What weight fork oil for your street bike?

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Thinking of changing out my fork oil on my 2006 Vulcan 900. I think it calls for a 10w but was thinking of maybe trying a 15w as the front end seems awfully easy to compress and I weight about 280.

What weight and manufacture have you found you liked?
 
Hi ZZman,

10w is around 35cSt. Till now I would say Ohlins 10w suspension fluid works well for my bike (Honda Varadero). If you like experimenting with the suspension check Dave Moss tuning in Youtube, he explains in detail.
10w is a category, and among oil brands you can find variations in viscosity.
 
I've always used plain 10W-30
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wouldn't you want to preload the spring or install a "heavier " spring? The oil dampens the springs oscillations
 
Yes this could be a solution for the front end, but then an action should be taken also for the preload and sag for the rear end too.
 
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As said above, once you adjust your front springs, it will jack your sag. If you adjust your front spring rate you most likely have to adjust your rear also. Rear might have an adjuster tension ring that you can turn a couple times. 15W will slow down the dampening rate, but there is valving in the fork tube also, most of the time the fork dampening is adjusted with valving and amount of fork oil in the fork tube. Being that you have a Vulcan, I don't think you want to spend that kind of money on your suspension. Revalving cost's a few bucks! Keep close track of what you do, write it down so you can easily back track to the last step or back to complete stock, because once you adjust anything with your suspension you might very well mess the whole feel of your bike up, and you might not be happy.

A simple "Hack" I will label it as a hack, its not really a hack on a dirt bike, its just not used on a street bike, but you might already have spacers. You could try a small spacer made out of PVC or metal tube the same diameter as your fork spring, and it will compress your spring a little bit, you can see how you like that before you buy a stiffer spring. Put the small spacer that you make, try 1/4'' to 1/2'' inch right under the fork spring cap and reinstall the spring cap. Remember to properly torque it down! Never add air pressure even if it has a Schrader valve. If this higher spring rate is more to your liking then stiffer/ higher spring rate springs will be what your looking for.

If you already have spacers, just make new spacers 1/2" inch longer and see what you think of that. Also, find the OE fork tube fluid volume, if there is a min/max, drain old fluid and measure, if your near the minimum, ad new fork oil to the max level, that should help with dampening also.

I have used as much as 1" inch spacers on dirt bikes made for permanent spacers.
 
Most Cruisers have marginal suspension to begin with. And most Japanese bikes were sprung with a 150 lb rider in mind. In 13 years those undersprung-for-the-load springs have sagged. Yes you can try some adjustments as mentioned by 'kneeGrinder'. I'd also suggest calling some M/C suspension companies. Race Tech might have something for your '06 Vulcan. One thing is for sure, good suspension sprung for your weight, would make a night and day difference to how the bike rides.
 
Hello Silk,

My next change will be with Iso32 or Atf. Do you use a specific Iso 32, for example for air compressors with high AW chemistry or similar? How does the oil perform in terms of sliperiness?
 
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Generally speaking Japanese bikes are under sprung and over damped. A higher rate spring and thinner is where I'd start. MHO
Smoky
 
Originally Posted by Smoky14
Generally speaking Japanese bikes are under sprung and over damped. A higher rate spring and thinner is where I'd start. MHO
Smoky

Yes, I have found on the common non adjustable Showa forks, a 5 weight oil makes it respond better over bumps at higher speeds.
 
Yeah, at 280 I'd bet the fork's way undersprung so the first step is getting the correct springs for your weight.

How many miles are on the bike and is this the first time the fork's being serviced? Because if this is the first time the fork's coming apart and the bike has more than, say, 15K miles on it, I'd say send off the forks to a suspension specialist for a rebuild, unless you have the tools/time/knowledge/motivation to do all the work yourself. Not just to change the fork oil and springs, but to replace bushings, seals, etc. Then when they're apart at the specialist, they can fine tune the damping characteristics beyond what a simple fork oil change can achieve.
 
Originally Posted by jeff78
Yeah, at 280 I'd bet the fork's way undersprung so the first step is getting the correct springs for your weight.

How many miles are on the bike and is this the first time the fork's being serviced? Because if this is the first time the fork's coming apart and the bike has more than, say, 15K miles on it, I'd say send off the forks to a suspension specialist for a rebuild, unless you have the tools/time/knowledge/motivation to do all the work yourself. Not just to change the fork oil and springs, but to replace bushings, seals, etc. Then when they're apart at the specialist, they can fine tune the damping characteristics beyond what a simple fork oil change can achieve.



2006.....13,000 miles. I doubt they were ever serviced.
 
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