Front fork fluid change - advice needed

Discussion in '6th Generation 2002-2013' started by Southbound35, Dec 31, 2016.

  1. Southbound35

    Southbound35 New Member

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    Hello all, I have a 2004 VFR with 7500 miles on the odo. I purchased it new 2 years ago from the 2nd owner and have only put ~1000 miles on it since then. I did a complete fluid change (brakes, oil, clutch) when I bought it, as well as filters and spark plugs. It runs great.

    I'm now thinking of turning my attention to the front forks. I'm not looking into a rebuild, I just want to exchange the fluid. I have the service manual and have read the procedure, but I've also read that I can just empty the fluid out and clean the insides with kerosene/brake fluid. My question is, when I do this, will I also need to replace any of the seals/gaskets that I remove? And if so, I'd appreciate any part numbers or links to where I can purchase them online, as my Honda dealer is awfully far away. Any tips or tricks to make this job easier are appreciated. Thanks!
     
  2. LSO

    LSO New Member

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    I just did the front fork oil, bushings and seals on my 98 VFR. I got the parts from www.racetech.com. They have all the parts needed for the front forks. I also installed DMR front fork cartridges as well.
     
  3. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    I'd just tip the fluid and replace. Unless you need to strip the forks down why do more than you need to. Tip the old fluid out & replace with new fluid. Nothing else required.
     
  4. Southbound35

    Southbound35 New Member

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    I appreciate the replies. I had read about cleaning the forks out with solvent prior to refilling and plan on doing that. But it sounds like I may be alright re-using any seals or rubber parts I encounter as I remove the top bolt and spring.

    I plan on refilling with Honda SS8 fluid per the manual. It looks like it comes in 16 oz containers and I need ~18 oz per fork, so I guess I'll plan on buying 3 bottles and having quite a bit left over.
     
  5. Terry Smith

    Terry Smith Member

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    If all you are doing is a fluid replacement, then I doubt you will need any parts as the only disassembly is the fork cap, and I have never seen any damage to the o-ring on that. I'd certainly suggest that you give the damper rod a good pump up and down after the initial draining to expel the fluid within; in my experience, this is where the most heavily contaminated oil will be. And when you come to refill the forks, make sure you pump the damper rod up and down as many times as needed to fully expel the air, you will feel the damper become smoothly resistive through the full stroke when that is done. Best practice is to set the final oil level by depth to the top of the compressed fork tube, springs out. 100mm/3.9" is the specified setting.

    My last piece of advice is to break the fork caps loose before you take the forks out of the triples, and do a final tighten once they are re-installed.
     
  6. OZ VFR

    OZ VFR Member

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  7. Southbound35

    Southbound35 New Member

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    Thanks Terry and OZ for the further info. It looks like I'll want to stick with a 10W fluid but I've read more on this forum about some folks not liking the SS8 fluid. I may go with Bel-Ray or Silkolene, both of which I can get easily on the web.

    Edit - Can someone clarify why the SS8 that the service manual recommends is disliked by so many folks (based on my searches on here)?
     
  8. Terry Smith

    Terry Smith Member

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    I'm sure there is nothing wrong with Honda's fork oil. I'd be critical of them straying from the accepted SAE W scheme for oil weight, but that is just me being pedantic. The bigger criticism for Honda is in the choice of damper components in the 5th and 6th gen, as (IMHO) they are poor compromise for control and compliance, and no change in oil weight will fix that.
     
  9. dennisgb

    dennisgb New Member

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    If your plan is to take the fork tubes out to clean the inside, then I would suggest you replace the top seals because you will need to take them out to do this and they could get damaged. It's always a good idea to replace them if you take the forks apart because they are cheap and pretty easy to replace.

    Not sure why you want to take them apart with such low miles. I would just replace the oil myself.
     
  10. Southbound35

    Southbound35 New Member

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    I had hoped to just drain the fluid out without removing the forks from the bike. But after reading about the trouble people have had in removing the bolt at the bottom of the fork to drain the fluid, it actually seemed like a better idea to take them off the bike and clean them out. Also, even if I drained the fluid out the bottom, I would still have to take the top off the forks to put in the new fluid, correct?

