Author Topic: i now know what 30 year old fork oil looks like!  (Read 30669 times)

troy_mclure

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i now know what 30 year old fork oil looks like!
« on: August 17, 2013, 04:31:16 pm »
just changed the fork oil and seals on my 82 ft.

talk about silver/grey/sludge! lol

put new 20wt in it as the roads here are crap.

taking it out for a test ride soon.

Dougie

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Re: i now know what 30 year old fork oil looks like!
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2013, 04:34:32 am »
Let us know what you think of the change.

troy_mclure

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Re: i now know what 30 year old fork oil looks like!
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2013, 10:33:19 pm »
the difference is amazing!
its like a whole new bike. its a stiffer ride, not quite sport bike, but more than Harley type.
i kept the air pressure at ambient(0psig).
the bike just rolls right over bumps/lumps(well the front end at least), and the steering is so quick!

next is the shock rebuild: :o

J6G1Z

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Re: i now know what 30 year old fork oil looks like!
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2013, 09:34:21 am »
Excellent! I need to do mine also.

When I owned my VT500FT, I had a large syringe type of air pump designed for pumping up forks. I found that 10psi in the forks worked great. I have not seen those types of pumps in a long time. You don't want to use your air compressor unless you want to change your fork seals again.

J.

michiganadam

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Re: i now know what 30 year old fork oil looks like!
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2014, 12:53:32 pm »
10psi??? I thought the max was 5?

J6G1Z

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Re: i now know what 30 year old fork oil looks like!
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2014, 03:55:12 pm »
I'm fairly certain that the VT500FT has a higher PSI rating than the FT500 does.

It's been a while though, so I could be wrong. I do know that I ran 10psi in my VT & it handled it just fine.


J.