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Fork oil?

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:14 pm
by krisrtch
I'm new at this whole fork oil wt stuff. what is the difference as far as what does thinner wt do compared to thicker wt do. as we all know the front forks on a 230 suck. I'm in the process of putting on a set of inverted forks on mine but still curious on what these wt will do. any help would be great.

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:15 am
by Aussiecrf230
Thicker (higher number) will slow fork in both bump and rebound.

Thinner (Lower number) will speed fork in both bump and rebound.

Use the oil that was meant for the fork you are using.
Playing around with oil level and clickers should get the result you want.

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:12 am
by krisrtch
thanks for the info! So by adding the thicker stuff should hopefully help against bottoming if i understand this right.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:42 am
by Aussiecrf230
I assume you are using standard fork still.

Going thicker will slow the whole action down but if the oil height in the fork is the same it will probably still bottom out.

Two choices here:

Higher rate springs - pointless if you are going to change front end anyway.

Raise oil height in fork.

Raising the oil height will help stop bottoming, but raising it too much will stop the fork compressing fully.
Basically there must be an air gap otherwise you get hydralic lock.

If you want to go trick you can get remote reservoirs and fill the fork up completely.
The reservoirs provide the air gap and because the forks are full they should be plush without bottoming.
Probably big dollars though and a fork change is going to be better dollars spent.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:57 am
by krisrtch
Thanks for the info! I should hopefully be putting on my inverted forks on with in the next 2 weeks. I am waiting on my works performance shock to come in and do the whole suspension at one time.