I pulled the front forks off to replace the oil seals on my '84 Aspencade and am ready to put it all back together. Can I refill the forks with oil through the drain plug at the bottom of the fork housing? I was able to pull the fork sleeve, bushing and seal out without undoing the bolt at the top of the sleeve that holds the springs in. My wing has an updated set of progressive springs and I simply do not have the strength to compress the springs while screwing the cap back on.
My service manual says to fill the oil from the top, but can I do it from the bottom before installing it all back in the frame? What is the difference?
GL1200A Front Fork Oil Refilling
-
WingAdmin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 23863
- Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:16 pm
- Location: Strongsville, OH
- Motorcycle: 2000 GL1500 SE
1982 GL1100A Aspencade (sold)
1989 PC800 (sold)
1998 XV250 Virago (sold)
2012 Suzuki Burgman 400 (wife's!)
2007 Aspen Sentry Trailer - Contact:
Re: GL1200A Front Fork Oil Refilling
It depends.
You can fill it this way if you are measuring the amount of fluid you're putting in - but this is rarely the best way to measure. Putting 100 ml (or whatever) of fluid in a dry, freshly rebuilt shock will result in a different fluid level than putting 100 ml of fluid in a shock that just had fluid drained out of it (and the insides are still coated with a think layer of fluid). And it's the fluid level in the shock that is important.
Also, if you have put aftermarket springs or other hardware in the shock, that will affect the fluid capacity of the shock, so putting 100 ml of fluid will likely end up with a fluid level that is too high or too low.
You can fill it this way if you are measuring the amount of fluid you're putting in - but this is rarely the best way to measure. Putting 100 ml (or whatever) of fluid in a dry, freshly rebuilt shock will result in a different fluid level than putting 100 ml of fluid in a shock that just had fluid drained out of it (and the insides are still coated with a think layer of fluid). And it's the fluid level in the shock that is important.
Also, if you have put aftermarket springs or other hardware in the shock, that will affect the fluid capacity of the shock, so putting 100 ml of fluid will likely end up with a fluid level that is too high or too low.