Lazy fork oil change

[Leskid]

Saturday is another track day and on sunday, we're going back out to Nova Scotia to ride the cabot trail for a couple days.

The fork oil in my '03 is original so I'd really like to get that taken care of before the weekend. I won't have a full afternoon for the big, long drawn-out process on fjrtech

So a buddy of mine who used to be a motorcycle mechanic said to just raise the front wheel off the ground (so the springs don't fly-out), then remove the caps and use a vacuum system like a brake bleeder to suck out the old oil.

Replace with a little bit of fresh oil, pump the forks a few times, suck out semi-dirty oil....

.... continue repeating until you're happy with the color of the oil coming out, then just fill 'er up and put the caps back on.

Obviously, this wouldn't do as good a job as the proper method but it's gotta be better than nothing and a heckuva lot quicker & easier. Looking at it, I think all I'd need to do is unfasten the handle bars and prop them out of the way.

Is there any reason anyone of you who are smarter than I am wouldn't do this?

Reason I ask: if it were that easy, I'm sure I'd have stumbled across it while searching the forum about fork oil change.

 

[fjrchooser]

Leskid,

I did it that way when I wanted to try out another oil wt. I had already previously done the tedious method but didn't like the front end feel of the new wt. oil I tried. Took me a few months to get around to the new, new wt., the newer old stuff already looked like yeech. Decided then I'd just do as you've described for future changes since as you say its better than nothing and didn't seem to matter all that much.

I change the FJR fluids out yearly (engine and rear diff more often of course) which is a hell of a lot more than I ever did on any of my other bikes and they're all still running ( I'm thinking '75 Goldwing here) with no apparent ill effects.

 

[Bungie]

I could never figure out why the did away with the bleeder screws on the bottom of forks. Back in the day, even the cheapest dirt bikes had this feature. It was great fun removing the screw, grabbing a handful of front brake and giving it a good push - and watching the oil hit the wall.

If its any consolation, mine have never been done and I've got nearly 90K on the bike.

 

[Intech]

I did mine by removing the forks, disassembling, cleaning, and flushing. Very noticeable difference in the front end. Even if you are just doing the quick and easy change it is still better than running on old oil. Just have to make sure you get the voulume right in both sides.

 

[lnewlf]

definitely better that nothing-however even with turning the forks upside down [off the bike] it took me several flushes to get all the black slimy mung out of the bottoms..and the FJR was only 2 years old.

 

[Grumpy]

Did you ever see what that original fork oil looks like in 3,000 miles. Can't imagine what it looks like in 90k!!! So you guys up north ride all winter too and don't have time to do a little off season maintenance? IMHO you'll get a much better job and will be happier if you do it right, eh?

 

[HaulinAshe]

You guys should really stop bragging about how many years and miles you've gone without changing fork oil. It gives the false impression that fork service is not really "required".

The FJR fork design has some significant friction areas, that when left "unserviced" produce component wear and significant fork oil contamination. That wear and contamination noticeably degrades suspension performance over a period of 15,000-20,000 miles. If left unserviced long enough, the wear is irreversible without replacing some expensive pieces (like inner fork tubes and dampner cartridges).

FJR forks need regular fork oil replacement and periodic disassembly with bushing replacement. I blame Yamaha for not including this in their service interval requirements, but I blame threads like this for propagating the Yamaha mistake.

A quick-n-dirty, pull the caps fork oil change is better than none at all. But it's never as good as a true dump, flush and re-fill. Getting the cartridges bled and the oil levels matched is critical and difficult from the open ends sitting on the bike.

NGArider can have forks removed and re-installed in 43 minutes. There's something to aspire to. Please don't aspire to cutting corners or (worse) ignoring fork maintenance.

 

[Zorlac]

"NGArider can have forks removed and re-installed in 43 minutes. There's something to aspire to."

Maybe for a pit crew, but not for me.

 

[dcarver]

"NGArider can have forks removed and re-installed in 43 minutes. There's something to aspire to."
Maybe for a pit crew, but not for me.

That's cause you're to busy wanking to your avatar!

 

[Zorlac]

"NGArider can have forks removed and re-installed in 43 minutes. There's something to aspire to."
Maybe for a pit crew, but not for me.

That's cause you're to busy wanking to your avatar!

43 minutes makes for dirty oil.

 

[Bungie]

You guys should really stop bragging about how many years and miles you've gone without changing fork oil. It gives the false impression that fork service is not really "required".

Not bragging. An admission of guilt.

 

[fjrchooser]

I knew this would turn into a guilt trip. <_< Now I feel like Zorlac's oil..

 

[Leskid]

Until I stumbled across her 14 months ago, my '03 was a garage queen with less than 5000 miles on the clock. Since then, I've still only got her up to 30000kms (18000 miles).

So I still consider this as preventive maintenance, not neglect or abuse, even if I am doing a quickie job!

 

[RossKean]

Great fork oil step-by-step instructions at FJR Tech. Much clearer than the service manual. Can anyone comment whether these instructions differ significantly between Gen I and Gen II? (other than possibly the fill level) I will definitely get this done this year but it might wait until the weather takes a dump.

Ross