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Lower Fork Tube Questions....

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Old Mar 7, 2016 | 02:09 PM
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Default Lower Fork Tube Questions....

So I picked up a set of black lower fork tubes to swap out and black out the front end on the bike. For you guys that have done this, any tips or tricks? Just for swapping internals over to the new tubes, i shouldn't need anything but fluid (and maybe new seals to be safe) right? Any tips on getting the fluid all out of the cartridges and pumped back in?

I also searched around and couldn't find a solid answer, but two things....what weight fluid is factory fill in teh '15 Slim, and what's the refill capacity? Do you guys ever add an extra bit of fluid? I know adding fluid removes the air cavity in the forks and can stiffen them up a bit.

Yes, yes...buy a service manual, I know. Thanks. Thanks for any help guys.
 
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Old Mar 7, 2016 | 10:28 PM
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You should have just powder-coated your lowers.... it would have saved you tons of $$$ and looked every bit as good. That's what I did.

If you stick with the factory fork seal setup.... you will need to replace the oil and you should also do the seals. Or, you could take this opportunity to upgrade from the factory setup and throw in some Progressive Monotubes.

I recently went to black out the lowers on my bike but got sucked into monotubes and apes to top it off. lol

There's no end!

As for the factory recommended oil for the forks.... I don't recall and I don't have my shop manual handy at the moment. Call the dealership though.... they "should" know.
 
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Old Mar 8, 2016 | 05:05 PM
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Thanks berick, I agree with all but plan on doing front and rear next season. For now, I'm just anxious to black out the front end and want to get her going. A good fluid change for now will suit me. Found some good videos and can surely handle this job...just need fluid capacity for each fork. Heard left and right are different. And also wanted to check and see if any guys had changed fluid level to play with tuning. That works on a typical cartridge fork; didn't know if it matters on these or not.
 
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