    Regarding replacing the top seals, that was my original question, as to whether I need to replace any parts as I take the forks apart, or if all the parts can be safely reused. Maybe I will consider replacing the seals during the process.
     
  11. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    crazy idea. Its one of those sounds good in theory, but bad in practice. Just remove the forks.

    Its REALLY unlikely you will need to replace anything on a fluid change, but if you are removing the bolt at the bottom of the forks then get new copper washers.
     
  12. Southbound35

    Southbound35 New Member

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    Thanks for the reply Pete. I definitely plan on removing the forks to do the fluid change.
     
  13. dennisgb

    dennisgb New Member

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    Confusing :distress:

    You said in the first post you wanted to clean out the forks. In order to do that you need to take them apart. If you do that you should replace the seals.

    If you just drain the oil you don't need to replace anything...except for the oil :smug:
     
  14. Grumpy old man

    Grumpy old man New Member

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    I have seen the effects of cleaning out the forks with kerosene and it is not always pretty

    One set I saw the coating on the bushings had actually become soft and was actually coming off the bush like a jelly

    The owner had only cleaned one fork out like this and gotten stuck when he couldn't get the bottom bolt out of the second he got me to finish the job and the other fork he hadn't cleaned was just fine

    I would just flush them with clean oil and dump it if you really need to flush them at all but you would be better off fully disassembling them and cleaning them
     
  15. OZ VFR

    OZ VFR Member

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    Brake cleaner, spray it in there once fully apart and blow dry with compressor.
    The advantage of brake cleaner is it leaves no residue, fully evaporates and will dissolve anything.
    Remove seals and bushes and spray away.
    Coat with fork oil before you reassemble.
    It is suprising how much metal particles will build up in the bottom of your forks even after low milage.
    As my old boss use to say, "if you are going to do something, do it properly, if you are not going to do it properly, don't do it".
     
  16. fink

    fink Member

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    There is a big difference between a simple oil change and a complete strip down.
     
  17. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Especially in cold weather.
     
  18. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    I changed the fluid over the years on my gen3 bike, bike had 75,000 on everything, one day decided to use swap out the fluid for some Honda stuff, think it was 5 weight. On my morning commute the next day, I noticed weepage on one of the fork legs. Long story short, worn fork seal (can't complain after 2 decades.) Full strip down, one can of brake cleaner for each leg, lots of mug and crud on the bottom of the fork legs. Oh, also busted one of the allen heads on the bottom of the leg and had to drill the head off then just used the slide hammer method to whack-ah-whack the lower leg off! You have to use an air or electric impact driver to buzz out those lower bolts. Anyway, bike has 80,000 now, still has the same race tech gold valves along with their fork springs along with a fox shock out back. That combination let me grind away the peg feelers back in the days of NJ/Up State NY, now it gets a yearly oil change and the centre of the tyres get worn out before the sides like the old days. :peace:
     
  19. Southbound35

    Southbound35 New Member

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    I appreciate all the replies and advice.

    I realize a complete fork tear-down and clean out would likely be best. But since the bike has low miles and I'm unlikely to ride it more frequently in the future, its just not worth it to me to completely disassemble the forks and risk screwing something up, costing me more time and money. However, I'm sure the 13 year old fluid could use a refresh so a simple fluid exchange seemed like a good compromise.

    My plan was to remove the top cap and spring and pour/pump out the old fluid, then clean out the insides with brake cleaner. After pumping and draining out the cleaner overnight, I'll add the new fluid. In other words, do as much as I can without removing the bottom bolt. As I've not done this procedure before on this or any other bike, I may be mistaken, but this was my plan based on lots of research on this and other sites.
     
  20. Allyance

    Allyance Insider

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    After trying typical cleaners, I found plain old gasoline did a far superior job of cleaning and dissolving gunk. Brake cleaner evaporates too fast, use a big tray outdoors and dispose of gas at a recycler.
     
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