Changing fork oil

[dizzyblonde]

Pretty please can somebody post an idiots guide to changing fork oil on a 2002 Vraptor

Please include everything I will need to carry out the job, and how to. Tools, torque settings, which oil anything!

I'm going to attempt to try this myself with a little help, and being me want to get it right first time. I'm a cleaner and polisher not a mechanic, but it has been known for me to dabble in light duties and observe often.

Many thanks peeps

[snapdragon]

having assisted in a fork oil change I wouldn't call it light work - not as light as an oil change anyhoo

all I can remember is the oil (7.5 best for me) is 141mm from the top of the fork leg
am sure there's more info round here - might be in the book case - or the cocktail bar

[dizzyblonde]

I've helped replace the front cylinder head on my Sv, and a whole rebuild of the bike. Sniffed rotten fork oil, but I've never actually taken it upon myself to do jobs with my own hands. Merely assisted more knowledgeable blokes.
I know its not an easy job, cthought it about time I sorted things myself

[Bear of Little Brain]

I haven't tried to do this either – and, as far as I can see, the Cagiva documentation seems to avoid considering this as a stand-alone maintenance operation. It is mangled in with dismantling and overhaul of the fork (Section E: E6 to E12)
Do you have a copy of the workshop manual? If not, I could send E6 to E12 as an email attachment if you send me your "proper" email address (they are about 7MB, so should go via a normal email. (I was going to attach those pages E6 to E12, but they are jpegs and too big – the upload limit for a file is 256kB. I found one file with all the pages as separate jpeg images, probably via some previous posting here. I also have a pdf version of the whole thing, but that is 60MB.)

I hope someone does come up with an "Idiot's Guide". If you look at the manual, you'd think that you have to remove the fork legs out and tip them up to drain them. That's how it looks in the manual, but it seems unnecessarily complicated to me. Who would be stupid enough to design it that way? OTOH, my guess would be that you can leave them in place and drain the forks via the bolt in the bottom of the fork that holds down the internal damper unit; obviously, with the big fork top nut removed to aid draining and for replenishment.

Just guessing. Hope someone puts me straight.

[dizzyblonde]

Hello Bear!

I do have a CD copy of the workshop manual, mine is mostly in English however, as my laptop is kaput, I'm usually on my android.
On my sv, it is typically the take forks out, undo the caps and tip out the old oil. As I've not seen a Raptor fork legs apart from in situe, or having access to the manual, I'm a bit in a pickle as to proceed.

I know from experience with the SV, its not a good idea to go from the bottom of the forks, it gives you a pain in the balls !!

[shedmonkey]

Assuming you dont want to strip the forks or replace seals etc,
you will need :- a set of allen keys ,19mm spanner for top nuts ,15mm spanner ,raptor tool kit ,adjustable spanner largish, drip tray and piece of wood,small tube of threadlock ,ruler , an accurate measuring cylinder or a large syringe and some small bore hose which fits the end of the syringe, a small jack or packers to support under the engine, fork oil of the required amount.

1/ support bike so that front end is off the ground (make sure bike is stable)

2/ measure height of fork tube above yoke and loosen top yoke clamp around stancion do not touch the top yoke centre nut.

3/ loosen top caps from stancion (be carefull the ally is soft and it is easy to damage the cap),the cap will remain attatched to yhe damper rod ,undo cap from alluminium nut (you may have to lift the wheel to get at the nut )

4/ remove front mudguard

5/ remove both brake calipers from fork legs but leave hoses attached ,calipers will hang on hoses wrap in cloth to prevent them chipping paintwork on wheels.

6/ undo clamp bolts holding wheel spindle ,undo nut and remove spindle

7/ loosen lower yoke arround stancion ,mark each leg so that it goes back in the same position and side.

8/ slide out fork legs each side

9/ turn legs upside down over a drip tray with a piece of wood (to prevent damage to fork top) and pump the forks until all the oil is out ,if you have any spare fork oil you could use this to flush the forks ie put some in and pump the forks the correct way up and repeat the process of draining.

10/ the new oil can be either accurately measured and put in or you can put a excess of oil in and using the height method removed until correct height is achieved ( using the syringe and a piece of tube measure the required height and mark it onto the tube drop this into the fork and suck the excess out (forks need to be vertical for this).

11/ reassemble in reverse order but leave top yoke clamps and wheel spindle clamp only just nipped up (but fully tighten nut) ensure forks are in the same position as original especially the height, and use a small amount of threadlock on the brake caliper bolts(and check that the pads sit either side of the disc and if you need new pads now would be the time). Before fitting top caps measure the threaded rod height these should be 13mm if not adjust to suit(these can be tight you may need to use a small pair of mole grips through the spring to grip the rod using a long piece of bent alluminium to prevent damage to the rod(long so that you dont drop it into the fork))

12/ remove jack or packers from under engine and apply front brake a few times then bounce front end to align fork tubes, then tighten yoke clamps and wheel spindle.

13/ recheck everything is tight ,top yoke clamps, bottom yoke clamps, brake calipers, wheel spindle ,mudguard
fork top caps

Disclaimer if you use this it is at your own risk!
Feel free to add any comments and i dont really do torque settings but i am prctised in not stripping or undertightening bolts you might not be

Edit also check wheel is the same way round as originally fitted, usually the tyre will have rotation arrows make sure these are pointed in the correct direction.

Also this is for vrap so no headlight brackets to worry about and im not sure how the light is fitted to the normal rap.

[raptor996]

I changed my fork springs for some hagon ones a couple of years ago & if i remember shed's desription sounds about right. Think the new springs were about £70 with the oil, well worth doing if you can.

[dizzyblonde]

Thankyou kindly Shed!

