I'm replacing seal and wipers in the '07 te450 .... 50mm Shivers I'm not able to send them off to an expert for a revalving so I'm asking for some good suggestions from the experienced, for servicing them. I'm an over-weight 220 pound old guy average rider. Once a fairly skilled expert mx'er and "A" enduro rider, I do occasionally like to ride hard and don't want to pound the forks by bottoming out. I have some Amzoil 5 wt. fluid ... any reason not to use it? Fluid level? Anything I could do cheap and simple to valving .... something popular opinion says they need? And how much sag should I be shooting for? Thanks, Dave
Wow, Nobody wants to confess to working on their own dirtbikes forks and being at least somewhat pleased with the results? I actually like wrenching on my bikes ... and it's nice to know first-hand what you've got. Back to the fork fluids .... I have some Amzoil 5 wt. .... and also oooodles of bottles of Maxima 10 wt fork oil. Someone said yhe 5 wt might be a bit thin.... I'm guessing the Maxima 10 wt. oil is too thick. The Amzoil is a synthetic fluid...the Maxima is oil. I better not blend the two, .... huh? Thanks for any comments. ( well, within reason...) Dave
I really do not know how to service the forks or shock on my bike, but I'm always learning. My plan is to get together with someone that knows how to do that, take a rough video and then go home, repeat process in front of the camera until a reasonable video is the outcome - but all that takes a lot of time. That is a long way of saying I really don't have anything intelligent to contribute.
I printed out the manuals pages for fork work...it's pretty complete. These "suspenders" are not an unusual design .... and easy to disassemble .... even to the point of seal replacement and checking the wear on the teflon coated "split-ring" bushings that keep the moving tubes a snug fit in the upper tubes. Only info unique to Marzucchi is maybe wrench sizes and refill fluid level, ( 3.5" from top for te450). This of course is a starting point and can be tweaked for damping adjustment. Beyond that actual changes to the damping charactristics involves the shim stacks.... no need to touch for simple fork maintenance ... unless your anal about cleaning every part in the fork. I know there's more involved in fork action ... I'm just doing a good basic job for now. My seals leak and the extent of the bikes use and maint. is unknown, so I'm doing new seals/fluid to start. Dave
I did the fork work this past week-end...it went good. I don't do fork work repeatedly but I've been inside forks over the years many times....many brands and types. No real surprise, I ended up making two tools to get it done. A "split" seal driver for the 50mm ID x 65mm OD seals and a "holder" tool to stop the damper tube down inside the bottom of the forklegs from spinning while unscrewing the foot valve assy. (Anybody wishing to borrow these two tools... your welcome to). Glad I took them completely apart...besides fluid level being way down from leakage, the old fluid was typically fouled with fine metal . No big chunks, just the normal metal paste that thickens the fluids viscosity. I hope a good long ride finds them acceptable. Dave
I revalved/resprung my old KLX 300's Kayuba forks and realized that was as far as I wanted to go with the crude tools I had. Racetech's video on complete disassembly of forks looked way beyond my tools and patience. Just getting to the seals and installing new ones appeared to take many special tools that wouldn't damage the tubes and cartridge. You sound like you know your way around them pretty well!
Hell, I've got the VHS tape that came with the gold valve kit if you would like it! IIRC, the forks were Showa's in the video. Let me know.
