Honda Fork oil SS 47 weight??

[ak85lp]

I am going to swap the fork oil soon in my 2001 ST1100 and the manual calls for 7.5 wt oil. The local shop around here has Honda SS 47 oil but there is nothing on the bottle to tell me what weight it is. Some searching online shows other retailers calling it 10 wt. Has anyone used it before in the ST1100?

I am not replacing the springs for now so if its a bit heavier than that should be fine I guess.

 

[dduelin]

SS-47 is "10 weight" but using weight as a comparison between brands is no way exact because light oils do not measure well under the SAE weight formula. Some brands 10 wt acts thinner than other brands 7.5 and even 5 wt.

Good thing here is Showa makes this oil and it is directly comparable to Honda SS-8 which is "10 wt" and also made by Showa. The major difference between SS-47 and SS-8 is the former has additional anti-foaming and long wear additives and is supposed to be higher performing than SS-8.

When checking prices note that SS-47 comes in quarts and SS-8 comes in pints IIRC. The price on 47 startled me at first but the quantity was twice as much and it was a little cheaper by volume at the dealer I buy from.

Edit: Honda's 5 weight oil is SS-7. You could mix 1:1 SS-7 and SS-8 for a 7.5 weight. I mix my fork oil brew to 6.7 wt.

 

[Jim Van]

Get some 10 weight. You probably won't know the difference between 7.5 & 10 weight., anyway. Just my 2-cents ....

BTW, if you go to the Race Tech website and use the "spring calculator" , you will find the stock springs are perfect for a rider of ZERO pounds. So the stock springs are way too soft , according to Race Tech.

 

[Brant]

10w fork oil WILL compensate for the slightly enlarged dampening orfices that occur from oil friction over the years.

 

[two_wheeled]

When I rebuilt my ST1300 forks I used Honda SS-8 (10w). Dealer said the factory called for 7w, I think. The SS-8 worked well for me. It was slightly more harsh on the bumps than stock but worked well.

 

[dduelin]

When I rebuilt my ST1300 forks I used Honda SS-8 (10w). Dealer said the factory called for 7w, I think. The SS-8 worked well for me. It was slightly more harsh on the bumps than stock but worked well.

SS-8 is OEM oil in 1300s and service manual recommended.