BCBike

Wondering how to tell when you fork oil needs replacing.

THnks

harov3

Once per year depending on riding style.

ghettocruiser

It will look cloudy, smell funny, or both.

But since you have the fork open to look at it, you might as well change it if it's been a while.

mx_599

agreed...if you have it apart just change it. it will give you a chance to play with an alternate viscosity and/or oil height. just get some quality fork oil from a motorcycle shop.

scrublover

yep. just did both my forks the other day. bought some bel-ray from a local moto shop. 1000mL bottles of 5, 10, and 15wt for waaaaaaaay less than you'd spend for the same amount of "bicycle fork" specific stuff.
just be sure to get stuff without seal swellers; if they have it in, it'll be labeled, so it's easy to avoid.

makes them feel all nice and new again. it's not a bad idea to do with a new fork either, as many come with too much/too little oil straight from the factory.

plus, it's just fun to tinker with them. currently awaiting the 06 boxxer motion control guts from my local shop to get in, so i can toss those into my 05 boxxer ride; mmmmmmmm good! it'll feel as good as my pike does then.

mx_599

yeah...do it when your bored after you just bled your hydraulic brakes. while your at it, service your headset.

mx_599

and they usually come with crappy oil. it is always good practice to change oil after break in on nearly anything. i changed my oil before i rode my REBA because i internally adjusted the travel. so it all worked out good.

BCBike

Its funny how people might complain about the performance or " bad feeling" of their suspension but not know how important good fliud is. I know how important the fluid quality is thats why I was wondering how hard it would be to change it my self and use something like the Belray stuff that I can get from the local DIRTBIKE shop down the road and because I have no eyedea how good or bad the fluid I have now is.

Thanks

Tequila Joe

+1 I do mine once per year, Usually in the winter when I'm bored.

Svr

You won't be able to tell when your fork oil 'needs' to be replaced. Most fork makers reccomend a fluid change every 25 hours. The idea is to replace it frequently enough so there's zero chance of the oil becoming dirty and destructive to fork internals.