• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

V7 Classic fork oil

Paxo

Paxo

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Messages
199
Location
Surrey, UK
When I changed my V7 Classic fork springs to progressives I used the 5 weight fork oil they came with. I found this a touch too light and have now changed to 7.5 weight, but I had to order it and was quite surprised how expensive it is now. In the past I used automatic transmission fluid (ATF) which was cheap, readily available and did the job OK. Checking up on prices, 1 litre of ATF seems quite a bit cheaper than fork oil but information on the weight seems to be in short supply. Does anyone have information on this as I'm sure we are all looking to make sensible cost savings at the moment, and the Classic's forks design don't look any different to that used in older bikes.
 
I visited a number of bike shops and was able to find some priced ok and with the right weight, in stock. The manual calls for 7.5 weight, but allows for 5 to 20 wt. Although reports are that 20 weight is too much.

Changing the fork oil is such a pain in the butt, that it's worth using the right fluid. I know in the past people used alternative fluids for fork oil, but for only a little more money you could use the correct stuff. Might last longer/perform better, etc. And given the work involved in the change....

I'm surprised you had to order fork oil. Was that because you were looking for 7.5 weight?

Joe
 
Hi Joe

My local tyre garage used to stock fork oil but doesn't any more, and I'm getting too lazy to hunt around for bike shops that sell more than stick on carbon fibre and anodised bolt kits. I ordered some on line, but even then a lot of outlets only had it in 5,10 or 20 weight. It seems to me that if the viscosity is the same and as ATF is designed to stand up to the pressures and heat of a gearbox, getting pushed through a couple of holes won't bother it too much. I'm a bit fussy about the ride quality and at my age I hate harsh feeling suspension! Think I got a bit spoiled by Triumph and BMW.

I can't understand why MG and others don't put drain screws in the forks legs, it can't cost that much to do and saves so much work. I had the same problem with a Kawasaki and it makes changing the oil a total pain. I hate to think how much it would cost to have an oil change done at your local dealer. Wonder how many bikes are running around with more water than oil in the forks?
 
I also use the 7,5 with my linear springs :* . Suits our climate well, and will work at Mediterranean temps as well.
Guess you could miX 5 & 10 equal to get to the right viscosity.
 
I went with 10 wt, because a local dealer had it in stock, and it was reasonably close to 7.5, which would be impossible to find. Buying locally saved me on shipping charges, etc.

There is no drain bolt, but one theory that's been discussed is using retaining screw to drain the fork leg. It's part no. 1, page 8, of V7C parts diagram, and you have to remove the axle and look up "into" the fork leg to get access to it. I'll try it next time, just to test the feasibility of the idea.

Another theory is the maintenance schedule. I think it calls for fork oil replacement every two years (is that right?), which is too often for me.

Joe
 
I suppose how often you should change fork oil really depends on your mileage more than a specific time period. If like me you only ride around six months of the year and don't do a huge number of miles, every two years would be too often, but for a bike in daily use and probably wearing out fork seals that might be about right. Anyway I've always preferred to do rolling maintenance rather than wait for specific schedules so as to catch problems early, which is the other benefit of washing a bike with a bucket and sponge. I have heard taking out the bottom bolt is another way of draining forks, but knowing my luck I'd cock it up and end up having to do a complete fork rebuild, so I'll stick to the method I know works!

I'm thinking of fitting fork gaiters the next time I take the forks out but the MG ones seem a bit pricy at around £60.00 so I may look for alternatives. The fork shields might protect the seals a bit, but I think gaiters do a better job of keeping the bug splats off the fork tubes which is how seals tend to get damaged.
 
Paxo, i fitted rubber fork gaiters to my v7 Classic. Look for 160mmx40mmx60mm. I paid £14 from Ebay or http://www.gaiterman.co.uk/gaiters and follow links to the above size.I also used BLACK stainless hose clips" made by Mikalor, also on Ebay" which finished it off quite well. Regards David.
 
Blimey Paxo, you don't hang about, do you? 4 days to order, receive and fit the gaitors. It took me longer than that to think about it! Well done mate.
 
Yep, a bit unusual for me...tend to spend a lot of time planning and then deciding it's too difficult! Found with the Guzzi being so front heavy it's hard to get it stable just using a bottle jack. I bought a Sealey jack and it made things so much easier, not cheap but well worth it.
 

Attachments

  • MC5908.png
    MC5908.png
    7.2 KB · Views: 671
I have ordered gaiters , paid too much now that I have read this post :( but my question is how do you remove the fork shields to fit the gaiters?
Thanks
 
Okay, so that was easy, I just tapped them up and off they came but what is the story with the clamps to hold the gaiters on? I can't work out how to get a tight fit.
 
richardp said:
Okay, so that was easy, I just tapped them up and off they came but what is the story with the clamps to hold the gaiters on? I can't work out how to get a tight fit.
Click to expand...
Those are the same clamps car makers use on CV joints. I hate them. I went to a cat parts store and bought a pair of pliers designed to tighten them. I think they were less than US$10.
 
These are the ones I bought from O'Reillys:

w83013.jpg


$9.99.
 
Thanks for your replies. I googled Oetiker stepless ear clamps and that sure looks like them. I'll try to find a tool now I know what I'm looking for. Appreciate your help.

Postscript. Okay, so that was easy. I ended up using a pair of nail pullers quite successfully to squeeze the clamps tight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top