Cheapo fork oil, pros if any?

[Ranger]

Save money? What weight for my 700 anyways, I'm ~160 lbs then have about ~7 lbs of tools and ride with a backpack that weighs ~15 lbs.

Also anyone have 2 fork seals for sale so I don't have to spend $10 just to ship them from 15 miles away at bike bandit?

Just trying to get everything together so when I get the engine in I can swap out my 2 leaking fork seals and be on the road.

 

[oldgrumpy]

sorry,, but i,ve learnt the hard way... CHEAP NO NAME BRAND OIL = ****.... you have delray in the usa .. its great and you can get 10/20 weight fork oil ... regards david

 

[Nessism]

Naw, I'd run the cheapest fork oil I could find. I'd even run motor oil without hesitation if the proper weight could be found. Suzuki even lists motor oil as applicable in some of the service manuals. The only issue is finding a weight you want. Motor oil is hard to find in all the specific weights that fork oil is sold in so that could be a draw back if you are picky. Personally, if in a pinch I'd run some 5W-20 oil and you should be fine. If that's too soft, mix in some 10W-30 and cut it 50-50. More work that way but once you find a formula that works for you, you can call it done.

 

[Ranger]

I'll try a mixture, I'm sure Ray will be helping me (hopefully). I usually run cheap maxima in my mountain bikes with a 5w but thats a different style of riding and weight all together.

 

[chuck hahn]

My factory manual for myn 750s says to make a 50/50 mix of 30 weight motor oil and automatic tranny fluid..probably 2 things you already got on a shelf in the garage.

 

[Ranger]

My factory manual for myn 750s says to make a 50/50 mix of 30 weight motor oil and automatic tranny fluid..probably 2 things you already got on a shelf in the garage.

Nah, its on the floor coloring the concrete.

 

[7981GS]

On my last one, I tried 10W-30 synthetic motor oil just to see if it would work.
The cheapo MauMart brand.
It works fine.

Daniel

 

[bluewool]

+1 for Belray, I stopped playing chemistry. One less thing to question when trouble shooting..

ME "Maybe I'll try a different ratio"
Motorcycle mechanic friend "Why don't you just skip the next pitcher, and buy some real fork oil"

 

[GSexpress]

Anything works fine if you want to change it often enough. Auto motor oil doesn't have the shear stability to keep its viscosity for very long. Motorcycle motor oil would last longer but will still thin out and break down alot sooner than a good synthetic fork oil. It also doesn't have as good of temperature stability either. It will thicken up more easily in cold weather. Cheap tranny fluid would be a better choice as it is made to be shear stable and will help make the seals last better than motor oil. But in the long run your not saving money as you can run the sythetic fork oil 4 times longer before it needs changing, and is the best for keeping your seals and bushings from wearing.

 

[chuck hahn]

7981 GS..I had some leaky fork seals and no money for new ones..so i put stright 50 wt in and that slowed the leak down almost to nothing till i could get seals..didnt seem to hamper the steering or braking either. I dnt recommend it for long term use but hey sometimes you gotta do a stop gap meausre to get yourself by.

 

[DanTheMan]

I'm using Hydraulic Pump Oil (not jack oil). About $4-$6/qt at my local Auto Value store. It works fine, no problems with it even when I had the bike overloaded for my CA trip.

 

[bwringer]

I always use actual real live fork oil, but I certainly wouldn't let a lack of fork oil keep me from riding.

Also, I've used Motor Honey many times to fine-tune the viscosity of fork oil. If I can't find 20W, I'll use 15W with about 10% Motor Honey.

 

[Ranger]

I always use actual real live fork oil, but I certainly wouldn't let a lack of fork oil keep me from riding.

Also, I've used Motor Honey many times to fine-tune the viscosity of fork oil. If I can't find 20W, I'll use 15W with about 10% Motor Honey.

I never thought it was that big of a deal until I let up pressure on my bars and my steering got extremely violent on me. I was only going about 25 but had that of happend at 70 I would have not been to happy so til then its gonna sit since one side is off balance, even with a new engine.

