Triumphrat

dazco · 01-19-2006

heres a question no one may know, but maybe if someone reading this is about to do any work on the forks they could check and let me know. Can anyone tell me either:

1)-with the caps off and the bike on a jack with the front wheel off the ground what the distance should be from the top of the fork to the top of the oil level?

OR:

2)-same measurement but with the bike NOT on a jack and straight up.

Either one will do, so if anyone knows either or is about to work on thier shocks and could check for me i'd appriciate it.

SalMaglie · 01-19-2006

I don't have any of those measurements, but I can tell you what the book says. The manual has these specs and instructions:

Fork oil capacity - 548cc
Fork oil level(fork fully compressed) - 166mm below inner tube upper surface.

Note: these instructions assume that your starting with a fork that's empty of oil.

1. Upright the fork and fill it with the specified grade and type of fork oil until the oil level is slightly above the recommended level.
2. Pump the fork assembly several times to expel any trapped air then fully compress the fork and support it in an upright position. Leave the fork for a few minutes to allow the oil level to stabilize.

Then it goes into using the Triumph specific tool to set the oil level heighth. The tool is pn 3880160-T0301. But you can do this the poor man's way by using a wooden dowel and measuring the fork oil level....or at least that's how I did it.

Last step is to smear some fork oil on the spring seat o-ring, and screw the cap on the fork.

Btw, this is straight from my service manual, but I bought it 2 1/2 years ago when my bike was new. I doubt though that it would be any different for your 2005 model. FWIW, I wouldn't trust any measurement taken by some other method like you're asking about in your post, but that's just me.

dazco · 01-19-2006

Whoa......i must be getting old...possibly alzhiemers ! I looked at your post and then opened a program called "convert" which converts various measurment of weight, distance, etc. I was going to enter 166 mm as you said and convert it to inches. the program opens up with the last conversion you did still entered. I haven't used it in a long time. So i open it and entered already is 166 with the "input" field set to mm and the "output" field set to inches !!! I must have read this in my manual long ago and converted it already ! Geez.......i better get a brain scan done. :-D

Anyway, i recall looking at the manual and something about that section was confusing and i don't recall what, but i figured i'd ask and see if anyone here knew. Anyway, 166mm converts to about 6.5".

So lemmie get this perfectly straight..... when they say forks fully compressed i assume if i remove the caps with the bike on the ground (not on jack) they should be fully compressed and then the oil should be 6.5" below the top of the fork where the cap would be while sitting on the bike to keep it straight up, correct?

Bryan · 01-20-2006

Dazco I would remove the caps while the bike is up on the jack then let it down after the tension on the springs have been relieved.

SalMaglie · 01-20-2006

No, that's removing each individual fork, uprighting it...or making it plumb(straight up and down), and then on with the compress and measure. Like I said, I wouldn't shortcut it and try to do it any other way like measuring with the forks still on the bike, but that's just me. I also wouldn't trust what's in there to be at the correct level, even from the factory. Of course if you had a dozen or more people responding to your request about measuring the level with the forks on the bike, you could average it out. But somehow I don't think you're going to get that many people in here to give you that info.

Btw, if you have too much oil in the fork, you can use a cheap Turkey baster to remove some if the level is too high. If the Turkey baster doesn't reach the oil, you can attach an extension tube purchased at any well equiped hardware store. Saves you from having to buy the expensive Triumph tool.

Shorty · 01-20-2006

Now I'm confused...when the manual says for example 150 mm (5.5 ") from the top, does that mean with the front end off the ground on a jack or with the bike sitting on the ground?
I was following the instructions when I did my front fork springs last weekend, and I thought that I read NOT to put the weight of the bike on the front fork to prevent them from collapsing ( I replaced both springs at the same time and not one at a time).
If that's the case, I may have overfilled the forks because after I replaced the stock spring with the larger Progressive Suspension spring, the oil level was right below the 3" spacer before I put the fork caps back on (with the bike still on the jack).
If I understand you guys correctly, seems like I might have to remove some of the fork oil because I don't think I did it right.

