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Fork Oil Replacement Step by Step AN650 and AN400

36K views 43 replies 25 participants last post by  mikeyMarine 
#1 ·
Ok in this post I will attempt to go through the procedures for changing the front fork oil.
The first problem (only problem really) I encountered was how to lift the bike to do the service work. There have been other threads asking if you could use a standard bike jack with the burgman and the answer is yes. It's ackward but can be done.

1) Raising the bike

The burgmans low engine funny frame make using the bike jack ackward. First using wooden blocks under the engine area. This was not secure enough for me so I raised the machine to a point where I could set the back wheel down on a cinder block and the front on another stack of wood
see photo forkoil 1
I then repositioned the bike jack under the extended center stand and supported the front of the bike frame with my car jack, see photo forkoil2 fork oil 2
2) Remove handle bar covers

I just realized i didnt take photos of this process and will do so in the next day or 2 when it stops raining and edit this section. Sorry to all

3) Removal of Front Panel

Very easily done by removing 8 screws and pulling the front panel forward towards the rider seating position see photo forkoil5 for screw location fork oil 5and see photo forkoil6 before pulling off the front panel fork oil 6 4) Remove the brake Calipers
This task is straight forward as there are only 2 bolts on either side to undo and one bolt higher for the brake line, see photo fork oil 7
5) Remove the front wheel

Undo the front axle locking bolt located bottom center of the left fork (right hand as you look from the front) I supported the wheel using wooden blocks before I took out the axle picUsing a 12 mm hex key remove the axle making sure you dont lose the spacer on the left side as you look at the forks. Pull wheel out and set aside.

6) Remove the front fender
Very basic and straght forward as there are only 4 bolts total.
pic forkoil9 shows all front end components removed . Wheel & fender removed

7) Fork removal

Doing one side completly at a time and reinstalling the finished fork.
First undo the top clamping bolt on the fork you are going to service. Next using the 17mm hex key just loosen the fork cap. Don't remove cap at this time. Next from the front of the bike undo the bottom 2 bolts on the lower clamp and the fork will easily slide out. Picutre

Now once the fork is out you can completly take of the cap. NOTE! the cap is under spring pressure so as you see the o-ring I put downward pressure on the cap so as not to be caught by surprise as you clear the threads. The cap will raise about 1/2"to 5/8"

Pullout the top spacer tube and pour out the old oil. As your pouring be prepared to catch the small washer that fits between the spacer and the spring fork componentsNow remove spring.

While holding the fork upside down , work the shock in the dampening motion to get out all the oil.
Now refill the fork with 482ml of the shock oil weight of choice. Work the shock in the dampening motion to get rid of all the air bubbles. Re insert the spring paying attention that the smaller or tighter wound spring section remains at the top. Reinsert washer and then spacer tube. Apply oil to the o-ring on the cap and tighten down the cap.

Re-install this fork and go on to the next. Just go through the instructions in reverse order untill the bike looks like a bike again.

This job is really not that difficult. Like I said at the top of the thread the hardest part was figuring out how to support the bike so I could do the maintenance.

Hope this helps again and feel free to ask any questions.
 
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#27 ·
I ran into an issue today while changing the oil in my fork tubes that I think you need to be aware of. While pumping the tube in and out to get all of the old oil out one of my tubes stuck in the down position and I had a devil of a time getting it to come back up. I even called the local dealership and talked to one of the machanics. He said this happens once in a while and you just have to keep twisting on the tube and pulling on it utill it comes free. I ended up clamping the slider in a vise, wrapping a towel around the tube, grabbing it with both hands and pulling as hard as I could for 5 or 6 minutes before it finally came loose. When it finally popped loose it slid up and down with ease. I think what happen was that because it had no oil in it a vacuum formed that kept it from comming back up.
 
#28 ·
by Colchicine on 05 Aug 2008, 03:08

I've got 2 pennies to throw in...

I feel as though the procedure described above is far too elaborate for the result. I felt no desire to disassemble the front end of my bike to swap out the oil. So, when I went to change out the OEM springs with Ikons, I used a Mighty-Vac to suction the oil out. Of course, this is not as thorough as the above procedure, but I plan to change out the fork oil every year or so. Therefore, the oil won't get dirty enough to warrant the standard procedure.

I measured the oil level before I removed any oil so that I could return the new oil to the same level. I am posting this solely as a reminder of alternative methods existing beyond the procedures in the service manual.


--
did you manage to pump out the oil ok with a mighty vac ?

I have a small oil pump (bit like a cycle tyre pump but meant for oil),

would be interested in your success or otherwise of this method.
 
#30 ·
Colchicine said:
Yes, I used a Mighty Vac. As long as it can move oil uphill, I think it would work!
eXcellent

I must give this a a go.

Did you measure the quantity of oil you removed out of each tube ?

thanks
Robin...
 
#31 ·
No, because it's not as important to measure what you take out as what you put back it. I measured the depth of the oil before I removed it, then replaced it to the same level after. I know I didn't get all of the oil out, but with it only being a year old I didn't care.
 
