Why does....

[Coval 289]

fresh, purple coloured Silkolene fork oil turn dark metallic grey after 3 weeks of use?

 

[Tonyj 6,907]

Something is rubbing on metal ? 

[outrunner 4,457]

Did you clean the forks out properly or perhaps water getting in somehow? If you ask a mechanic they will probably say.................they all do that sir.

 

 

 

Andy.

[Guest Mac750]

20 minutes ago, outrunner said:

Did you clean the forks out properly or perhaps water getting in somehow? If you ask a mechanic they will probably say.................they all do that sir.

 

 

 

Andy.

Dammerals would 😂

[Guest bonekicker]

Did you clean out all sludge? before new oil was  put in? 

[Guest Mac750]

+1 as above and water ingress will turn it to yuck in no time. Did you changed your fork seals at the same time whilst the forks was out ?. If still the originals is rain water getting past and in. Is it parked outside all day in the rain maybe ?.

[Coval 289]

In my quest to improve front suspension I changed the oil 5 times and seals (incl bushes) 3 times since March. Also taken the caps off at least 2 dozen times in order to make emulator adjustments.

Every time the oil gets greyish after about 10 days. I suspect K-tech springs rubbibg against stanchion tubes or grey teflon the bushes are lined with?

Fork lowers are drained and cleaned every time and there is no chance of water getting in.

Bizarre.

 

BTW, if you need seals/bushes replaced, I can do it within an hour   

yes, practice makes perfect

Edited August 17, 2017 by Coval

[Guest aldmannie]

Does it matter what colour it is so long as it works...?

[Guest Mac750]

I changed the oil in the MZ forks, they had not been touched from new .

 

Comrades ve have all this animal slurry from the communal farms vot should ve do with it, it will bring environmental shame to our beloved state should zee vest find out.

 

 I have it Comrades the decadent vesterners vont soft suspension ya, so ve vill pour it into the fork legs of MZeds exported to decadent vesteners. 

 

 

[outrunner 4,457]

8 hours ago, Coval said:

 

BTW, if you need seals/bushes replaced, I can do it within an hour  

 

Does that include taking the forks out?

 

 

Andy.

[Coval 289]

8 minutes ago, outrunner said:

Does that include taking the forks out?

 

 

Andy.

Yep however, now that you mentioned it, I wonder if there is a way of replacing the seals/bushes with the forks in situ?

[CFB 4,602]

The only way would be to undo the stantion bolts and pull them off the bottom of the fork tubes.

It would be very messy with all that oil running everywhere though.

I wonder if you could do that without taking the wheel out too?

Edited August 17, 2017 by CFB

[XXX 2,697]

8 hours ago, CFB said:

The only way would be to undo the stantion bolts and pull them off the bottom of the fork tubes.

It would be very messy with all that oil running everywhere though.

I wonder if you could do that without taking the wheel out too?

Wouldn't it be simpler just to change bikes?

[Coval 289]

15 hours ago, CFB said:

The only way would be to undo the stantion bolts and pull them off the bottom of the fork tubes.

It would be very messy with all that oil running everywhere though.

I wonder if you could do that without taking the wheel out too?

Only with the bike turned up-side -down I guess.

[CFB 4,602]

3 hours ago, Coval said:

Only with the bike turned up-side -down I guess.

 

Or strung from the ceiling.

Have done that before, when changing the whole front end on SWMBO's Hornet

[Rick 236]

Not a job I have done very often, as mentioned in other discussions I like to keep my fork legs very clean to prevent seal problems, and have had several bikes do over 50,000 miles without leaking. But if I am servicing the forks then I remove the legs and give the whole things a good clean, how often do you see a bike with rusty fork legs above the bottom yolk and you can be sure the legs are rusty under the triple clamps. Bite the bullet, pull it to bits and why not Greece the head races as they probably need it.

[Guest Mac750]

They use to fit bleed screws at the bottom of forks but that would be too easy 😁, 

[TheEnglishman 401]

Change fork oil and seals at the same time.  Well, thet's what I do every 30 odd thousand/2 years or so. 

[Guest aldmannie]

8 hours ago, Mac750 said:

They use to fit bleed screws at the bottom of forks but that would be too easy 😁, 

 

Same applies to grease nipples on swingarms etc.

[Rick 236]

Yes, all good ideas but would raise the cost of bike and reduce the cost of servicing  which Honda dealers would lose out on.

[Trumpet 216]

It also starts to smell rank after a short time as well as turning black. Not nice. No idea why fork oil does this. Its not stuff rubbing. As long as its damping properly ..

Edited August 20, 2017 by Trumpet