Fork Upgrades?

[Glyn Pickering]

In the middle of the "tidy up" on 16R 001360  and am about to strip the forks. Seals are knackered and I plan to put on BSA A65 gaiters once new seals are in. Is it worth using gen seals or are seals from local seal and bearing suppliers usually good enough?  I also  wondered since I will be there if there are any upgrades worth doing. ie thicker oil, spacers to stiffen up std springs, or even the use of diff springs?

Regards

Glyn

[Riche]

   Search back thru the forum. All your questions have been discussed in depth. You may even find seal #s, not sure, my memory isn't that good  :(

[Lucky]

Richie, sounds like you need to join Rick & Lucky's Old Timers I mean Altzhimers club..except that we keep forgetting to go to the meetings, lol

[Kenny]

Hi Glyn,
     I'm not sure if you have an 82 or 83, if it's an 82 you can look at adding schraeder airvalve (you an buy them with a pipe thread on one end) just remove and drill out the fork cap bolt for the pipe thread I believe it's a i/8" pipe, you will need to "tap" the hole for the pipe thread. I then reinstalled the cap/hex bolt into the top of the fork and reinstalled the air valve into the hex bolt.
    The best upgrade you could make to your forks is by installing Progressive Suspension fork springs,they have a chart which gives the correct length for a spacer for the proper preload.
           Cheers Ken S  

[kiawrench]

the seals you need are 35x48x8 seals, available anywhere they sell hydraulic seals , you will be asked for you preference, single lip or dual lip,, i prefer the dual lip seals > as for seal wipers, so far i only found those at dealership , so be careful with those .
  i used medium grade fork oil and replaced my stock spacers with new ones, 3/8 inch longer , to recover lost spring tension.  you could go as much as 3/4 inch longer, but the forks will be a bear to put back into place then.
 The progressive spring kit is a good choice , as is the air over oil set up,  each has its benifit. i am a very small person, so just tweaking the spacer fixed my fork to a point that i was happy. As for those gaiters,,,, that is a personal thing , i used seal savers for a while on another bike , but cant find decent fit for my visions , you can use the bsa  a65 boots, or ones for older honda cb750 series bikes, they work well,,  either wat it lends a "mad maxx "look to the forks  (as if all the other stuff bolted to mine didnt do that already.
    before you do any work, i hope you contact luky for his new and improved manuals listings,, he has best copies i have seen so far and this forum is great place for everything vision,even down to where to buy parts,esp things like fairings and saddlebags

[Humber]

kenny wrote


they have a chart which gives the correct length for a spacer for the proper preload

I have progressive suspensions springs but now they are resting, I am surprised to hear about a sort of chart.. where is it?? where can I find it??

[Humber]

OK Keny, I found it.. I have to remove the stock spacer... just only it..

[George R. Young]

..... I plan to put on BSA A65 gaiters once new seals are in. .....

The fork gaiter idea sounds good, better seal protection and get rid of the dust scrapers. I used CB750 gaiters with bits from a Suzuki T500 2-stroke to act as an upper gaiter mount. The Suzuki bits were originally designed to support the top of the external springs.

Another suggestion, drill the fork caps and put in tire valves from broken cast wheels. They have a rubber sealing washer and there's no need to tap the holes to seal.

Lastly, for the 15W oil Yamaha recommends, mix equal parts of 10W40 and 20W40.

[Lucky]

I like tranny flud, but i'm big..225 lbs, plus, because I need seals, it confuses the locals when they see my forks bleeding, lol

[tryder]

So a penguin is on vacation and riding his Vision through Arizona when he hears a loud POP. He coasts into the next town and is fortunate to find a mechanic just off the highway. Mechanic tells him to come back in a couple of hours. Being a pengiun he's feeling a bit warm in Arizona in the summer so he decides to go get some ice cream to cool off. He gets a cone of vanilla and makes a mess of himself eating (penguins don't have opposable thumbs). Time comes for him to get back to the mechanic and he's got ice cream all over his face. He gets back to the shop and asks the mechanic what's wrong. Mechanic says "looks like you blew a seal", penguin says "no, it's just ice cream".

[Glyn Pickering]

That blew a seal gag was ... brilliuant.

[Lucky]

Tryder, i've been telling everyone that joke! a recent conversation:
"Hello?, is Joe there?...what no Joe...wrong number..?  Ok. ... Wait!, I heard this great joke about a penguin driving across...."

[Rick G]

I tried the  longer space idea  and for me it made it ride way too stiff , every expansion joint in the road hammered my sholders.( I suffer from arthritus in many joints, so I may be a bit sensitve) I went back to stock and used  a pair of schreader valve assembleys fron dead inner tubes, ( Hey, I'm cheap !).  The  Progressives are probably fine , but I've never tried them. i tried the recommended 15 wt fork oil but found the ride too stiff so i use ATF. I weigh 260.

[jasonm.]

10w40 and 20w40 are way TOO thick. Fork oil is for damping. 10w40 actually flows(dampens) like a straight 30wt. at 70 degrees F. Too stiff. I use 0w30 Mobil1. This flows like a 15wt. at 70F but does not turn to molasses at 45F like a 15wt. does. Result ...consistant ride all the time.

[Glyn Pickering]

The XZ 400 I have as a spares bike now has air caps as stanadard. At least they look like a factory job. How much pressure is recommended?

Regards

Glyn

[Walt_M.]

I've been running 6 psi in my '83, works for my 220 lbs. The factory air fork caps have the Schrader valves pointed to the front at about a 45 degree angle.

[Rick G]

I  have 10 psi in mine. Use  a bycycle pump to  pressurize them ,  a high pressure hose will be hard to control and may do harm!