Ralph Werner Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Just a few questions about an old topic: What is the oil change interval for Ohlins forks? (I've heard 1000, 12,000, 20,000 miles) Is it possible to do without the special $50 tool? Since a Guzzi dealer is not real close by, what other makes use the same fork (if I decide to have a dealer do the work)? Ducati? Sorry for the repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belfastguzzi Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Here, an Aprillia and Triumph dealer would be one of the bigger Ohlins guys. You might find other specialists who only do suspension or who do racing/performance work. I don't think that the Guzzi dealers would necessarily be the best place to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldini Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Ohlins recommend changing fork oil once a year. I did at 1K miles also, think that's also Guzzi/Ohlins rec. Aprilia used same forks on Mille R, also Ducati. But like Belfast says, an Ohlins shop or specialist suspension shop is probably your best bet, if there's one around. You could do w/o fork cap tool.... You could just knock the caps round with a punch & mallet ... but they'd be a mess. If you spent some time & have the skills you could make something to do the job. I bought the tool. It's well made, works well & I figure on keeping the bike so will use it. KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldini Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Ohlins R&T forks manual: http://www.ohlins.com/pdf/07282-02.pdf http://www.ohlins.com/pdf/07282-04.pdf Both cover R&T forks, not sure what the difference is. More manuals & info at: http://www.ohlins.com KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Jaap Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 These manuals are also in our Fileshare section! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ineedaguzzi Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 A tip to get the fork caps off without the tool. Loosen the top triple clamp pinch bolt....then back out the preload adjuster all the way (blue 17mm nut, remembering to mark the current position and count how many full turns it takes to hit the stop... if its stock it should be about 12) once you've backed the preload all the way out continue turning and the cap should start to turn as well....loosen it until you can see the o-ring... then take the fork out of the triple clamps...once out you can unscrew the cap by hand.... anybody know what weight oil the Ohlins 1309-01 converts to? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzzi323 Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 anybody know what weight oil the Ohlins 1309-01 converts to? I was told at my local parts place (also an Aprillia dealer) to use a high quality 5w synthetic. Of course using anything other than the Ohlins oil will mean that your damping rates might change enough to cause you to want to adjust your forks. Seeing as I just blew another seal (is anybody getting more than 8K miles out of their fork seals?) I'm using something the shop recommended, I think it's called Motormex or something like that. They've been using it on their Aprilia's with good results. I was able to score from them a minor crash damaged Aprillia front fender that I'm going to be putting on the bike as well. My best theory as to why I'm going through seals is the Guzzi fender allows more road muck to get flung up onto the forks. johnk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldini Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 ...(is anybody getting more than 8K miles out of their fork seals?)....Aprillia front fender that I'm going to be putting on the bike as well. My best theory as to why I'm going through seals is the Guzzi fender allows more road muck to get flung up onto the forks.... I stuck w/std Ohlins oil. Replaced seals at 7k & 12k miles, cos they were leaking. Last set I put in had extended scraper lip & shop reckoned it should help. Shop suggested that Ohlins design for v low stiction & run loose seals Guess most Ohlins kitted bikes are either on the track or run v low miles. Yeh I put Mille R guard on too - figured it would protect the stanchions better. We'll see. Plan to fix strip of CF to edges to cover whole front profile of legs, as std they don't. Back end is real short. How many miles now JohnK? KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ineedaguzzi Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 I called ohlins today and they said the 13901-01 translates to a sae 7.5wt. they also said the correct fork oil amount was 105mm depth. when i took the forks apart i got almost 500cc of oil out, but it only took 350cc to fill it to the 105mm depth. anybody ever gotten a definite answer on volume of fork oil should be in each fork. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlaing Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 I called ohlins today and they said the 13901-01 translates to a sae 7.5wt. they also said the correct fork oil amount was 105mm depth. when i took the forks apart i got almost 500cc of oil out, but it only took 350cc to fill it to the 105mm depth. anybody ever gotten a definite answer on volume of fork oil should be in each fork. thanks 64070[/snapback] Nothing is definite with Ohlins. The fluid level is used to set the air spring. With 350ccs your ride should be softer,(until you bottom out) The PDF has a chart of the effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzzi323 Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 How many miles now JohnK?KB 64024[/snapback] I'm up to 37k miles. I recently had a nice couple of weeks for a road trip and was able to get some riding in. I changed the seal that blew about 3 weeks before the trip. I was hoping that time was also a factor but it seems more mileage realated. johnk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldini Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 I called ohlins today and they said the 13901-01 translates to a sae 7.5wt. they also said the correct fork oil amount was 105mm depth. when i took the forks apart i got almost 500cc of oil out, but it only took 350cc to fill it to the 105mm depth. anybody ever gotten a definite answer on volume of fork oil should be in each fork. thanks 64070[/snapback] Ohlins literature gives 85mm as std air gap. I made mine 100 to soften up the damping a bit. Interesting - is the 105mm figure spec for Guzzi application? Oil quantity depends what air gap you want but you can put over 500cc into forks still have good gap, - think you may still have some air trapped in there? Did you pump them to purge the air? takes a little while. KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlaing Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 I called ohlins today and they said the 13901-01 translates to a sae 7.5wt. they also said the correct fork oil amount was 105mm depth. when i took the forks apart i got almost 500cc of oil out, but it only took 350cc to fill it to the 105mm depth. anybody ever gotten a definite answer on volume of fork oil should be in each fork. thanks I finally got around to changing my oil, but I found that measuring the level was too difficult. The PDF manuals are nearly useless, unless I am just not following them correctly. They say to refer to "mounting instructions" but I can't find such a thing. Our forks are FG313, but there is no manual for them. The manual with the Yamaha on the front says NOTE!Adjust the oil level in mm according to the figure with the fork fully compressed and with the spring mounted. For the right recommended level, please see the mounting instruction. Yah, right! How the heck am I gonna compress the fork AND then actually measure the level?!?!?!?!!!! What am I doing wrong? I pulled the forks, popped the top, then drained by inverting, uninverting, pumping, shaking, inverting, repeating, etc. for about 20 minutes per leg, until I could get only the slowest drip. I measured the waste to be 16 ounces per leg. I replaced with 14 ounces per leg. Trying to measure the level, without compressing the forks, at first the oil level was about 10 inches from the top the O-ring, pumping about 20 times got it down to about 11 inches and then 20 more pumps got it down to about 12 inches below the O-ring. I wish I had measured before replacing the fluid. FWIW, I used my car's dipstick. Also, after I threw the waste in with my used motor oil, I read NOTE!Discarded Öhlins products over to an authorized proper disposal. Give me a break! Do I have to ship the quart of waste back to them!?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlaing Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 This made a bit more sense, even though this is not a Gold Ohlins R&T, but a Black "Conventional" R&T This image is a little big, so I am only providing the link http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6799/fghondavo9.png It is from the PDF with the Honda on the cover 07283-01L.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldini Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 Dave - Have you got it sorted now? I'm a bit unclear why you were having problems but it sounds like you didn't remove spacer tube that holds spring in compression??? You have to undo the nut under the fork tops that retains these. 1st remove forktop then nut - you will need to make up a tool to hold the tube down against the nut whilst you undo it - a washer to the same width as the tube but with a slot cut in it (so's it'll slide onto the rod). Then you can remove spacers. I used the depth gauge rod on a vernier gauge to measure gap. BE V CAREFUL NOT TO LOSE SMALL NEEDLE VALVE THAT'LL POP OUT OF END OF LONG SMALLBORE DAMPER TUBE WHEN IT EXTENDS AS YOU PUMP FORKS NOW. KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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