Couple of small questions

[Hitndahedfred]

Getting closer by the day.
But I do have a few questions to ask the gurus here.

1, Fork oil,,,Do I need to get some new fangled stuff or will any old oil work?

2, Clutch rod measurement,,,The part that goes against the worm gear,, how much should be sticking out of the case? I am thinking I might need one of the ball spacers.

3, Cam chain tensioner,,,If I start from no pressure (backed out) how much do I crank it in?

4, Speedo and cable,, I have the correct speedo (2 to 1) but need a cable around 28 inches or so with the correct ends. Any suggestions?

 

[gggGary]

1. any new fork oil is better than the 30 year old crap usually in there now. Heck 10w30 motor oil is fine. I have a 79 with 10-30 and it works fine.
2. is the ball still inside the worm? reduced end of the rod sticks out. don' have a measurement to hand.
3 start to tighten, easiest with plugs out, spin motor, tighten adjuster til the rod end wiggles in out, just a bit, if it stops moving, it's too tight. 1, 2mm or a scant 1/16 inch is about right.

 

[Hitndahedfred]

1. any new fork oil is better than the 30 year old crap usually in there now. Heck 10w30 motor oil is fine. I have a 79 with 10-30 and it works fine.
2. is the ball still inside the worm? reduced end of the rod sticks out. don' have a measurement to hand.
3 start to tighten, easiest with plugs out, spin motor, tighten adjuster til the rod end wiggles in out, just a bit, if it stops moving, it's too tight. 1, 2mm or a scant 1/16 inch is about right.

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The ball is inside the worm,,, I am thinking I am missing one that is behind the push rod (1st section that sticks out)

 

[Michaelo]

1.0 to 2.0 mm Gaz, you gone metric....? Sort of.....

 

[5twins]

I just happen to have my cover off at the moment. The clutch rod sicks out 48 to 49mm. The balls used are 5/16", or about 8mm, so if you're missing one, your pushrod will stick out 8mm less.

I use real fork oil, 10 wt. It's not hard to find and not that expensive when you consider it doesn't need changing every couple thousand miles like motor oil.

 

[fredintoon]

1.0 to 2.0 mm Gaz, you gone metric....? Sort of.....

Hi Mick,
as we see in the post, he's fully inch/Metric bilingual. As we have been in Canada since 1977
"which is why these new 40CM closets will fit exactly on these old 16" spaced studs"
Note that the Canadian building industry uses centimeters and Canadian machine shops use millimeters.
Which led to this correspondence.
Biker friend:- look at these drawings and tell my why only one machine shop in Calgary would touch the job and they want $5,000 to make them.
Me:- because you dimensioned them in Centimeters. Those collars would be two feet in diameter and weigh a ton.

 

[mrtwowheel]

Fork oil.....I'm a cheap ass bastard, I use non-detergent 10W or 20W, or ATF fluid will work too and that is about 7W, non-detergent because it does not foam in a hydraulic system. Non-detergent oil is getting harder to find, but that's the same stuff with a different label, and price, in compressor oil, fork oil, hydraulic oil etc.

Scott

 

[Hitndahedfred]

THANK YOU ALL,, for your timely responses,,
One more question,,
Since I lowered my forks by 3 inches,, is there a formula to get the correct amount of fork oil into them?
As I don't wish to overfill and mess the seals up.

 

[fredintoon]

THANK YOU ALL,, for your timely responses,,
One more question,,
Since I lowered my forks by 3 inches,, is there a formula to get the correct amount of fork oil into them?
As I don't wish to overfill and mess the seals up.

Hi 'fred,
if you shortened the forks by using shorter fork tubes and springs you didn't alter the fork's innards so it'll still take the same amount of fork oil.
OTOH if you messed with the fork's bottom end, that might have changed the oil volume.

 

[Hitndahedfred]

Hi 'fred,
if you shortened the forks by using shorter fork tubes and springs you didn't alter the fork's innards so it'll still take the same amount of fork oil.
OTOH if you messed with the fork's bottom end, that might have changed the oil volume.

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I got parts from Hughes,,,
You cut 3" off the spring and have this damper looking part. I say damper because it does have a hole for oil to pass through.
I had to totally disassemble the forks to shorten them.
This is the part I bought,, but 3".
http://www.hughshandbuilt.com/product/xs650-sr500-fork-lowering-kit-35mm/

 

[fredintoon]

Hi 'fred,
Hmmm, yes, I suppose adding that part could be considered "messed with" but did it change the required fork oil volume?
I dunno. Best you e-mail HHB, they'll be able to advise you.

 

[5twins]

That solid chunk of metal is going to displace more oil and raise the level in the tubes. On the other hand, these forks do work better with a bit more oil in them (higher level). But, how much is too much? Well, the general rule of thumb for most forks is an oil level no higher than 6" from the top of the tube, springs removed, forks compressed fully. You could check it that way and determine if you've got too much oil now.

 

[Hitndahedfred]

That solid chunk of metal is going to displace more oil and raise the level in the tubes. On the other hand, these forks do work better with a bit more oil in them (higher level). But, how much is too much? Well, the general rule of thumb for most forks is an oil level no higher than 6" from the top of the tube, springs removed, forks compressed fully. You could check it that way and determine if you've got too much oil now.

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That is what I will do,,,
That is a guideline I can remember.
I thank you sir.