What fork oil?

[tarzan]

I am in the middle of replacing fork seals.The new ones came in the mail just before I left for vacation a week ago.Well I got home earlyier than expected and took one fork apart and cleaned it.I went to put it back together and saw in the book it calls for 10wt fork oil.Schucks doesn't carry it.Walmart a no go.
And our motorcycle shops here in Spokane are closed on sunday and Monday.And I wanted to ride tomorrow!So I'm hoping someone can give me an idea where to get it.Surely you don't have to buy it at the dealer.
Also the book says regular forks can use 10wt motor oil and air forks need fork oil.Does anyone know why or what the difference is?The oil that was in it looked kind of like auto transmission fluid.
Any help would very appreciated.

[jjwaller]

Personally, I use PJ1 fork oil 10 and 20 weight, depending on bike. Yes, either from a dealer or cycle acces. shop.
But, ATF works in most forks. Many bikes call for it.

[AlanB]

Hi Tarzan,

Most ATF is 5-weight, so it might be a bit light, and make the forks a bit "bouncy"... (underdamped)

If you want something a bit heavier, try mixing ATF and 20-wt. I used to use straight 20wt in everything, but an older (wiser!) head says it is too heavy for most bikes.

AlanB

[dbeardslee]

When I changed mine I put hydraulic jack oil in it. Said right on the bottle it was suitable for motorcycle forks. Seems to work OK.

[tarzan]

I wondered about jack oil.I figured it would probably work,I just didn't know if it would damage aluminum parts.I know it takes paint off .
The atf or atf w/20wt oil makes sense too,but I didn't see anything below straight 30wt on the shelves here.
Maybe I'll try atf w/5w20 and see how it works,I happen to have both here at the house.
Thanks guys for the input

[dbeardslee]

Don't know what the mix of atf and 20w will do. Fork oil is anti-foaming and I don't believe 20w is. Don't know about atf.

[tarzan]

I found a new shop across town that is open today.I went over and got some fork oil.It's 10w.
I just finished putting the forks back together and put air in.The book says 36psi max.But it dont say what is recomended so I put them about 32.HopeI dont need to do this job again for a while.
Removing the seals turned into the hardest part.
I appreciated the help with this.

[John]

I don't know wher you found the fork air pressure information, but my book says 5.7-14 psi for rider with or without a passenger. With 2 passengers, and luggage, it is 14-21 psi.
32 psi may blow the oil past the seals.

[tarzan]

I have an old clymer manual for xs1100.That does seem pretty high for forks though.I went out and let the air out and will put in 10psitomorrow.Thanks for the heads up.
It's odd,I am looking at the manual right now and it says on the page explaining fork oil change not to exceed 36psi.
However In the maintainance table I just found in the maintainance section it states the numbers you have indicated John.
Wow ,I totally missed that. Well I'm glad I posted what I did.You probably just saved me from my self.Hopefully I didnt do damage.
Well thank you very much.