'07 Fork Oil Change

K

Kelly Belly! :DD

New member
Yes sir. The strap wrench is the ticket. Protected with inner-tube rubber is exactly the way it should be done.

Good luck and report back with your top fill approach.
 
I just got back from the HD shop and will do the job probably tomorrow. I'll be installing some SE 15w fork oil this time, as I've been told it firms up the front and reduces bottoming. The parts guy at the local HD shop, who used to be the service manager, said the top-fill approach would work but that pumping the forks to force out all the used oil was necessary. He also verified putting a little new oil in at a time so it could work its way past the damper valve, pumping the forks between fillings. Also, rather than installing the prescribed amount of new oil, put in exactly the amount drained. Makes sense unless they filled it wrong at the factory, which is doubtful.
 
Very nice indeed. Did you measure how much came out and then replace it with that same amount? How did the oil look?

Beary
 
Nice write up. I like to use Bell Ray brand fork oil since it sold by number weight 5,10,15,20 insteed of letter type like Harley E Brand which is a 5 weight. Some people report good luck useing Mobil 1 ATF fluid somewhere between a 7.5-10 weight.
 
When I rebuilt my Dads forks on his bike he wanted to go to a heavier wt. fork oil and after calling around to the local wrenches they told me the same thing regarding the use of ATF (automatic transmission fluid) in the forks for oil. AS LONG AS IT IS NON-DETERGENT.......per multiple Indy's recommendation. Something in regards to the detergent degrading the rubber seals. We opted for branded fork oil, but a neat bit of info nevertheless.

EDIT: I too agree with the convenient use of BelRay since the wt. is evident. Takes the guess work out of the equation.
 
The drained oil from each fork measured just below 11 oz. (spec is 10.8 oz. for EG, 11.1 for RK) on my 16-oz. graduated beaker, a remnant of my old photo darkroom. Pumping the forks did not extract any more oil, so I don't think that is necessary--but it takes 5 min. or more for all the old oil to drain, so just be patient. Once drained I added 10.8 oz. (couldn't get that precise, so just a hair below 11 oz.) of the new SE Heavy oil.

I was expecting to add only the amount what was drained, and really didn't know what to expect. I was surprised that apparently all the oil drained.

The original oil was dark gray, almost black, and had a strong odor, unlike any oil I've encountered. It's definitely not typical fork oil, and it looked like it might have moly or graphite additives in the formula.

The only trick to this whole project was getting the drain screws out of the forks and adding the oil a little at a time, pumping the forks 4-5 times in between. If you can't get the drain plugs out you should be able to extract them with vise grips, as they have a large head--then replace them with new ones. I just found the torque spec on the drain plugs, which is 78-96 inch-pounds. I didn't torque mine, but just firmed them up like I used to on my old RK. They were originally much tighter than spec, and I almost couldn't get them off.
 
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