#32 ·
Colchicine said:
No, because it's not as important to measure what you take out as what you put back it. I measured the depth of the oil before I removed it, then replaced it to the same level after. I know I didn't get all of the oil out, but with it only being a year old I didn't care.
sorry I forgot to ask

what size was the tube pipe you put down into the forks to remove the old oil ?

I take it you just removed the plastic covers on dash/handlebars, undid the nut on top of the forks and just sucked the oil out, am I missing anything ?

thanks

robin...
 
#35 ·
Colchicine said:
Yes, I used a Mighty Vac. As long as it can move oil uphill, I think it would work!
Thanks for that tip, because I was wondering if I could use either my Mity Vac or my Pela oil extractor (a hand-pump one that I use to suck my car's oil out through the dipstick tube) for this. Good to hear that it works!
 
#36 ·
If you remove the front axle there is an allen head bolt on the center inside of the fork tube. Removing this bolt will drain the oil. This bolt screws into the damper (Suzuki calls it a cylinder) in the bottom of the fork. This damper cylinder is prevented from turning by spring pressure from the fork spring. If you remove the fork cap first, releasing pressure on the spring, then it is possible the damper will rotate making it impossible to remove the bolt. Since this cylinder is captured inside the fork tube it can only move about 1/16" from side to side. Reinstalling the bolt is fairly easy.

So loosen this bolt several turns then remove the fork cap. If necessary push down on the fork spring to provide enough resistance to finish removing the bolt. It may be necessary to again push the fork spring down against the cylinder when reinstalling the bolt.

My point is - It makes NO difference if the fork is on or off the bike, removing the bolt is exactly the same circumstance. The fork spring provides the resistance to keep the cylinder from turning. If for some reason the bolt cannot be removed because the cylinder turns it makes no difference if it is on or off the bike.

I see absolutely no reason to remove the forks from the bike to change fork oil. (Yes I have done it several times).
 
#37 ·
Well, I decided to pull the forks anyway, rather than sucking the oil out with a MityVac. I had a new front tire to put on, so I figured I might as well just disassemble the whole thing and bring the shop the wheel rather than the whole scooter. The fork removal isn't difficult, though it takes a couple of specialty tools -- a 12mm and a 17mm allen wrench. I happened to have a 17mm wrench from doing a transmission oil change on my VW, so all I spent in tools for this job was $10 at sears for the 12mm allen wrench.

I put together the following pictures of the tupperware removal. If Allwalk and/or others want to use these images, please feel free:
http://burgmanusa.com/gallery/frugality ... r_removal/

I also made a Powerpoint and saved it as a .pdf, but the gallery doesn't allow us to upload .pdf's. If anyone would like to have a copy or would like to host it somewhere, please send me a PM.

I used 15W fork oil, but have not gotten the wheel back from the shop yet, so I haven't reassembled everything yet and can't make any comments on the ride.
 
#38 ·
If you are going to vacuum out the oil or let it drain from the bottom is there any real need to jack it up? Say I want to change the oil; can I just remove the plugs in the top of the forks, suction out the oil after marking the oil level and refill the oil to the marked spot after cleaning the spring, spacers, etc. all without the danger of jacking the front wheel off the ground? We have to admit that the Burgman was not designed well in respect to jacking the mid-section up. Gene
 
#39 ·
No, you wouldn't have to jack it up if you suctioned the oil out as Colchicine did.

I wonder if Colchicine removed or rotated the handlebars in order to get the spring, washer, and spacer out, because they look to be in the way.
 
#40 ·
There isn't a need to jack it up, as long as you only do one side at a time. You might be able to guess what happens when you do both sides!

I did remove the handlebars, just four bolts, to remove the springs.
 
#41 ·
One thing that I encountered that I should mention:

As noted in Allwalk's instructions, the fork cap is under spring pressure. When you release it it wants to pop up. I knew this in advance, so I had the lower end of the fork on the ground and put downward pressure on the cap with the 17mm allen wrench as I removed it. However, it still 'popped' a little as it finally released; I didn't have enough pressure on it at the end. The cap is aluminum, and the fork tube is steel. When the cap popped, a small amount of the tips of the last few threads of the aluminum cap got sheared off, so there were some metal shavings in the top of the fork.

So the moral of the story is: keep CONTINUOUS downward pressure on the cap until you know for sure it's completely released. Hard to do. Even when I knew to pay more attention on the second fork, there were still a few bits of aluminum there.

The amount of the threads that were removed was minimal, so I'm not worried about the cap. I just didn't like the metal shavings going down into the fork. This may be one argument for pulling the fork completely, rather than using a vacuum pump to suck the oil out. Dumping the oil out would remove the shavings.
 
#43 ·
I know this thread is over a decade old... but I'll throw my experience in...

I did my forks today. 14 years, 29,000 miles.

The sludge that poured out looked like my Jeep differential oil, when it gets contaminated with water and mud. It had the color and consistency of light motor oil mixed with 1/4 pound of graphite power. Gray and smelled horrible.

I did the ATF rinse. I didn't that the forks all the way down. Didn't removed the dampener or replace the seals.

New 10weight is in there now.


I have the wheels pulled, going to the shop for new tires. When I get it all back together I'll report on whether I can feel any ride difference. It might not be a great test, though, with new tires at the same time. Whatever subjective difference I might feel might go along with the tires, and not the forks.
 
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