Another fork oil question from a new gs owner

[Anonymous]

First of all this is a great site, I'm glad I found it.
So I've searched the forums and the Q and A every which way I could think of for fork oil capacity or level for an '82 gs 650 gl and have not found such info.

And now for the long, drawn out reason why I want this info. The UPS man kindly delivered to me a new front tire today shortly after I had picked up my fork seals and oil from the local bike shops. I now have all the parts and a free afternoon to complete my latest project.

At one shop I inquired as to what the fork oil capacity is for this bike and was told 441ml or 14.9 oz. I don't think this is correct since 14.9 oz fills the fork to the very top. (after complete disassembly, cleaning and correct reassembly) So if there is anyone with a manual to set me straight I would greatly appreciate it. I have a clymer manual on the way but that doesn't help me now.

Also I had to buy Harley Davidson type "E" fork oil as that was the only place in town that carried what they assured me was equivalent to 15w oil. Does anyone know if this HD type E is in fact equivalent to 15w and if it is or is not recommended.

Thanks in advance for any help
Ryan

[Anonymous]

I don't know exactly what your application should take, but I have no doubt that 441ml is WAY too much. I just got done doing the forks on my GS425L last week. Spec's direct from my local Suzy dealer: 145 ml/cc's. Even though I don't know exactly how the size of your forks compares to mine, I would think that it would not be terribly far off from that number. As to the H-D oil, not a clue! I hope that you find some good info.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I should have suspected that 441ml seemed to be a rather large quantity, but then all of my experience has been with dirt bikes since this is my first street bike I just figured bigger bike, bigger forks, more fluid.

[focus frenzy]

you could have saved plenty of money by getting good old dextron transmission fluid, it is a accepted oil per suzuki, I have it in my 1000g and I like the responce and damping I get using it.
as for how much to use, I dont know for sure, my 1000g calls for 251cc or 8.5oz, a 850gl calls for 302cc (10.2oz) the 650GL has a smaller diameter fork and should use less, I am pretty sure it has been posted in recent history but may have been deleted in the latest database purge.

[Hotblack]

I did my fork oil recently ('79 550L) and it called for 217 ml. It worked perfectly, and brought the level nowhere near the top.

By the way thanks again for all the help from here, the job went smoothly, I took them off to drain and rinse, used a baby bottle to measure the fluid. I noticed when I replaced the dust boots the seal reataining rings were creating a good deal of rust, they needed a lot of cleaning and a coat of WD-40. Luckily the seals looked un damaged. I also noticed the slightest difference in fork placement in the clamps affected the steering. It was unnoticable unless I took my hands off the bars at speed, but it would slightly and persistenly pull to the left.

[cbxchris]

Just did a gs1150 recently and took less than 10oz...It is best to measure your oil from the top of the fork tube...this particular bike was 7.1 inches. You check the oil with NO springs in the fork.

[Anonymous]

Just did a gs1150 recently and took less than 10oz...It is best to measure your oil from the top of the fork tube...this particular bike was 7.1 inches. You check the oil with NO springs in the fork.

Yes, I agree whole-heartedly with Chris. I've done three sets of forks in the last six months and finally decided that measuring the quantity carefully before adding to the fork was a waste of time. I use a dowel rod as a dip stick and pour in fluid until it reaches the level, then work the fork and recheck the level (height from the top of the fork tube to the fluid). Then add as needed, working the fork everytime I add any to make sure it's complete worked into all the passages.

[HiSPL]

Two things. First the Hardley shop was correct, their oil is simply pj1 tuner oil repackaged in a HD bottle. I did the same thing, only place open on sunday was HD dealer...... Second is measuring fork oil level. What I do is use an oil suction gun. I put a hole in the plastic tube about a half inch up from the bottom, then measure up the proper distance from the hole and place a zip tie around the tube. Simply rest the zip tie on the top of the fork tube and suck out the oil. It'll stop sucking when it hits the hole you just made, making the oil level perfectly even between the two legs. Its just that simple.....

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the tips and advice. I was planning on filling them to the correct level but I don't know what that is. I've rigged a setup similar to those that have been described for this purpose using clear hose (taped to a metal rod to keep it straight) with a 60cc syringe attatched to it and clothes pin to clamp on at the right height.

Now that there should be a Suzuki shop open somewhere I'll put in some calls and try to find the specs. If I get some good numbers I'll post them here for anyone else that might be interested.

[Anonymous]

Here are the specs that I got from a couple different sources (repair shops and suzuki dealerships) for the forks of an '82 gs 650 gl

capacity each leg
239ml or 8.1oz

level of fluid (measured from top of upper fork tube down with spring removed and fork fully compressed)
143.3mm or 5.6in

I hope these specs are in agreement with everyone elses, it seemed right when all assembled. By the way it feels much better than it did before when only operating on 3oz of gray sludge and badly leaking seals, not to mention I now have a front tire with tread and is not cracked all the way around the circumference in multiple places. The reason it was in this condition was because I just bought this bike after it sat for about 10 to 12 years. Again thanks for all the help.