fork oil

[El__burro]

I ve realised that the front forks have little resistance, perhaps a lack of oil.
What oil and how much of it should I use to replace the old one.

thanks
el__burro

[Johnwebley]

use ATF auto fluid

 as for amount,check manuals,

 the 500 uses about 160cc

[El__burro]

I guess i need to buy 0.5L of SAE 10W-30 to completely replace the oil.
is any 10w-30 good even if not fork oil?
Is just 10w ok?
Also how to i test if the oil seals are good. (eventually before oil change)

thanks
el__burro

[Bryanj]

 Any 10w30 is OK and the only way to test the seals is put oil in and see if it leaks out

[Chris400F]

I used 10W fork oil when I replaced the seals on my 400. I bought Castrol, it's cheap enough from eBay.
What I did find when I stripped the fork legs was that there was sludge at the bottom of the forks - I suspect the oil was the original - so I cleaned all that out before reassembly.
Replacing seals isn't that difficult (well, assuming nothing is seized when dismantling).
I'd be tempted to change them anyway and make sure all is clean inside while doing the job.

[MrDavo]

My oil seals had made it obvious they were shot by filling the lower part of the gaiters with oily gunge. I got a litre of 10-30 from Halfords, in the bike section. I got new seals from David Silver, with the forks off the bike and the spring caps and oil seal circlips removed (I bought a pair of circlip pliers with a 90 degree bend, again Halfords) the old seals came straight out with a sharp pull, driven by the 'top hat' bush below the seal. I was worried at first that there was no sign of the plain washer between the seal and the circlip shown in my parts book, but the Honda manual explains that this was deleted when they changed the seal.

Using my race bike set up experience, I may play around with different oil weights, or even fit Progressive springs, but I wanted to go 'Honda stock' so I have a baseline setting to compare with. My Sportster was way too soft as supplied new, so I went heavier oil and Progressive springs to good effect as well as much better ground clearance.

[El__burro]

Replacing seals isn't that difficult (well, assuming nothing is seized when dismantling).
I'd be tempted to change them anyway...

I need to remove the front wheel with brake lines and callipers and mudguard..
unless there is another way..

thanks
el__burro

[Chris400F]

Yes, you would need to remove these parts.
But you should be able to support the calipers somehow e.g. suspend them from the handlebars with some string or wire, so you shouldn't have to disconnect anything.
Just don't squeeze the brake lever while in this state.

[MrDavo]

I hung the caliper from the horizontal cross brace on the frame, below the steering head, with a large zip tie. No problem, because of the flexible lower hose.

Once the front wheel is out, its a five minute job to remove the mudguard and the 3 caliper bolts, dont forget to undo the threaded caliper adjuster, once you have taken the nut off.

[El__burro]

Actually I have 2 callipers and one of them has 15 spacers. Definitely no need to remove the forks from the trees.

[JamesH]

El burro I think you're starting to confuse me a bit here. If I understand you correctly, you're looking to change the fork oil seals correct? (In addition to replacing the fork oil). If this is the case, you will need to remove the forks from the bike. To do this you'll obviously need to remove the front wheel, mudguard, calipers (unless you want the hassle of re-bleeding the brake setup) in order to withdraw the forks from the triple tree to ovehaul them properly.

[Chris400F]

Actually I have 2 callipers and one of them has 15 spacers. Definitely no need to remove the forks from the trees.

Now you know how thick the spacer needs to be could you replace the 15 with 1 of the required thickness?
Sounds like it would make life much easier in the long run.