fork oil

[joe smith]

Ok, So I am stupid. Be patient with me guys.. I am gonna put some fork oil in my forks. Notice I said put some in. I unscrewed the drain holes because i suspected they were dry and sure enough nothing. The bike a 78 xs 11e was given to me. Anyway, my question is is the screws on top of the forks the air cap?
I got me a syringe and some tubing and am ready to go just need to know about the air caps and how much oil should i put in?
thanks for all the help

[Dennyz]

The "E" did not have air-forks. The screw on the top is your pre-load adjustment. It has 3 position.

My manual indicates the "E" takes 212cc in each fork.

[joe smith]

Thanks for the info !!!!Should ride a little better with some oil {:

[sixtysix]

If is suspected that my forks had no oil, I would take them off and dump them to make sure, or take the springs out and colapse them to make sure of the amount of oil that was in them. If you take the springs out you can take the drain plug out and pump them to make sure no oil remains, just make sure there are no burrs on you fork tubes or the seal will be cut, but it sounds like your seals may not be doing much anyway. I hate to think what the internal fork parts look like if they have been run with no oil.

This is the first time I have heard of this, does the front end just bounce like a spring? How does it behave?

[joe smith]

It bounces a litte but not too bad. When I put on the brakes it really dives! What got me lookin at it is when i hit speeds over 70
it starts to shake up an down enough to wear me out riding.
The bike had been in baskets for 17 years. I think the guy that put it together and gave it to me just neglected to check it.

[Dragonrider]

Add the oil, check the tire for balance and true-ness, and get a TKAT fork brace.

Also, just for grins check the preload on the steering head bearings. Important stuff.

[joe smith]

I have checked the tire, have a fork brace that zben has loaned me until i can afford to buy my own, and have added oil.
Took it out for a run and it has smoothed out considerably. Oh yeah also checked the front end and it is good.
Thanx all ........... You guys are a great help!!!!