heavier, prefer a 'firmer' feel, and throw the bike around in twisties/heavy braking, go for a heavier oil.

You can also change how the fork behaves by changing how much oil you put in there - I won't go too in depth, but basically, the more fork oil (ie, the smaller the air gap) in each leg, the more the fork will resist bottoming (but too much, and you could lose travel, making the fork harsh, and maybe even blow seals!).

A good starting point is ~150mm air gap (with the fork compressed, springs out). This should be doable with one 1l tub of oil.

If you want it perfect, you've got a long road of experimenting to get it just right!

[frez]

Fork oils of the same weight by different manufactures vary by viscosity to quite an extent. There is no 'standard'. The table on this link shows data on most fork oils available.

 I think the columns that matter most are cSt @ 40C which gives you an idea of the relative viscosity of the different oils at 40C, and VI (higher is better as a high value indicates that the viscosity doesn't change much with temperature). The nominal weight column shows what the manufacturer marks the oil as. I used Silkolene Pro RSF 10 when I did my forks, some might find that too thick but I was putting strong springs in to cope with my large weight and I wanted an increase in damping for them.

http://mahonkin.com/~milktree/motorcycles/fork-oil.html

[Sam]

Sorry my above post & figures are for the Wee.
Not sure if you have a Wee or Vee    I'm now guessing its a Vee,
So please ignore my previous post.

[1monkey1]

Yes Sam it's a vee, sorry should of said .
thanks frez and mjc506.
I am not looking for the nirvana of suspension settings. Just making front end a little better for my slender frame
So makes no difference if it's mineral or Synthetic.
Just wanted to check just in case it is like the fully or semi synthetic engine oil debate!
All l  am doing is new hagon springs and new oil.
My days of hammering it everywhere have long past!

[frez]

I'm not sure fully or semi synthetic matter. I'd suggest picking something close to what you already have in terms of viscosity. My change was on a wee. I don't know what the stock oil is on a vee.

[1monkey1]

Will ring my local stealer and ask what they recommend . Obviously I won't get the oil from them. Will probably get it much cheaper at my local independent bike shop