How much oil/ATF in my xs1100 sg?

[WMarshy]

Personally, I wouldnt use it in my forks, its not designed to be in our forks, its designed to be in an automatic transmission. One of the most important proporties of oil is its viscosity, just like engine oil, its pourpose/function/abilities are calculated according to it. Strangely enough, ATF doesnt have any viscosity indicator on it but most of you know it varies greatly with temperature...

[XJOK2PLAY]

This topic was discussed in a previous thread about 4-5 months ago. There was a lot of great info in that one, too... concerning why fork oil was superior to ATF. Do a search for it...

I also remember Greg got to using the word 'Fork' a lot in that one... 'forkin' this & forkin' that'...

Remember Greggy?

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Personally, I wouldnt use it in my forks, its not designed to be in our forks, its designed to be in an automatic transmission. One of the most important proporties of oil is its viscosity, just like engine oil, its pourpose/function/abilities are calculated according to it. Strangely enough, ATF doesnt have any viscosity indicator on it but most of you know it varies greatly with temperature...

OK agreed........ A transmission runs around 200 - 400 degrees. (experienced guess)

Forks, max out at maybe 120-150

Do you think viscosity goes up or down with temperature?

[3Phase]

Do you think viscosity goes up or down with temperature?

Search for "ATF fork oil site:bobistheoilguy.com" without the quotes and you'll find more than you ever wanted to know about different brands of fork and shock absorber fluids and ATF.


Regards,

Scott

[Suckerpunch]

If you don't have one yet, you can download a copy of the service manual (2 different versions) from the link in my signature. Be sure you have at least one of them if you are trying to do ANY regular maintenance. That includes changing the fork oil.

I tried to download the link but, seems something is wrong? It wont load.

[CatatonicBug]

It's a large download. Even with high-speed, it takes about 20 minutes to download. I know the link works, since lots of folks have downloaded it recently.

[TexinMaine]

try this.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/cms/

[Suckerpunch]

It's a large download. Even with high-speed, it takes about 20 minutes to download. I know the link works, since lots of folks have downloaded it recently.

oh, ill wait this time...

Thanks

[Poprock]

Yamaha calls for 10w. fork oil in the forks. I had some 15w. so put that in. Made a harsh ride. ATF is <half fork oil price, especially at the local bike shop. I got some generic Type F (cause I drive a Ford) ATF and put that in. Sure sweetened up the ride on the SG. Doesn't seem to dive any worse than before but it handles the little bumps in the road very well. But, you know, right after that, my cam chain tensioner stripped out...nah, they couldn't be related, could they?

[Suckerpunch]

Ok, heres a question.

If I choose to go ATF do I need to completely tear down the forks and have them cleaned and 100% free from the old oil?

If I decide after running the ATF I want to go back, can I drain the fluid and just ad shock oil?

Basically, can the two fluids mix a little and be ok?

[Poprock]

Answer: Nope. Air up your forks. Pull the drain plug (after having arranged to catch the oil, keeping it off your rotors, tires & pads.) That will blow the old oil out. Replace the plugs, remove the air cap, pull and wipe off the springs if you want, add fork (ATF) oil, replace caps. Enjoy.
BTW, sometimes it's hard to start the caps back on the threads. I used a head on a large bolt to get enough downforce to catch the thread, turned the cap on with a wrench. Once the threads caught it was a piece of cake.

[WMarshy]

OK agreed........ A transmission runs around 200 - 400 degrees. (experienced guess)

Forks, max out at maybe 120-150

Do you think viscosity goes up or down with temperature?

Viscosity decreases with an increases in temperature... No idea how much, ATF doesnt label it... I'd be really suprized to find that our forks exceed 120 deg's. Maybe, a big maybe if, the bike sat in the hot sun all day on a 90 deg + day...not going to happen in NY. That would be hot to the touch wouldnt it?

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Viscosity decreases with an increases in temperature... No idea how much, ATF doesnt label it... I'd be really suprized to find that our forks exceed 120 deg's. Maybe, a big maybe if, the bike sat in the hot sun all day on a 90 deg + day...not going to happen in NY. That would be hot to the touch wouldnt it?

That was just a top end guess for comparison. Heh heh heh.......I never took thier temperature.

[DGXSER]

Yes, as Greg knows, oil viscosity changes with temperature. That is what the different numbers indicate on engine oil ratings 20W50 indicates it starts off at 50 and drops to 20 when hot.

And 120 would not surprise me alot if you were tearing up the twisties and pumping the forks alot. 120 would be pretty warm, but OSHA does not require insulation on a surface until it is over 140 deg F. So it would not be HOT (depending on your personal comfort level and def of hot).

[WMarshy]

That was just a top end guess for comparison. Heh heh heh.......I never took thier temperature.

They difinitely dont see anywhere near the temperature change the trans would normally see in anycase... The only place I use AFT, other than the trans, is if I have a leaky power steering system. Only other time, was when I added a quart to a full tank of gas in my jeep to see if it would prolong the life of the fuel pump which became louder than normal...didnt work.