Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Puzzled]

This is purely me thinking out loud here..........

If one were to overfill the shock with oil I would think that when you ran the shock through its cycle it would disperse any excess oil.

just a thought......

[jfh]

My thoughts exactly.  Now - what type oil?

[Puzzled]

I'm going with fork oil until I'm told otherwise.

[jfh]

The oil that was in the shocks is not the same color (red) as the H-D fork oil.  It must have come from another vendor. Not sure what type oil Showa uses at their factory.  Other than that, I agree that fork oil should work fine.

[hd-dude]

I would stick with a light weight (5 or 7.5) fork oil.

[Puzzled]

I made my way to the garage today with the intentions of working on my Legends air shocks. As has been stated before I have the conversion shocks made by Legends. I took the system off of my bike last year after Carlisle because the bike was riding rough. I later found one of the shocks to be stuck in the collapsed position. I was able to free the chock of its closed position but in the process I lost an undetermined amount of oil from the chock. So my search began for the correct oil type and amount to go back in the shocks. Well this resulted in mostly "They are unserviceable". My train of thought is if they were built with oil in them than there is no reason I can't change it. I believe it was after speaking with Legends that the 12 ounce amount came out. With this little bit of knowledge I was determined to work on these shocks.

I started by filling the first shock until it wouldn't take any more. This proved to be very messy and time consuming. Even though I was using a brake syringe it was still slow going. What I needed was a third hand.

So over to the lathe I went. This allowed me to mount a shock in the lathe and use the tail stock to compress the spring. This worked well but was still slow going. What I would do is compress the shock and start filling it while i was backing the tail stock out. This created a vacuum of sorts and was sucking the fluid in. However it was difficult to work the syringe one handed and turn the tail stock out at the same time. I still needed the third hand. Now had I been a needle user somewhere in my lifetime this may have not been so difficult.

[Puzzled]

My next attempt was to remove the plunger from the syringe and gravity feed the shock. This worked well when I collapsed the shock and used the tail stock to relieve pressure. Still a little messy but better.

[Puzzled]

My final attempt had me using the fork oil bottle with a cap from a gear oil container. This fit the shock hole perfectly and allowed me to squeeze the bottle while backing the tail stock out. This filled the shock rather quickly and with very little mess.

After filling the shock I cycled it in and out to make sure I had it full but not overfilled. I put 10 ounces of new fluid in it. That stands to reason with the 12 ounce full mark as I could hear some fluid in the shock that I was unable to get out before I started

[Puzzled]

After completing the second shock I placed the first manual filled shock in the lathe. As I cycled it in and out it was apparent that I had overfilled it. I pushed close to two ounces out of the shock. My lathe method may not be correct but at least both shocks are the same now.

As for the shock that was sticking I can no longer tell which one it was. Sure I'm still a little gun shy but hey nothing ventured nothing gained. As a back up I'll take my stock shocks to Daytona with me just in case I have to change them back.

I ordered all new fittings from the shock fitting all the way to the compressor including the line. McMaster Carr is very fast with their shipping so I should have my order by Wednesday.

What prompted me to get to working on this after almost a year? I called Legends today to see if I can have these shocks rebuilt and was told I could upgrade for $800. While that may be a good deal I'm not ready to give them my coin twice until I know these shocks are toast. I even called Draggin Bagger and as of yet no one has returned my call.

[Puzzled]

I would stick with a light weight (5 or 7.5) fork oil.

I went with Medium 20 weight simply because that was what I had here! Should the shocks actually work but ride a bit harsh I would have no problems with changing the fluid accordingly. Now that I have a half a**ed system I'm good to go.

[jfh]

Puzzled,

Thanks for the detailed "How-To" report and photos.  I don't have a lathe but I can figure something out for manipulating the travel.

[iski]

Left shock leaked all fluid this past weekend.  Bike @ dealer and they have a new shock on order.  Warranty.

At first thought it might be brake fluid, so all in all better the shock leaking than brake fluid.