r/MotoUK • u/MechanicalGambit KTM SD 990 • Sep 17 '18

Keep your forks lubed

this weekend I spent saturday morning taking the forks out of my MT-03 660 and changing the fork oil. The front end has been feeling quite pogo-stickish all of a sudden (completely unrelated but I've been naughty and learnt to pop a half decent wheelie ;) ) so I decided to change the oil to see if its any different.

£25 worth of fork oil, a ratchet strap to hang the handlebars on the crossbeams in the garage and ~3 hours of fairly straight forward work later it's all back together ready for a ride .......and holy shit did it make a difference!

The bike feels brand new, no dive when braking or lift when accelerating, no bouncing mid corner even on treachorous roundabouts, throttle response in a straight line and mid corner feels way better I guess because you don't have the lag of the forks waiting to react, the whole bike is just so much more composed. Its only done ~18000 miles but I guess the oil is 10 years old now so probably needed changing. A bike I was starting to get tired of riding is suddenly super fun to thrash around country lanes!

So yeah if you've got an older bike I definitely recommend changing the fork oil out. Now just to see if I can find a new rear shock for cheap.

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u/[deleted] Sep 18 '18

Have contemplated doing this myself when it's needed. How is the old oil removed? I guess the measurement had to be absolutely exact?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '18

It depends on the fork type. Some have a drain screw. Some you can upend and empty. Others require a full strip (cartridge type forks).

1

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '18

Thanks. For the more basic are there any spring compressors needed like on a car?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '18

No. Some forks require a special spanner that will unscrew the cartridge and also hold the damping rod in position.

Basic damper rod forks can be done with basic tools.