Kawasaki W400

[Phang]

It has been a year and I have clocked 10K for the past 12 months, I am planning to change the fork oil every year or 10,000km. Made a DIY gadget for fork oil leveling last week and bought the oil that I need yesterday. I guess I am ready for my 1st attempt of fork oil changing in my life.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4814-1.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4815.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/forkoils.jpg

 

I make used of some item laying around in the house to make this, the tube was one of the tubes from an old radio retractable antenna and the cable gland was one of the junk item from my tool box

[Phang]

Not a single tool mark on the original fork caps, I wonder how the assembly workers tighten this in the factory. Took some photo of the caps in pristine condition before I leave some marks with my socket

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4848.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4849.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4850.jpg

[Phang]

Just took apart the front end, no drama so far, will do the oil change tonight

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4853.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4855.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4856.jpg

[gabriel06]

nice stuff.. seems like u have a full range of snap-on tools

 

nice vintage.. wat a gem..

[Phang]

nice stuff.. seems like u have a full range of snap-on tools

 

nice vintage.. wat a gem..

 

I could not afford Snap-on tools, mine are mainly KTC and FACOM and some ELORA

[Phang]

I just pried open the dust seal, both the fork seal and C-ring were free of oil and rust, applied some silicon grease to the dust seal and pressed it back, see you next year fork seal

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4858.jpg

[Phang]

used oil is out, measurements recorded for the preload tubes, washers and the springs for future reference

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4859.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4860.jpg

[Phang]

one of the evidence showing W400 is a W650 with shorten stroke

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4861.jpg

[Phang]

I am blending 5wt and 10wt oil using 1:1 ratio

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4865.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4866.jpg

[Phang]

filling the oil

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4867.jpg

[Phang]

Done, tomorrow will fix the forks back to the bike and see how the damping effect of this blend comparing to the stock Kawasaki G10 fork oil.

 

The progress of the fork oil changing was slow as I cleaned the parts which I removed along the way, very time consuming and tiring.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4868.jpg

[Demon]

filling the oil

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4867.jpg

 

The way I refill the fork oil is with spring out, and the upper tube fullly compressed.

[Phang]

The way I refill the fork oil is with spring out, and the upper tube fullly compressed.

 

Yeap, spring out, inner tube fully compressed when measuring the oil level

[cheeko]

i like this guy phang, very hand on. By the way, have u ever dismantle ur carbs to wash urself yet? i am planning to do mine, but my only problem is i do not have compressed air to blast out all the little stubborn dirt & grit

[adrianslacker]

nice work. Any reason why you mixed the 5W and 10W fork oils?

 

btw nice gloves

[Phang]

i like this guy phang, very hand on. By the way, have u ever dismantle ur carbs to wash urself yet? i am planning to do mine, but my only problem is i do not have compressed air to blast out all the little stubborn dirt & grit

 

Haven’t try that yet but sooner or later I will need to wash the carbs, do you have any idea how much those 2HP~2.5HP air compressors cost?

[cheeko]

Haven’t try that yet but sooner or later I will need to wash the carbs, do you have any idea how much those 2HP~2.5HP air compressors cost?

 

a 1 HP compressor cost $170, behind ah boy tat stretch can get. But then my house no place to put the compressor, void deck also no power supply, so its kinda troublesome. I realise compressed air is important if u are a diy peson

[Phang]

nice work. Any reason why you mixed the 5W and 10W fork oils?

 

btw nice gloves

 

Hi adrian,

 

My stock forks are filled with Kawasaki G10 fork oil. I am quite satisfied with the damping of the forks for the past 1 year but I couldn’t find any Kawasaki G10 in Singapore(I have tried many shops including Evershine), ordering 1L of fork oil from overseas is not a cost effective idea and I think the current regulations prohibit the mailing of liquid product internationally. So I have to blend my own fork oil from what I can get in Singapore to replicate as close as possible to the viscosity of G10. I have read articles on fork oils online for the past few weeks. Fork oil viscosity and VI(Viscousity Index) are hot topics if you do a search online, filled with different opinions, facts and myths.

 

My 1:1 ratio for the oil I bought was based on the chart in this article Suspension Oils, I will fine tune the blend base on the actually riding if necessary. That’s the reason why I bought 1 bottle of 5wt and 1 bottle of 10wt oil so that I can play around with the mix ratio to achieve the feel that I want.

[Phang]

1HP unit should be quite small, you can charge the tank at home and carry the compressor to your parking lot if you don’t have a socket outlet near to your bike… haha

[snowparang]

i like this guy phang, very hand on. By the way, have u ever dismantle ur carbs to wash urself yet? i am planning to do mine, but my only problem is i do not have compressed air to blast out all the little stubborn dirt & grit

There are brake/carb cleaners in compressed cans, ought to do the job. Else soak the carb in petrol and use toothbrush to clean...

[stsoh]

why do u need to strip fork just to change fork oil??

 

simply remove top-end retaining plug n bottom-end drain plug (allen head type).

[Phang]

why do u need to strip fork just to change fork oil??

 

simply remove top-end retaining plug n bottom-end drain plug (allen head type).

 

My forks don’t come with the drain screw, have to pour the oil out from the top cap.

 

If you are referring to the allen head bolt at the bottom of the fork leg that holds the damping rod, to remove that you will either need an air impact wrench or a special tool inserting from the top cap to hold the damping rod preventing it from turning while loosening this bolt.

[stsoh]

i'm referring to the drain plug underneath at the bottom-end.

after u removed the wheel spindle shaft, look at the bottom-end inside.

u can see a allen-head plug, need a long allen-key or a extension shaft attached allen-key socket to loosen it.

maybe u can remove it when it is still mounted on the fork clamp.

i normally change fork oil every 2 years.

all mech did the same method.

took less than 15~30 minutes to change it.

[Phang]

This is the allen bolt at the bottom of the fork leg, the method is faster, can do it while the forks are in the tripple clamps

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4862.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4864.jpg

[snowparang]

i'm referring to the drain plug underneath at the bottom-end.

after u removed the wheel spindle shaft, look at the bottom-end inside.

u can see a allen-head plug, need a long allen-key or a extension shaft attached allen-key socket to loosen it.

maybe u can remove it when it is still mounted on the fork clamp.

i normally change fork oil every 2 years.

all mech did the same method.

took less than 15~30 minutes to change it.

er...does that mean you change the oil without replacing the oil seal? 2 yrs and the oil seal is still ok ah?