Fork Oil and Air Fork Balance Kit

[AmnChode]

Been meaning to post this but been tied up as of late. Last weekend I had tightened my steering head bearings and removed the bars to get better access to the nut. I believe in the process I may have pull the little tube on the balance kit a little and when I took it to work the next day, the tube on the right fork came loose. I noticed this because I had some fork oil running down the fork. I didn't notice any adverse handling, and I am assuming that this because when the tube came off, the forks "balanced" out to 0 PSI. However, what does concerns me is that I lost some of the fork oil. How much "loss" should I be concerned with? Doesn't look like I lost a whole lot, but it is kinda hard to tell as oil, as most of you know, seems to spread easily

 

Also, do I absolutely need the little white thing that slips over the tube and the nipple, as it seems to have disappeared, and would a small zip tie work as a decent replacement, if needed?

 

Thanks in advance

[AmnChode]

Now don't everyone jump in here at once...hehehe:whistling:

 

I'm just a little concerned as I have a memorial day trip coming up and I want to know if I need to do some last minute work. I know I did lose alot, maybe a couple of ml at best, but don't know how much oil is actually in the forks and whether that would make it unsafe to ride. Thoughts?

[Bummer]

I have the balancing kit on mine, but I really don't know how to answer your question.

 

I'm wondering how you got oil out of it in the first place, what with gravity and all. But hey, if it came out, it came out.

 

I checked the shop manual - page 7-54 - and found it should hold 18.7 US quarts. Since I don't know where a fork tube would put 18 quarts I checked the liters part and found it listed at about half a liter. Must be that Japanese to English conversion problem again. Kind of like the description on syncing the carbs. Anyway, since a liter is about a quart, I'd say each fork tube should hold 'bout half a quart.

 

So, since it sounds like it didn't make a puddle you are probably alright. You might want to plan on checking the level when a rainy weekend comes around.

 

As to the little plastic part, I'm at a loss. I did a quick google of plastic tubing looking for fitting info, but came up empty. I'm considering buying another kit as a backup, but will keep looking for now.

 

If I come up with anything, I'll post it.

[dragerman]

I installed my balancing kit last weekend and know the little plastic piece you’re talking about. I dropped mine while trying to install it and it took me a while to find it.

 

I would suggest you take the plastic piece off the other side, put it in a zip-lock bag and go to a plumbing store and try to match it. Look for the inserts that are designed to go ‘into’ the ends of the ¼ in plastic waterline, they look the same as your sleeve and might work. It’s the ‘inside’ diameter of your plastic sleeve that you have to match. In fact if you could find something close enough you might be able to tool it by hand to make it fit. The sleeve is there to prevent the hose from the balancing kit from expanding and slipping off (like a hose clamp). So as long as you can achieve that you should be able to make something work. The instructions suggest a drop of dish soap on the “outside” of the hose to help the sleeve push in place. But don’t get any soap ‘in’ the hose or it may slip off. The line doesn’t have much pressure so if you wanted you could always take a strand of copper wire, wrap it twice around the hose and give it a twist.

 

If all else fails you can reinstall the valve stems into the forks until you find (or make) a sleeve. At least it wont leave you stuck. It doesn't sound like you enough oil to be too concerned with.

Edited May 20, 2010 by dragerman

[AmnChode]

Cool beans...sounds good to me. Thanks for the suggestions...and reassurance:happy34: