Fork oil

[Steve S]

Has anyone played about with fork oil grades and quantities on Z1A? I want to change my oil this winter and improve the damping any advice on which grade and how much to use would be appreciated.
Cheers guys

[Garn 1]

Steve, I wouldn't hesitate to use 20 weight. I used to alway use 10 or 15, sometimes I would mix 75%- 20 and 25%-10. I found, with these older forks, 20 is a min.
Regarding capacity of each leg, it is 161cc.
RegardZ

[pertonpc]

Hi Steve,
Strip and clean the fork internals or at least wash them out with some solvent before you put in the new oil - there's an amazing amount of sludge that builds up in there considering there is no combustion going on!!

Otherwise your new oil won't work right.

I measure the right ccs of water into a small plastic pourer and mark the side with a line where fluid should come to.

Tip your old oil in from each leg and see if they are performing evenly - might give a clue re. problem seals - and then measure the new stuff back in the same way afterwards.

Don't forget your springs have a wear limit to check for and they only fit one way round cos one end is tightly wound.

Cheers from Mark

[Steve S]

Steve, I wouldn't hesitate to use 20 weight. I used to alway use 10 or 15, sometimes I would mix 75%- 20 and 25%-10. I found, with these older forks, 20 is a min.
Regarding capacity of each leg, it is 161cc.
RegardZ

Thanks again Garn, I replaced the oil two years ago using 10 grade I think but its always felt a bit harsh and reluctant to turn so i,m sure it can be improved on.Also since riding my Kh250 although a lot lighter the front end handling of the Zed felt awful compared to it.
I have just upgraded the front tyre and a fork oil change should help also.

Then hopefully I can keep up with a couple of Z900,s on the winding stuff (you know who you are)

Best regards

Steve

[Steve S]

Hello Mark,

Some good advice there,many thanks I will be putting that into practice.Will check my springs are the right way round too.

Cheers for the info

Steve

[steve bowdler]

Maybe some new springs

http://www.mandp.co.uk/products/list/Ha ... rk-Springs

[scott]

I put in 15 grade and also put in an extra 5cc in each leg. Also progressive springs make an astonishing difference(especially if the old ones are worn). I also fitted a set of valves to the top of the forks, to aid with rebound damping....that made a difference too

[Steve S]

Cheers for the info Guys,had thought about progressive springs before as i,ve heard good things about them.I will give the oil change a go first ,check my springs and go from there.