billinom8s - suspension guru.
Posted: Mar 18th, '23, 16:23
Thought I'd kick off a topic to raise awareness of SWB's very own billinom8s (aka Simon) and his expertise in the motorcycle suspension department.
Recently I had occasion to pick up the phone and ask Simon a question re' my Triumph Sprint ST front fork legs and the servicing thereof. I'd done a bit in this department myself but it was in the dim and distant, when Noah was a lad. That was when you drained the old oil out of each leg via the suppled drain plug, pumped the suspension up and down a few times and threw in whatever oil you happened to have lying around. Things have moved on a bit from then.
So, after being convinced I should do things properly for a change, and being invited to Rolls Towers to do so, I and aforesaid fork legs plus a pair of almost new OE springs (only 18,000 miles on 'em - new by my standards, and more importantly, free!
) duly reported for training.
As most of you know, Simon is a tad crook after having the sawbones operate on his right shoulder; so, he supplied the brainpower, tools and coffee and I followed orders. What would have taken Si' about an hour I managed to stretch to about 3 1/2. He was still speaking to me at the end so all good .
In a nutshell, and if you've cut to the chase to look for sordid details, the old fork oil was bleedin' 'orrible! It looked and smelled like something that had leaked from a septic tank and the sludge in the bottom of each leg was as thick as syrup; I took a couple of pic's of that which I'll put up later. My Sprint has over 68,000 miles on it and I doubt the oil had been changed for years. Once cleaned out, and that took some doing due to the sludge, some nice new Motul SAE 10w medium weight oil went in and the air gap set to 120 mm. Simon has a natty device for getting this essential measurement absolutely accurate. Some minor spanner twirling to rebuild the fork legs and a bit more natter and banter later and we were done.
After re-installing the legs on my bike I've only managed to get about 15 miles under the wheels so far so can't give a definitive take on the result yet. That short ride felt good though, immediately smoother and more compliant being the first impression. I'm off on one of Brian's marathon rideouts tomorrow (19th March) and will definitely know more by the end of that.
Recently I had occasion to pick up the phone and ask Simon a question re' my Triumph Sprint ST front fork legs and the servicing thereof. I'd done a bit in this department myself but it was in the dim and distant, when Noah was a lad. That was when you drained the old oil out of each leg via the suppled drain plug, pumped the suspension up and down a few times and threw in whatever oil you happened to have lying around. Things have moved on a bit from then.
So, after being convinced I should do things properly for a change, and being invited to Rolls Towers to do so, I and aforesaid fork legs plus a pair of almost new OE springs (only 18,000 miles on 'em - new by my standards, and more importantly, free!
) duly reported for training.As most of you know, Simon is a tad crook after having the sawbones operate on his right shoulder; so, he supplied the brainpower, tools and coffee and I followed orders. What would have taken Si' about an hour I managed to stretch to about 3 1/2. He was still speaking to me at the end so all good
. In a nutshell, and if you've cut to the chase to look for sordid details, the old fork oil was bleedin' 'orrible! It looked and smelled like something that had leaked from a septic tank and the sludge in the bottom of each leg was as thick as syrup; I took a couple of pic's of that which I'll put up later. My Sprint has over 68,000 miles on it and I doubt the oil had been changed for years. Once cleaned out, and that took some doing due to the sludge, some nice new Motul SAE 10w medium weight oil went in and the air gap set to 120 mm. Simon has a natty device for getting this essential measurement absolutely accurate. Some minor spanner twirling to rebuild the fork legs and a bit more natter and banter later and we were done.
After re-installing the legs on my bike I've only managed to get about 15 miles under the wheels so far so can't give a definitive take on the result yet. That short ride felt good though, immediately smoother and more compliant being the first impression. I'm off on one of Brian's marathon rideouts tomorrow (19th March) and will definitely know more by the end of that.
