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[Eqcons]

The Zanotti bling truck stopped by my place today, with 1000 bucks worth of OCD therapy.    Woohoo!   

Among the little bits and pieces I ordered are chrome front fork drain plug screws.  Now, am I right in assuming that as soon as I take the old one out, it will begin to deposit the contents of the fork leg all over the floor? Now obviously that's not desirable!  So what's the method?  Do I need to get the bike up on the stand so the forks are fully extended?  And then what - just swap them as quickly as I can?

Jim

[Chief]

The Zanotti bling truck stopped by my place today, with 1000 bucks worth of OCD therapy.    Woohoo!   

Among the little bits and pieces I ordered are chrome front fork drain plug screws.  Now, am I right in assuming that as soon as I take the old one out, it will begin to deposit the contents of the fork leg all over the floor? Now obviously that's not desirable!  So what's the method?  Do I need to get the bike up on the stand so the forks are fully extended?  And then what - just swap them as quickly as I can?

Jim

Yes, and yes. You'll lose a little bit of fluid, but if you're both quick and accurate, it should be minimal.

Good luck,

Chief

[Hoist!]

Thanks Jim for asking and Chief for answering. I had the same question! Chief can it be done on the ground? I figured I'd take the old screw out and put my finger over the drain hole. Then as quickly as possible, put the new screw in. I didn't think the pressure would be any different up or down, as long as you're not moving the forks. Not a big deal to lift the front, but was wondering why that was necessary. Thanks. Hoist!

[djkak]

Yes, and yes. You'll lose a little bit of fluid, but if you're both quick and accurate, it should be minimal.

Good luck,
Chief

It is important to make sure that your face is right in there with the drain plug. If sometime later you would like a critique of your technique, make sure somebody is standing by with a camera.

djkak

[Eqcons]

Yes, and yes. You'll lose a little bit of fluid, but if you're both quick and accurate, it should be minimal.

Good luck,

Chief

Thanks Chief!

Jim

[RedDevil]

Jim,
With all that bling that showed up...you know I've got to do this to you:
 

Cheers ,
Red

[Chief]

Thanks Chief!

Jim

Sure thing Jim.

Hoist.... I don't know. I have always raised the front end, just to make sure. There's always one way to find out........

I'd definitely have a camera for that one.

Chief

[Hoist!]

It is important to make sure that your face is right in there with the drain plug. If sometime later you would like a critique of your technique, make sure somebody is standing by with a camera.

djkak

Hey dj, I'm a little slow. It sounds like your saying not to do this. How about one of your astute technical dumps on this?

Hey Jim, would you mind trying it first and have someone there with the camera for us?

Hoist!

[Hoist!]

Sure thing Jim.

Hoist.... I don't know. I have always raised the front end, just to make sure. There's always one way to find out........

I'd definitely have a camera for that one.

Chief

Chief, I figured that the fluid equalizes pressure and just moves, thru the dampener, to another location in the chamber. What am I missing here? dj kinda freaked me out a little with his response, basically saying not to do it at all!? Hoist!

[Chief]

Chief, I figured that the fluid equalizes pressure and just moves, thru the dampener, to another location in the chamber. What am I missing here? dj kinda freaked me out a little with his response, basically saying not to do it at all!? Hoist!

With compression, you're pushing the fork tube into the leg, so there is an accompanying loss of total volume. The fluid moves up inside the tube, but the air has nowhere to go, so it compresses, building up pressure.

Chief

I think dj was just looking for a video to send in to AMF for a shot at $10,000.

[Fired00d]

Sounds like if you're in doubt, or not that quick the best time to change these would be when you want to change the fluids in the forks.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[Chief]

Sounds like if you're in doubt, or not that quick the best time to change these would be when you want to change the fluids in the forks.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

d00d,

You might wind up doing that anyway, depending on how it goes.

[Hoist!]

With compression, you're still pushing the fork tube into the leg, so there is an accompanying loss of total volume. The fluid moves up inside the tube, but the air has nowhere to go, so it compresses, building up pressure.

Chief

Fair enough. More volume with the leg extended, lower pressure. What about what dj said. He implied that it's under pretty subtantial pressure, even while extended. Did you do this before? What kind of pressure did you feel at the drain? Can your finger adequately hold back the fluid to be able to get the new screw started? Otherwise, like d00d says, I'll wait for my first major service, when I planned on putting in the 15W PJ1 oil. Thanks. Hoist!

[hd-dude]

You will loose fluid when you try this! Have a clean drain pan below the fork leg and return the fliud into the leg via the filler cap on top. You will need to remove the lower fairing cap to gain access.

Another option is to drain the legs completely and replace the Type E fluid with something heavier like a 15W. It will handle better

[Chief]

Fair enough. More volume with the leg extended, lower pressure. What about what dj said. He implied that it's under pretty subtantial pressure, even while extended. Did you do this before? What kind of pressure did you feel at the drain? Can your finger adequately hold back the fluid to be able to get the new screw started? Otherwise, like d00d says, I'll wait for my first major service, when I planned on putting in the 15W PJ1 oil. Thanks. Hoist!

Yes, this past weekend. When extended, the pressure is nil... at least it was on mine. I only lost a couple of drips, and I had the hole covered with some elec. tape for a couple of minutes.

Chief