Changed Fork Oil Last Night
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 574
Likes: 0
From: Kansas City
Well Gentlemen, I concur. After a good test ride I will be going back to stock fork oil also. Way too stiff of a ride. Bike handles like ****. I bought the E fork oil today and will be changing it tomorrow. Bike seems to be all over the place and I'm sure it's because the heavier oil isn't letting the suspension work properly.
Curious as to how big a boy are ya? Lol. I am at 250lbs and have considered switching to a heavier oil to alleviate some of the dive. I have had it even bottom out once. a few years ago I bought some bellray oil for a set of rear shocks I rebuilt with good results. What is the weight of the SE oil? How much is required total and what's the cost at dealer? I've also considered ordering the progressive lowering kit so I might wait. By chance are you in Kansas city area?
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 8,039
Likes: 1,305
From: Jayhawk Country
edit: My origional post was for KCFLHRC
Curious as to how big a boy are ya? Lol. I am at 250lbs and have considered switching to a heavier oil to alleviate some of the dive. I have had it even bottom out once. a few years ago I bought some bellray oil for a set of rear shocks I rebuilt with good results. What is the weight of the SE oil? How much is required total and what's the cost at dealer? I've also considered ordering the progressive lowering kit so I might wait. By chance are you in Kansas city area?
Curious as to how big a boy are ya? Lol. I am at 250lbs and have considered switching to a heavier oil to alleviate some of the dive. I have had it even bottom out once. a few years ago I bought some bellray oil for a set of rear shocks I rebuilt with good results. What is the weight of the SE oil? How much is required total and what's the cost at dealer? I've also considered ordering the progressive lowering kit so I might wait. By chance are you in Kansas city area?
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,034
Likes: 127
Harley late model touring bikes come from the factory with E type (5 weight) oil in their Showwa Japanese front forks. Unless the fluid has become contaminated early, it does not need to be changed at 5, 10, 15 or 20,000 miles. I believe the manual recommends changing at 50k miles. Keep in mind that the Showwa factory does not use the same fluids they use in the states for front shocks. The Jap OEM fluid stinks to high heaven and has a propensity to be very black in color. These properties are not indicative of fluid quality. I believe the Jap fluids use a fish oil base instead of petroleum base stock.
Last edited by Retrop; Jun 15, 2012 at 08:26 AM.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 8,039
Likes: 1,305
From: Jayhawk Country
Just for ****'s and grins I went with 9 oz of E Type and 2 oz of SE Heavy. Bike rides great. Not sure what the 2 oz of heavy did for me but I wanted to be different.
Road Captain
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 545
Likes: 8
From: antelope valley ca.
I have the se heavy in my ultra and it destroyed the ride, just too damm lazy to change it out again.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2010
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Can you guys be a little more specific. How has the heavier oil made the ride worse, other than making it more stiff? How is the bike handling, in the curves, on concrete or grooved roads, does the bike wobble at high speeds, why is it worse?
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,615
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From: Baton Rouge, LA
BTW, here have been a few tutorials posted here on doing the change on a fairing bike. Here's one I did a few years ago (Scroll down to Post #23).