Shorty

ssjones · 01-20-2006

Quote:

On 2006-01-20 04:55, SalMaglie wrote:
No, that's removing each individual fork, uprighting it...or making it plumb(straight up and down), and then on with the compress and measure. Like I said, I wouldn't shortcut it and try to do it any other way like measuring with the forks still on the bike, but that's just me. I also wouldn't trust what's in there to be at the correct level, even from the factory. Of course if you had a dozen or more people responding to your request about measuring the level with the forks on the bike, you could average it out. But somehow I don't think you're going to get that many people in here to give you that info.

Btw, if you have too much oil in the fork, you can use a cheap Turkey baster to remove some if the level is too high. If the Turkey baster doesn't reach the oil, you can attach an extension tube purchased at any well equiped hardware store. Saves you from having to buy the expensive Triumph tool.

Just did this last night, after completing my fork polish job. Daughters boyfriend brought over his fork-oil tool. It has a measuring stick that sits on top of the compressed fork, tube runs to a syringe you use to suck out the oil to the pre-set level. When the tube in the fork runs dry, you are at the level set. Worked real well, I'll take a photo of the tool some time this weekend.
He would only do this while my forks were off the bike and completely vertical. I imagine even with the forks canted at several degrees that would affect the measurement.
I'll post a few pix of the process over the weekend.
I'm just waiting on my Progressive fork springs to arrive, than ready to ride!

ssjones · 01-20-2006

[quote]
On 2006-01-20 05:32, ssjones wrote:

Quote:

On 2006-01-20 04:55, SalMaglie wrote:
No, that's removing each individual fork, uprighting it...or making it plumb(straight up and down), and then on with the compress and measure. Like I said, I wouldn't shortcut it and try to do it any other way like measuring with the forks still on the bike, but that's just me. I also wouldn't trust what's in there to be at the correct level, even from the factory. Of course if you had a dozen or more people responding to your request about measuring the level with the forks on the bike, you could average it out. But somehow I don't think you're going to get that many people in here to give you that info.

Btw, if you have too much oil in the fork, you can use a cheap Turkey baster to remove some if the level is too high. If the Turkey baster doesn't reach the oil, you can attach an extension tube purchased at any well equiped hardware store. Saves you from having to buy the expensive Triumph tool.

I used about 1.5 qts of fork oil. You overfill and suck out the excess which is discarded. He also had me pump the fork tube up and down about a dozen times to remove any air.

[ This message was edited by: ssjones on 2006-01-20 05:34 ]

dazco · 01-20-2006

This is becoming one of those PITA things that never gets resolved ! And triumph's manual describes how to do it by removing the forks. ARE THEY FRUCKING CRAZY!!!!!! Remove the frucking forks to change some oil? By that measure it should be at least an hour long job to top off the air in your tires ! Jesus H C ! Doesn't anyone find it insane that you'd have to remove the forks to top off the oil correctly? I find it completely unacceptable because i removed the front wheel and one fork leg already in an attemp to polish my shrouds and found it was a pretty big job which took probably an hour and 1/2.

Sorry, but this friggin bike has shown itself to be the single most needy vehicle i have ever owned. Maintenance is far too often and too much. The valve adjustment unlike older bikes i owned is a major undertaking which i'm barely starting to come to grips with, now this. Go ahead, bash me. But it just ain't right.

Ok, i'm better now, back to the subject at hand. In the manual it shows a picture of the top of the fork leg and a measurement that shows the oil is supposed to be 166mm below the top of the tube with the forks fully compressed. I am getting the feeling from these replies that ya'll think i cannot simply remove the caps with the bike on the ground and put a dipstick in the tube and see if it's 166mm below the opening. I don't understand where i'm seeing this worng then? Manual say 166mm below the top with forks fully compressed. Wouldn't they be fully compressed with the caps off and the bike on the ground? What am i missing here? (i realize forks wont be straight up and down due to the rake but that won't make any significant difference in the reading)

mag10 · 01-20-2006

THats what you get for tinkering with things!

Really, why are you needing to change or add fork oil to an 05 bike? It is leaking? Do you have so many miles on the bike that the oil is worn out? Or is this another attempt at preformance improvement on your part? If it is the later then expect to have to work at it some.