1998 Front Forks.W/O Air valve.

[ginblueearth]

Please forgive me. I know this is probably on the form somewhere. But I can't find it. I recently purchased a 1998 Interstate. for $850. I'm fixing everything on it myself. I wanna change the oil in the forks. The forks have been leaking. I have everything here to rebuild them. As the title says, they're the ones without air valves. I have taken the caps off The caps are the type with the hex wrench. The springs are two pieces? A longer one and then a shorter one. On the top. There is a washer in between. Are these factory springs? When you take the caps off the top spring sticks out. About 6 inches. Like I said, they were leaking, so there was not much oil in them. So I don't know what the level was supposed to be. I have a Haynes manual. which in my opinion is excuse the expression. as worthless as **** on a turtle. Is there a better manual? So here are my questions. the 1 I just asked, is there a better manual for the. 1500 # 2 Are the springs the factory oem? springs? Two springs. no air valve. The cap on the top has a hex head. Question number 3 When I reassemble how much oil do I put in? And what weight? Oil. Do I use? 10w 15w Transmission fluid? I'm on a fixed income, trying to keep the cost as low as possible. Right now. with new tires put on it, I have a total of $1000 invested in this motorcycle. runs great. Everything works on it. On a scale of one to 10. running wise. It's probably an 8 or 9 paint wise. It's about a 2. but I really don't care about the paint. I will Repainted. If I really think it's necessary. please help me out with this fork business. The stuff I could find. was mostly for forks with the air valves. and that was very confusing. It talked about progressive springs. And stuff I did not understand at all. All advice and Help. is. appreciated. but please don't confuse me. I just need advice on the forks without air valves. A Big Thank you in advance. Glen Murra I do wanna add one more thing. I can get a hold of the fork caps. That have air valves in them. For a very good price. If you think adding those in place of the ones with the hex heads, would be a good idea.

[WingsandThings]

Here is a link to a "Do it Yourself" post on how to rebuild your forks that will answer most if not all of your question

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=16118

The 2 springs in each fork are original equipment.
There is a honda manual,, you might find one on ebay.
The air valves are not really needed in my opinion.

[Rambozo]

Your best bet is to get the factory service manual. They can often be found on ebay at a good price.
Only the SE models had air cap on the forks. However, some people add them to the fork caps, not so much for adding air, but more to make changing the fork oil easier. Some stock springs were made up of two springs stacked up.
There will always be some confusion about progressive springs. Progressive springs have tighter coils at one end than the other and can make the forks variable in how they soak up bumps. Softer over the small stuff but firm enough not to bottom out over larger dips. There is also a company called "Progressive Suspension". They happen to be one of the more popular makers of fork springs and shocks. So, you can have Progressive progressive springs as many people do, myself included. The stock springs are often worn out by now, as these bikes are getting old.
Stock was 10 weight fork oil. Different weights can tune the suspension. What is the best weight depends on a lot of things like load, road conditions, speed, and personal preference. The amount of oil is listed in the FSM and I think is different for the Interstate. It is typically measured by removing the springs and collapsing the fork, then you measure down from the top of the fork. Because this is a PITA unless you are rebuilding the forks, you will find topics that cover how to measure the oil without taking the forks apart. Somewhere is a chart for stock springs, or progressives, and with the progressives installed tight coils down or tight coils up. Since you will have the forks apart, you can set the oil level using the factory method. If you put plugs or air caps on, you might want to measure your oil level with a wire and make a note of it. So, in the future you can change the fork oil without removing the caps.