Kawasaki 1400 GTR

Off Topic => General Discussion => Topic started by: ozzmotor on March 21, 2015, 12:14:47 PM

Title: fork oil change
Post by: ozzmotor on March 21, 2015, 12:14:47 PM
Hello again gents.
  I'm thinking of changing the fork oil on my GTR before 12 days in europe . The service book makes this look like a dealer job with forks being removed. Has anybody done this themselves. Is it a DIY job. What is the service schedule for fork oil. At 31 000 should I be worried. Was serviced by dealer for first few years.
Cheers ozzmotor
Title: Re: fork oil change
Post by: SirToU on March 22, 2015, 08:49:08 AM
I haven't done them in 5 years / 50k on mine and it doesn't feel any worse.  But if you going through all that hassle....  Fairing removal etc, it might be worth looking at a full replacement of oil and springs. 

Different bike and different use (hard), but after 3 years on my Z750R, I have noticed the springs have become compressed and need replacing.....not just the oil but  That was a really easy job, but didn't have the issue of a fairing.

A short cut might be to take the rear wheel off, jack the front up so it's quite high and you will be able to get the forks out easier.   That's providing you can get a torque wrench into the triple clamp bolts to undo them....

Just a couple of thoughts.

Neil
Title: Re: fork oil change
Post by: viper on March 22, 2015, 11:29:10 AM
I did a fork oil change on my zzr1200, bike was low miles but 7 yr old so the components were fine but oil was toast.

very easy to do , I bought my self a large syringe with measurements so I could get the quantity correct.

cant be that much different on the 14, som people even change the weight of the oil to get a different handling characteristic
Title: Re: fork oil change
Post by: virginiajim on March 22, 2015, 01:44:35 PM
The front suspension of my 08 felt really stiff, changing the oil really helped.  It wasn't bad to do, very messy though.  It doesn't help to stand in the drain pan....twice or have tubes pop off whilst filling the forks back.  I had 60k miles on it and it had never been changed.  The oil was quite black and dirty....so were my garage floors afterwards.
Title: Re: fork oil change
Post by: ozzmotor on March 22, 2015, 02:28:16 PM
hello all .
Thanks for info.
virginiajim...did you do this by the syringe method with forks still on the bike and on a gtr 1400. springs are OK so Im just looking at oil.
what fitting did you use to push oil back into fork??
Title: Re: fork oil change
Post by: virginiajim on March 22, 2015, 02:41:58 PM
I'll try to get some pics, if I still have them.  I used a kit from Traxxion and I did remove the forks.  I have a fork compression tool that I mounted to my bench which assisted a one man operation.
Title: Re: fork oil change
Post by: SirToU on March 22, 2015, 11:01:32 PM
I would take them out 1 at a time..... it will save you time in the long run.....  no cleaning required....  :-)  you can pour them out.....  but you have to make sure you can get at them...  :-(


Neil
Title: Re: fork oil change
Post by: virginiajim on March 23, 2015, 12:43:16 AM
The springs are bloody awful to compress..even with a tool.