Triumphrat

05-26-2005

As a newbee here I appologize upfront for asking this question, but can anyone here tell me the amount of fork oil (by volume) the factory placed inthe front forks of the 1995 Daytona 1200 motorbikes?

I have aquired a pristeen Daytona 1200, 1400mi, and it looks like it was never touched after the 500 mi check.

I am upgrading the front end a bit, and wanted to dump the old crud. As measured the volume of both forks was approx. 300ml. These forks are mint, no leaks, and great seals so I assume that over time the bike has not lost fork oil. It just seems to be a minimal amount for this big red sled.

Can anyone give me some direction here?

Thanks
Scott :???:

05-26-2005

Well, no word from the RAT, I will replace with 300 - 325ml of synthetic 10wt and call it good...

Hinckley · 05-27-2005

A little time to respond would be in order here.....

Fork oil levels are not listed by volume.....

Here is what is listed in the Triumph Service manual:

With the spring removed and the fork compressed......

VIN # Oil Level (Std) Oil Level (Max)

<9082 132mm 132mm
9083-29155 139mm 132mm
29156-33785 128mm 128mm
33786-36445 139mm 132mm
36446-greater 128mm 128mm

nyolds · 06-01-2005

After doing a fork spring swap and new oil seals I was wondering the same.
After reading the book they give you an amount that each fork required in cc's at the beginning, but as I read on there is a measurement from the top of the oil to the top of the fork that is needed.
All I did was get one of my old turkey marinade injectors and put a piece of small tubing on it cut for the measurement needed and extracted the proper amount. Works like a charm and the bike handles well.

BadMiker · 06-02-2005

I was talking about this with a friend the other day, he was of the opinion that the only function of the fork oil is to damp the movement, and that therefore you only needed enough to be sure it was going to cover the damper mechanism holes at the bottom of the fork.

By this logic, precise oil measurement is pointless?

Sounds too simplistic to me?

Mike

nyolds · 06-02-2005

I kinda agree but because of performance issues and weight distribution you would want a specific amount.
You need enough to keep the temp in a desired range because the hotter the fluid the lower the viscosity and the worse the fork will perform.
You also want the bike to handle better so keeping the weight equal of both forks achieves that.

06-03-2005

Sorry for not allowing enough time for some to respond, but I was in the middle of this task, and fork oil was flowing on the keyboard

Thanks for the help Re: Daytona 1200 fork oil replacement etc. I was hoping for a volume based measure vs. linear as shown in my Triumph shop manual.

Based upon the vin#, and using a home built tool to measure as per my Triumph manual, it appears to be approx 300ml of fork oil to satisfy the requirement.

I did change the fork oil called out in the shop manual from the 5wt to a 10wt synthetic , and raised the fork a couple mm. All in all quite a noticable change to the better...

Now for the handle bars and a suitable replacement, (aka: risers) and / or the new tire selection for the big red sled as my next challenge

Again Thank You
Scott

BTW, I did replace the clip-ons when I serviced the front forks. I found that the Heli -Bars riser built for the Honda XX Blackbird fits like a glove, and really takes the crook outta the back of my neck. It took about 20 minutes to fit, and other than a repaint from grey as supplied to black. the clip-ons are gone, and comfort reigns :razz:

Now for some good rubber...