Theres a Raptor toolkit??? I don't have one

Raptor996, thanks for confirming there are springs in there, I have been arguing since year dot that there is not cartridges in there, I feel slightly smug!

There's hardly any mileage on mine, so oil change first, and if it doesn't make much difference I shall at some pont replace them and the rear. I'll be going down the Hagon route, as I did with the SV with perfect results for me personally.

Onto oil what weight should I be looking for?

I have 15w in the SV, supplied by Hagon, slightly on the iron bar side for some, but I like it on that bike. I'm assuming it might be too harsh for the raptor.

[Bear of Little Brain]

Thanks for that, Shed.
Having tried to make sense of the manual, this really will help. Shame it wasn't just a case of taking out the bolt at the bottom and draining it, though. Ho, hum…
I've copied your text and produced something that I will be able to print out and use. Maybe I'll add it here later as a pdf, but I'll wait a while until others have commented.
Section L of the manual gives a run down of torque settings, BTW. However, as far as I can see, there is none given for the fork leg top nut. "Just enough but not too much" should do it, then.
Here's a screenshot, just for interest (?)

Screen shot 2013-02-14 at 07.58.35.png (234.01 KiB) Viewed 5598 times

[shedmonkey]

I have added a note on tyre/wheel direction. Does anyone know about normal rap headlight fitting? is it just a bracket with rubber rings that has the fork tube slide through it?

you really wont need the rap tool kit if you have the other stuff

[pod]

Brilliant info shed monkey. Well put sir.

the std headlamp brackets are sandwiched between the yokes and sit in rubber plugs if I mind right.


Its tricky to get the legs back through the yokes without scratching them, try wrapping the top end narrow section with a bit of cling film to be on the safe side.

I like to rinse the muck out of the legs with a couple of shots of paraffin, you will be surprised at the crap thats in there.

[Miz]

That is good info, just one suggestion, when removing the wheel spindle, loosen the clamp bolts on the side with the flats on it and loosen the spindle, once it is loose you can undo the clamp bolts on the other side to remove the sleeve nut.
My Xtra failed its import test cos I'd put the front wheel back in the wrong way, I wondered why it was wandering about the road on the way to the test centre....

Assuming you dont want to strip the forks or replace seals etc,
you will need :- a set of allen keys ,19mm spanner for top nuts ,15mm spanner ,raptor tool kit ,adjustable spanner largish, drip tray and piece of wood,small tube of threadlock ,ruler , an accurate measuring cylinder or a large syringe and some small bore hose which fits the end of the syringe, a small jack or packers to support under the engine, fork oil of the required amount.

1/ support bike so that front end is off the ground (make sure bike is stable)

2/ measure height of fork tube above yoke and loosen top yoke clamp around stancion do not touch the top yoke centre nut.

3/ loosen top caps from stancion (be carefull the ally is soft and it is easy to damage the cap),the cap will remain attatched to yhe damper rod ,undo cap from alluminium nut (you may have to lift the wheel to get at the nut )

4/ remove front mudguard

5/ remove both brake calipers from fork legs but leave hoses attached ,calipers will hang on hoses wrap in cloth to prevent them chipping paintwork on wheels.

6/ undo clamp bolts holding wheel spindle ,undo nut and remove spindle

7/ loosen lower yoke arround stancion ,mark each leg so that it goes back in the same position and side.

8/ slide out fork legs each side

9/ turn legs upside down over a drip tray with a piece of wood (to prevent damage to fork top) and pump the forks until all the oil is out ,if you have any spare fork oil you could use this to flush the forks ie put some in and pump the forks the correct way up and repeat the process of draining.

10/ the new oil can be either accurately measured and put in or you can put a excess of oil in and using the height method removed until correct height is achieved ( using the syringe and a piece of tube measure the required height and mark it onto the tube drop this into the fork and suck the excess out (forks need to be vertical for this).

11/ reassemble in reverse order but leave top yoke clamps and wheel spindle clamp only just nipped up (but fully tighten nut) ensure forks are in the same position as original especially the height, and use a small amount of threadlock on the brake caliper bolts(and check that the pads sit either side of the disc and if you need new pads now would be the time). Before fitting top caps measure the threaded rod height these should be 13mm if not adjust to suit(these can be tight you may need to use a small pair of mole grips through the spring to grip the rod using a long piece of bent alluminium to prevent damage to the rod(long so that you dont drop it into the fork))

12/ remove jack or packers from under engine and apply front brake a few times then bounce front end to align fork tubes, then tighten yoke clamps and wheel spindle.

13/ recheck everything is tight ,top yoke clamps, bottom yoke clamps, brake calipers, wheel spindle ,mudguard
fork top caps

Disclaimer if you use this it is at your own risk!
Feel free to add any comments and i dont really do torque settings but i am prctised in not stripping or undertightening bolts you might not be

Edit also check wheel is the same way round as originally fitted, usually the tyre will have rotation arrows make sure these are pointed in the correct direction.

Also this is for vrap so no headlight brackets to worry about and im not sure how the light is fitted to the normal rap.

[dizzyblonde]

Ok peeps all set for the challenge this weekend.

I know our lovely admin has the thought of 7.5w oil being best for her, but, what are others using. I'm around 10 stone, I eat a lot of cake so its tipping slightly over that.... would 7.5 be alright, or would 10w be better?

[shedmonkey]

Im using 7.5 but i still think they are hard and im 12.5stone(last time i weighed in about 4 years ago but no fatter imho)

[snapdragon]

back in the mists of time when rappy was still in warranty, and I too was 10st. Raptordoc (late of this forum) stripped her forks and to asssist smooth movement he shaved some snags off the nylon stems that run inside the springs as he found them to be catching, this was the point that the 7.5 went in and all felt good.

we now have 10 because that was available and it does feel firm, I think 5 weight will be going in next time