[Daboo]

That is a gorgeous color, and a great buy.

Chris

 

[Daboo]

There are a lot of possibilities if you want to save $$$ on a kit and are willing to invest the time. I used a different fork oil, and adjusted the amount of oil...which adjusts the amount of air. The result is little dive, yet the front soaks up road imperfections fairly well. Handling is great. I wouldn't want to change anything.

Unfortunately, it is like the recipes my wife makes sometimes. There is no exact formula to it, just a bit of luck and trial & error. And there's the "fun" in it. When and if you get it "right", there's a feeling of satisfaction as you ride down the road.

Chris

 

[Daboo]

Definitely beats spending $1000+ on a cartridge kit. I’m sold! 😎 What fork oil did you use?

I previously used a different brand. With the supply chain issues, this was all Cycle Gear had...and while it is twice the cost of the other brand I had used previously, it worked for me. Note the bottle says 5W in the graphic...I stayed with the 10W oil that the factory specs called for. Also one thing I found out when I first changed my fork oil, was that one manufacturer's 10W is not the same as another's 10W. It varies.

When I first changed the fork oil, it was my first time doing it. I followed the directions given by the founder of this forum in this video.

Technically, it wasn't "proper"...but it got the job done. My biggest mistake was in not measuring the amount that drained from each tube. Without knowing how much you drained out, you can't know exactly how much to put back in. His way of taking the fork oil out, doesn't require pulling the forks out. It's worth a look to see how he did it.

My theory on how the simple forks like ours work is you have the springs...obviously. But instead of the front end bouncing like a pogo stick, the oil passes through an orifice. The weight of the oil, will "adjust" how much that goes through. The oil doesn't compress, so a fully filled fork tube would have no give to it at all. It'd be like riding on a buckboard wagon. That's where the air comes in. The air does compress, so it gives some of that initial compression when you hit a bump. If you want a firmer suspension, add more oil...which decreases the amount of air. If you want a less firm suspension, remove some of the oil...which increases the amount of air. If you want to play around with the response, use a different weight oil.

Chris