Is the fork oil in our bikes a periodic replacement item or something that you do when it comes time for seals? I was told the other day that the oil should be changed out every 18-20K miles to maximaze the life span of the seals and the fork shafts. I couldn't find anything in the manual when I took a quick look.

 

Its gotta be in the front or at the end of the manual somewhere under matinence. I'll look in my Clymers manual when I get home and get back to you.

 

Book just says to inspect. I replaced mine at about 20k and it made a huge difference. Did it again at 32k but also re-did the internals so thats not a valid comparison. Im about to change it again so we'll see what happens.

 

I have the factory manual, not a secondary.

"Huge difference" in what respect? I assume you stayed with oe weight oil? Did you do the seals also at 20?

Thanks

 

"Fork oil life span" really depends on the type of riding environment the forks are subjected to. I've seen forks needing service at lower mileage & others not until at higher mileage.

For standard street riding, you may not need fork service for many K miles (years). As mentioned above, the factory service manual indicates inspecting at periodic intervals. Check for rebound, inspect fork seals, etc.

Really, the fork seals (dust & oil) will typically need replacing b/f the fluid. Dust seals typically dry out/crack/etc causing leakage & contamination of the fluid. So when you replace seals, you'll be replacing w/ new fork fluid...prob solved. ;-)

Never seen any factory recommendations to change every 18-20k miles but that seems reasonable for preventative maintenance. As easy as it is to do, why not? At $7 a bottle for a 2 bottle job, its cheap maintenance for prolonged performance.

 

In repsect to how to fork reacted to the inputs it received [compression and unloading]. When fluid breaks down it doesn't act like how its supposed to and the fork doesn't do things how it supposed to either. No I did not replace my seals at the same time, I didn't do those until 32k when I did the internals.

 

2002 with just over 18K now. Was thinking of doing this when it's time for tires, about a year out from now, +/- another 4K miles.

Good info, thanks to all.

 

I noticed a slimey fork tube about a year ago. Bad seal.

Never touched bike forks before, and they were very easy to do. Hardest part was making my own fork seal "tool" out of PVC plastic to set the new seal correctly.

There is a step by step youtube video on f4i fork seals. made by some kid sitting in a parking lot. simple but useful.

Got my OEM oil seals and dust seals off ebay (only use OEM, aftermarket fork seals have bad reviews) and used top of the line Silkoline Fork oil.
It did make for a much smoother ride. my old fork oil was pure BLACK nastyness at 10k miles.

 

I applaud Sick97SS for his helpful comments. However, I want to make an important point about the video that he's referencing...

While that vid can be of help as a single reference, it is far from complete or proper procedure for a fork seal removal/replacement. I appreciate the helpful spirit of that video(s) BUT be sure to do your homework & follow the factory Honda service manual procedure.