fork oil and valve removal

[#302]

When I replace the fork oil in my forks whick oil do I use? According to the manual it says to use "o1" yamaha fork oil. The shop were i buy parts doesn't carry yamaha oils. My question is, if i use Bel-ray of Silkolene they generally come in 3wt,5wt and 7wt. Which one is equivelent to Yamaha "01"?

The reason why i'm touching my fork is to clean and change the oil. There are no problem or leaks. Is it possible to remove the base valve and damper rod without removing the inner from outer tube? The reason why i ask is, i don't want to remove my fork seals because of a lack of a driver. ?

[acarter920]

All you gotta do is get a couple strong guys, flip the bike upside down, and hang it from the ceiling. Then undo your fork caps and let the oil drain out. After bike is in an upright position again, re-fill. ?

[jmalkames]

Yes you can remove the base valve and damper rod without messing with the dust and oul seals. You must have an impact and start by removing the base valve. then remove the top cap and when you pull the cap off the damper rod will come out with it. good luck!!

[MN_Kevin]

5 weight is what you want to use. One TT'er claimed Yamaha 01 is 1 weight...absoulutely untrue.

You can pull the forks apart, to a point. You'll need a cartridge rod holding tool, or an impact wrench or some ingenuity.

James Dean gave me this advice:

With the fork leg off the bike, hold upside down on the floor (place padding / rags on the floor to keep from scarring up your fork cap.

Compress the fork. I used a long drift punch, through the axle hole, as a handle for me to [attempt to] compress the fork as best I could.

Using a manual, hand held typical impact wrench (the kind you whack with a hammer) and the proper sized allen head socket, give the allen head bolt on the underside of your fork leg (on the "top" of your now upsidedown forks) a whack.

The compressed fork helps put tension on your cartridge rod to prevent it from spinning when you give it a whack. I had to keep some tension on the fork while I spun the allen bolt all the way out from the cartridge rod.

The forks can be pulled apart at this time, the

(upper AND lower) tubes from the rod.

To tighten the allen bolt back into my reassembled forks, I used an electric impact wrench. Worked like a charm.

When you change the oil, it is IMPORTANT you pump ALL the oil out of your cartridge prior to filling. It will retain ALOT of oil.

When filling w/ oil, be sure to follow your manual about pumping the oil through the fork internals.

My 99 used 500 cc's oil, each leg, to reach the minimum oil level.

Yes, this took two people. One to compress the fork, and the second to use the hand held impact wrench. At the time of disassembly, I DID NOT have the electric impact wrench... ?

Hope this helps!

See above posting on the cap, forgot to mention that part...

[ June 02, 2002: Message edited by: NH Kevin ]

[MN_Kevin]

oops...repeat

[ June 02, 2002: Message edited by: NH Kevin ]

[skthom2320]

You can buy a cartridge holder from Scott's Performance for about $35 (Race-tech also makes one but is is like twice as expensive). Or you can go to motoman393.forreal.net and learn how to make one yourself.

I had a little trouble finding a 14mm hex locally. I ended up buying one from napa online for about $7. I can get you the part number if you want it.

As for oil, Enzo 01 is about half the cost of the yammie stuff. I think you can get it from www.rockymountainmc.com.

[ June 02, 2002: Message edited by: skthom2320 ]

[mop]

YAMAHA 01 fork oil is the same oil as Enzo 01, and either is available from White Bros., or Parts Unlimited, or enzo racing. Or from YAMAHA parts dept.

Regarding fork disassembly, you SHOULD use the proper T-Wrench to hold the cartridge when loosening the base valve. If you use an electric or air impact driver, you must be VERY careful when loosening the base valve, because spinning the base valve/cartridge can loosen the nuts holding on the pistons and valving. If this is done incorrectly, you could wind up with your pistons/valving,etc. stuck up inside the cylinders. ALso excessive spinning can loosen the rebound piston nut as well. You shouldn't use an impact wrench, but if you do, hit it with quick, short bursts, and check the tightness of the base valve nuts after you remove them....

[#302]

thanks for your posts guys. I'm going to Sears to see if they have the 14mm hex socket that i'll need.

[John_Lorenz]

I believe 01 is = to .5

as far as the cartridge holder goes save 30 bucks go to orchard supply and get the parts you need

See

http://motoman393.forreal.net

look under Tech Articles / A Cheep Cartridge Holder

Believe me it works and it cost 5 bucks and an hrs time.

Acarter

Would it not be easier to just loop the bike ?

This can be done in the garage, Just hold the throttle wide open, shove it in 1st and dump the clutch.....

[ June 03, 2002: Message edited by: EgoAhole ]