 

[tom203]

I use 15-40 rotella- works fine, better than thin stuff that was in there. Take care to get equal amounts in each fork or weird stuff might happen.

 

[GSexpress]

There is so much more to fork oil than viscosity.

You are forgetting about anti foam, and anti corosion protection that must be higher than that of motor oil and compressor oils. It may work at first and for a while, but you're risking long term damage to the inner workings and possible catostrofic failure of damping in the case of a foamup. If it foams and air gets permiated through the oil, dampening can disapear all together. Something you won't find out until it's too late. High speeds on choppy pavement will find you riding a pogo stick for a front suspension.

Really, is that risk worth saving a few bucks for?

The best tires in the world won't help you turn, accelerate, or stop, if you can't keep the tires in good contact with the pavement. That's the job of the suspesion and ultimately the fork/shock oil. It's not just how it feels on a Sunday ride or bouncing it in the garage.

 

[Nessism]

There is so much more to fork oil than viscosity.

You are forgetting about anti foam, and anti corosion protection that must be higher than that of motor oil and compressor oils. It may work at first and for a while, but you're risking long term damage to the inner workings and possible catostrofic failure of damping in the case of a foamup. If it foams and air gets permiated through the oil, dampening can disapear all together. Something you won't find out until it's too late. High speeds on choppy pavement will find you riding a pogo stick for a front suspension.

Really, is that risk worth saving a few bucks for?

The best tires in the world won't help you turn, accelerate, or stop, if you can't keep the tires in good contact with the pavement. That's the job of the suspesion and ultimately the fork/shock oil. It's not just how it feels on a Sunday ride or bouncing it in the garage.

If motor oil and ATF are so bad than how come Suzuki recommends it in the service manual? And what evidence do we have that motor oil has less "anti foam" additives than fork oil? Honestly now, I'm not against using fork oil but I'm just not convinced that it's all that much different than motor oil other than the available viscosity range is better

 

[GSexpress]

If motor oil and ATF are so bad than how come Suzuki recommends it in the service manual? And what evidence do we have that motor oil has less "anti foam" additives than fork oil? Honestly now, I'm not against using fork oil but I'm just not convinced that it's all that much different than motor oil other than the available viscosity range is better

I didn't include ATF. It's a much better choice than motor oil. All you have to do is look up the SAE standards to see how much anti foam requirements are for different oil types.

If there weren't a good reason for using it, I don't think a manufacturer would spend the money on it to put it in the bike in the first place.

But I guess you're smarter than they are.

 

[Nessism]

I didn't include ATF. It's a much better choice than motor oil. All you have to do is look up the SAE standards to see how much anti foam requirements are for different oil types.

If there weren't a good reason for using it, I don't think a manufacturer would spend the money on it to put it in the bike in the first place.

But I guess you're smarter than they are.

In the GS850 and GS1000 manuals Suzuki calls for SAE 10W/20 oil.

The GS550 and GS750 manuals states half and half SAE 10W-30 and ATF

Use fork oil if you want, I do, but it wouldn't bother me to use motor oil and/or with ATF, and other folks shouldn't either assuming they trust Suzuki's recommendation.

 

[makenzie71]

Modern motor oils have a lot more in them to keep them from foaming up than modern fork oils...as well anti corrosion compounds. If anything, with motor oil, you get way too much OTHER crap...not the other way around. If you get motor oil to "foam" up in your forks you have some serious issues not at all related to the oil.

On top of that, if you change your oil every year...minimum...like you're supposed to do...you'll never see any of the anti corrosion or other spiffy "features" of either at work.

The worst thing you'll see with motor oil is from the variable weight stuff when really working the suspension hard. I run Rotella 15-40 in my bike from one end to the other...shocks, motor, forks...and when I'm really working the shocks they'll stiffen up noticeably. When I go back and change all my fluids I'll be running a straight 20w something.

 

[Furious D]

I've used ATF or Automatic tranny fluid for years in my "older" bikes. Its pretty cheap and is about 10W depending on the brand.


I was turned on to this by and old bike mechanic. He claimed the ATF would cure oil leaks about 50% of the time. I did notice it did slow down a leak in an old BMW I had.