Fork suspension oil questions

[roadkill]

Finally got the bike raised up in the shed and took the fork legs out.





The oil looked pretty dirty. Ive never changed the oil before in the fork.

What type of oil should I get?

All i did was loosen the top part of the fork and drain it upside down, are there any other maintenance things I should do while I have the forks out?

I really need to get to the steering bearings. But i have no idea what to do.


there is a nut on the top part below the handlebars. But it seems really hard to get to, im not sure i have the tool. It has to be really thin?

How do I get it out?

As far as oil goes use a good motorcycle specific fork oil thats a 5w or better. I used Bel-Ray 10w but I weigh 260 ready to roll. Get a shop manual or someone you trust that has done steering stem bearings before because there is not any room for error when you set them up. You will need a special tool to loosen the funny looking nut on top off the upper triple clamp in order to loosen the nut under the upper triple clamp. Good luck and happy wrenching! :hammer:

[roadkill]

Dang, can't believe I have to buy a special tool for that.

There goes my lunch money!

[kuhlka]

I made a tool to remove my top nut by grinding down a bit socket so it had all the little teeth. I think the regular nut socket only has like two teeth and is fairly expensive unless you get it on t595.net or ebay.

After you get that top nut off the rest is easy as far as removing the triples.

Bearings are another issue. The lower bearing on the steering stem is a PITA to remove without a tool. If you're REALLY careful, you could dradually cut it off with a grinder, but this would be dangerous as you might dig into the stem. I used a die grinder to remove the lower steering stem race from my GSXR triple. Maybe take it to a local shop and see if they have the tool and can do it for cheap.

The top bearing is a PITA as well, but not as bad as you just use a piece of pipe that'll fit the hole and gradually tap (more like smack the hell out of) the bearing to get it to rise up and out. Installing a new top bearing isn't nearly as scary as removing. Just be sure to use a block of wood or other flat even soft surface to gradually tap the new bearing back down into the frame. Using a rubber mallet with a small piece of 2x4 works nicely. OH, and make sure to PACK the bearings with bearing grease before you install them.

[roadkill]

Now i've done it.

Havent started with the steering head bearings.

But now i broke something inside the fork.

I was undoing the little nut on the rod of the fork and it snapped the rod. I think i need the bottom section of the rod now!!

I should have left well enough alone. But I wanted to get to the springs because i was thinking of ordering new springs( I hear its a good modification to do, and better than the stock ones).

Im planning on filing down a wrench and trying to remove the bearings, but now im not sure. Maybe a professional should do this. The triumph tools are expensive!