ST1300 front fork oil replacement

TourNut

TourNut

Joined
Jun 21, 2011
Messages
1,116
Age
71
Location
Ada ( Grand Rapids ) Michigan
Bike
'07 ST 1300 & '91 GW
STOC #
8421
I am wanting to change fork oil due to me not knowing how much seeped out when seal got dirt trapped . I am planning to completely free tubes from steering clamps , brakes , wheels and top fill caps . ( only 22K miles )

Question is : can I then pour it out of the top & refill at that point ?

Do I pull out springs to measure oil level from the top ?

Thank you for replies ....
 
Yes, after removal from the bike and wheel pull out the spacer, spring, and washer. Turn the assembly upside down to drain. Some oil is trapped in the damping cartridge. The small tube set inside the fork tube can be pumped up and down to allow trapped oil to drain out of the cartridge. I then suggest spraying brake cleaner or a other suitable solvent down in the tube to clean out gunk that settles to the bottom of the fork tubes. Pump the tube in the leg and the damping rod inside the tube again to clean out the cartridge then turn the tube upside down again to completely drain it. Pump the damping tube with the assembly upside down - more oil will drain and it will be nasty looking.

I leave them draining upside down for a few hours or overnight before reassembly. Oil level is measured with the tube collapsed down into the outer leg and the damping tube pulled all the way up. Don't forget to pump the tube up and down in the leg and pump the damping tube up and down a few times to expel trapped air out of the cartridge and fill it with oil for accurate level measurement. If you have a syringe and some vinyl tubing you can make setting the level very easy. With this tool you fill it to a level slightly higher than 62 mm then suck the excess out. The level will be set at 62 mm.
 

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dduelin said:
Yes, after removal from the bike and wheel pull out the spacer, spring, and washer. Turn the assembly upside down to drain. Some oil is trapped in the damping cartridge. The small tube set inside the fork tube can be pumped up and down to allow trapped oil to drain out of the cartridge. I then suggest spraying brake cleaner or a other suitable solvent down in the tube to clean out gunk that settles to the bottom of the fork tubes. Pump the tube in the leg and the damping rod inside the tube again to clean out the cartridge then turn the tube upside down again to completely drain it. Pump the damping tube with the assembly upside down - more oil will drain and it will be nasty looking.

I leave them draining upside down for a few hours or overnight before reassembly. Oil level is measured with the tube collapsed down into the outer leg and the damping tube pulled all the way up. Don't forget to pump the tube up and down in the leg and pump the damping tube up and down a few times to expel trapped air out of the cartridge and fill it with oil for accurate level measurement. If you have a syringe and some vinyl tubing you can make setting the level very easy. With this tool you fill it to a level slightly higher than 62 mm then suck the excess out. The level will be set at 62 mm.
Click to expand...

Wow , thanks !
 
This is MUCH easier than I thought. I did mine a few months ago, and it was VERY easy. I tried to do it WITHOUT removing the side plastic, but it has to be removed. I put a jack under the front end, to give it some stability, but it was pretty good without. I made a wire "gauge" to measure the height of the oil, and it worked well, but I like the syringe idea.

Some hints:
1. The cheapest place to get the 17mm hex socket is Harbor Freight. Yes, you can use a 17mm headed bolt, and even weld up the nut to it, but it won't work as well. DAMHIK. I used the socket with an air impact, and it worked a treat.
2.I agonized over oil weight, since the stuff is not cheap. I had a bottle of 5 weight Bel Ray ( I used it in my BMW's), but it seemed a mite light for the job. I happened to have a quart of 5 wt. and a quart of 10 wt Amsoil fork oil , and mixed them half and half to make 7.5 wt. Although I don't have a LOT of seat time after doing it, it feels great. It does take about a quart and a half.
3. I replaced my fork seals, just because I had it that far apart. I only had 23k miles on the bike. Not a great idea. They are easy to replace, but were actually in fine shape. Waste of money.
4.While you have the side panels off, do the brake bleed/flush.


Good Luck on it!
 
I set some 25lb weights on the tail rack to keep the front end up. Didn't take off the plastic except for the fender. It is a little bit of a PITA, but doable. I usually rinse my tubes out with kerosene and then a little tranny fluid and drain it all out. Your call on how you want to do it. Check the bushings and make sure they're not shinny especially the inner tube bushings on the ends. They seem to catch more ware. As for the seals, I'll assume you know you have to take the drain plug out to pop the tubes apart, and make sure you have some sort of seal and bushing driver to get them back in and seated correctly. On the new seals, make sure the angled side of the seal is facing upwards.
 
My left fork has been seeping a bit... I have new seals and dust covers on hand for the job.

How much oil is needed for both forks?
 
Rekoob said:
My left fork has been seeping a bit... I have new seals and dust covers on hand for the job.

How much oil is needed for both forks?
Click to expand...
At the stock oil height it takes about 2.7 pints.
 
Be sure to loosen the upper triple clamp bolts and the fork caps before loosening the other bolts and removing the fork tubes from the bike. Also, be very aware of all the torque settings especially the dampener rod to fork cap interface, I screwed up and found out the hard way. Also, there is a certain way the springs go in, skinny end up or down. Sorry, don't have my manual handy.
 
Removing the seals is not required to replace the fork oil, which is where you started this thread. dduelin explained the process in post #2.
 
MajorTom said:
Removing the seals is not required to replace the fork oil, which is where you started this thread. dduelin explained the process in post #2.
Click to expand...

One thing leads to another on these fork seal issues : It all started last year when I observed the left was seeping oil , I cleaned the seal with that tool but not real sure if that solved it completely - and I didn't know how much was lost - which led me to wanting the correct amount in the tubes . Once I got them off and drained them I figured maybe at that point it would be best to just replace the 11 yr old seals if they might not be pliable enough to seal now. So at the moment I'm wanting to be able to pull the seals without taking the bottom bolt , rod & damper out., worrying about that bolt removal & re-assemble possible issues .
 
TourNut said:
One thing leads to another on these fork seal issues : It all started last year when I observed the left was seeping oil , I cleaned the seal with that tool but not real sure if that solved it completely - and I didn't know how much was lost - which led me to wanting the correct amount in the tubes . Once I got them off and drained them I figured maybe at that point it would be best to just replace the 11 yr old seals if they might not be pliable enough to seal now. So at the moment I'm wanting to be able to pull the seals without taking the bottom bolt , rod & damper out., worrying about that bolt removal & re-assemble possible issues .
Click to expand...

the normal way to do it is to remove the bottom bolt and pull the top slider out of the bottom tube, the fork seal comes out with everything else. There's a metal retaining clip above the oil seal that needs to be removed first. The bottom bolt sometimes breaks loose with a simple ratchet, and sometimes not. If it just spins freely with a ratchet, and you don't have any impact tools, take the fork to a m/c shop and ask them to break the bolt loose for you.
 
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