Jump to content

FLUSHING FRONT FORKS


a1gatorz

Recommended Posts

Hi all , I have a 1987 VFR700F2 . The front fork fluid has not been changed in years . So , my ? is ? What is the best product to flush out the fork tubes after I have removed them . Springs out . I have been told Kerosene , sea foam . My local Honda shop told me to just use some cheap ATF a few times . Then use the proper Wgt . Honda fork fluid .
Any & all suggestion welcomed !
THANK YOU !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Ughhh... you gotta do something about that text! That's horrific!

 

Any of those will work. There's not all that many parts in there. ATF is the closest thing to the new fork oil. If the stuff that came out is really nasty, I might flush them a few times with diesel, just because it's relatively cheap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
9 hours ago, gll429 said:

 

the manual calls for ATF as fork oil.. as its the same as 10w fork oil.

 as for cleaning.. the diesel will work pretty damned well.

 

ATF is actually 7.5w I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

At the risk of starting a huge "ATF vs FORK OIL" crapstorm, I'm pretty sure ATF was Honda's recommended fluid for that bike because they didn't have their own fork oil at that time. The trouble with just saying ATF is that especially in recent years there are a ton of different formulas with different modifiers and weights. Toyota's WS fluid for example is like water - no way is that stuff 7.5w, let alone 10w.

 

I'm not saying there's anything magic about branded fork oil (I'd bet even money that most of it is just unmodified hydraulic fluid) but it does give you a solid reference point. I don't know if you plan to just bring your forks back to factory spec, or if you plan to go further. 

 

When I did the forks in my 800, I knew that I needed drastic changes, because I'm a lot bigger than the theoretical average rider. I'm not claiming to be a suspension guru by any means, but I took a (somewhat) educated guess at it and got a setup that works surprisingly well. I used Redline fluid because they have a series of different grades and that makes it an easy variable to alter... pretty easy to drain and fill with a different grade. 

 

Sorry to head off into tangent land... You didn't ask about fork oil, but I spent some time learning this crap and I thought it might help. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks every one ! I plan on using 10wt Hondaline fork fluid for the final refill . My local Honda shop man told me the same about the ATF . First , Honda was not offering there own at the time & second , thirty plus years ago ATF was relatively a standard product . Not nearly as diversified the way it is today . Modern ATF can be of any weight & contain any number of additives . Some even detrimental to our goal as an alternative for modern Fork Fluid .

   That being said by him & others . This sounds  completely reasonable to me  , I have no reason to doubt this .

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.