Fork Fluid

[willy dog]

summer is short in the potato state lets hope spud is putting another 10.000 miles on his ZONG

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by pete

the real prob with useing weight.. Is a 10 weight oil
from one company can be the same as a 15 weight from another
the weight rating is all over the place with no real standard..
...

Probably another reason I've always stuck with the Bel Ray for decades now. I know what to expect from each weight and its performance.

The 5W was good for Mrs. 2LZ Kingpin. She's lighter and rides less aggressively than I. The 5W gives her good dampening for her needs.
I use the 10W in my dualys and dirt bikes but ran 15W in my massive Vic TC. Between my weight and the bikes weight, it was the correct choice for those forks, loaded up for a camping trip.

I would imagine that it doesn't matter what you choose, sticking with one brand product gives you the consistency to know what to expect in product performance.

[jbfla]

Originally Posted by pete

Weight is a SAE rating for lubeication..
forks/shocks work by flow rates that is the
centistroke "CST" rating at 40*c

I have never seen a CST rating for ATF.. but I have
never looked either.... not something i would put in my forks...

the real prob with useing weight.. Is a 10 weight oil
from one company can be the same as a 15 weight from another
the weight rating is all over the place with no real standard..

For a dirt/trail bike...
used in the dirt stay with a centistroke "CST" rating under 18..

There are CST Centistroke charts on the net that give almost
all fork/shock oil from diffrent companys & bike Manafactures oil
in the centistroke rating..

Google is your freind...
...

Thanks Pete and HB for trying to educate me. I appreciate it.

I know I could do my own googling, but I am in the North Carolina mountains for a couple of months where, even in theses modern times, there are places with no cell phone coverage.

My internet connection is through an intermittent cell phone connection that drops the signal half the time.

Nevertheless, thanks for the assistance.

I'm tempted to try the Mobil 1, but I have a couple of bottles of Yamaha 10w fork oil on the shelf, and will give it a try.

jb

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by jbfla

And where the heck is Spud?

Spud is enjoying his summer; he checks in from time to time, but he's not typically as active on the forum during the summer. All he wants to do is ride.

[david3921]

The chart is useful in a few different ways. You don't really need to know what cSt means, just use the numbers to compare. As an example, 2ZL uses the the BelRay 10w and the chart shows that is has a cSt of 33.5. Spud likes the Mobil 1 @ 34.0. These two will be pretty dang close in performance. The thing is that the Mobil 1 will be readily more available to most of us. Blackbike says that he uses it in his truck's transmission. Also, like 2ZL said, once you find a brand you like (availability, anti-foaming, ect.) you can use the chart to find a higher or lower cSt based on need.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by david3921

The chart is useful in a few different ways. You don't really need to know what cSt means, just use the numbers to compare. As an example, 2ZL uses the the BelRay 10w and the chart shows that is has a cSt of 33.5. Spud likes the Mobil 1 @ 34.0. These two will be pretty dang close in performance. The thing is that the Mobil 1 will be readily more available to most of us. Blackbike says that he uses it in his truck's transmission. Also, like 2ZL said, once you find a brand you like (availability, anti-foaming, ect.) you can use the chart to find a higher or lower cSt based on need.

Dang! If it's that close, I'll get the Mobil 1 next time around at Walmart! ;-)
All good info once again.

Edit: I thought I'd price compare to see how much I'd save. I may have another bike joining the "rescue" (as my neighbor calls my garage) and will probably do all the fluids.

On Amazon (my small town Walmart doesn't list it) has the Mobil 1 ATF for 9.50 a qt. Prep Boys is around 9.

I paid 11.33 for a liter of Bel Ray on Amazon with free shipping.
These are priced far closer than I thought they'd be. I thought the "fancy" fork oil would have been quite a bit more. Surprising.

[pete]

Centistroke rating for most fork oils...
you may have to save it to your computer then zoom in to read it...







..

[Jay In Milpitas]

Now that's some good Smidt there Pete! Thanks for posting it.