fork oil again

Hi guys. what effect does oil level have in the forks besides stopping bottoming out.?

Curious myself... the actual pistons are way down there.

The oil level affects the amount of air trapped in the fork. On compression stroke the air acts as a second spring when compressed. The more oil the less air volume and the faster it builds up compression. Less oil, more air volume takes more stroke to build the same compression level.

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The oil/air level does come into play. Any damping rod fork is a compromise, also considering it has no rebound or compression damping adjustments. It's an old design that has been around forever. If you do a simple sag measurement, you're likely to find the springs are too weak for the weight of you and the bike, and if you're bottoming out, you should upgrade the springs (a lot of bikes are undersprung from the get go). Next consideration is a heavier weight fork oil which will increase damping. You could also install valving such as RaceTech gold valves or Traxxion cartridges or other options, but now you're starting to spend some serious money. All worth it IMHO, and if you do it, you'll wonder why you waited so long.........

Of course, after you improve the forks, you'll find the rear shock is also inadequate........ but if I had an ST tomorrow, the first place my money would go would be into the suspension. Once you've had aftermarket suspension, you'll think you have a new bike........

Again, bottoming out and a diving front end aren't good..... why not measure that sag and at least get new springs. That's a reasonably cheap fix for now.

RaYzerman said:

Of course, after you improve the forks, you'll find the rear shock is also inadequate........ but if I had an ST tomorrow, the first place my money would go would be into the suspension. Once you've had aftermarket suspension, you'll think you have a new bike........

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Have a friends 1100 in my shop going through "all" the routine maintenance and indicated to him the suspension is in dire need. Talked him into riding my '99 which I upgraded a couple of years ago with a "Traxxion" front end and a custom built "Penski" rear shock. This man has owned several Honda ST1100's and has logged many a mile on them. I talked him into riding mine to see if he would notice the difference a few extra bucks would make in the ride. After several hours, he returned a believer! He now wants that type of performance from his bike, so we are now in the process of finding the best bang for the buck for his weight and riding style.

mlheck said:

he oil level affects the amount of air trapped in the fork. On compression stroke the air acts as a second spring when compressed.

Click to expand...

Oh yesh..duh! I knew that from the days of mountain bike. See the forest in the trees...