The only issue I had with ATF back in the day was it foaming under heavy abuse, like motocross, and pumping up the forks. I ended up buying fork caps with Schrader valves in them to release the pressure. It's why I run Bel Ray, out of habit.....not that I ride anywhere near that level anymore. I'm sure ATF would work just fine.

I know the Qlink inverted ones required 330ml. I think Spud was using that much also on his Zong 200 but I can't find the posts easily.

http://www.chinariders.net/showthrea...ong+fork+fluid


Is that the right one?

Indeed. I just did mine last week. I dumped out 320 figuring there was still about 10 inside and clinging to everything. Refilled with the same 320 and works like a champ! Did the same to the TT250 inverted forks.

Yep, that's the one. Thanks, hertz. So it looks like the fluid can be anywhere between 200ml and 330ml per fork depending on the size. The Zongs and Qlinks are also nice in that there are actual manuals available for them.

How much oil goes in the hawks forks ?

200 ml. I put 210 o firm it up a little.

So all I do is remove bolts from bottom of forks let it drain . Replace bolts and then refill with 200ml of fork oil . I've been reading about people haveing trouble getting bolts back in . Did you hawk give you any trouble ? I just wanna make sure I gotta grip on what I'm doing lol

That is correct. I had no problems with mine.

the bolts in the bottom of the forks hold the damping rods , not drain bolts..
they will drain them.. getting them out or back in can give probs as the damping rod
may start to turn with the bolt... " do you feel lucky ?"

Take them out of the bike tip the up and drain the oil out though the top...



..

I think Pete may be speaking from experience.

I have not done the job but I will drain the motor oil then lay it over and drain that fork from the top. Knowing my luck I would f#$% that bottom fork end up for sure. Taking a ride first to heat the fluids for easy drain.

Pete is right, there is no need to remove the dampening rod bolt to drain them. Turn them upside down, let as much flow out on it's own as possible, and then cycle the tube up and down a few times to help push as much out that still might be trapped as possible.

If you want to remove said bolt so you can effectively flush all of the old oil out, buy yourself some extra ATF, then simply fill and drain them a couple of times, cycling the tube up and down to work out the air, and that should flush them fairly well. Then don't neglect your future fork oil changes. You would be amazed at how fast that oil gets dirty.

If you, for whatever reason, decide to take the dampening rod bolt out, a cheap and very effective way to hold it still while trying to remove said bolt, or tighten it back down, is go buy a wood broom handle at the hardware store with the tapered end (not threaded). Usually that tapered wood end will wedge into the opening of the dampening rod just enough to get them tight/loose, Then just make sure to snug them up once the forks are back together with springs and caps installed. Also, do yourself a favor, and don't over tighten those dampening rod bolts. They don't need a billion pounds of torque to do their job.

Have to ask...in the spirit of making life easy and thinking about how I service my automobile with various fluids etc.

Could one simply use a fluid pump from any automotive store with a thin enough hose, gently run her down the fork tube to the bottom, inside the spring and pump out ?

Maybe it's not possible, but if it is, it just seems so deliciously easy.

King

Yes, it can be done this way. I have even tried it before. I still prefer the old fashioned remove and dump because I can leave the forks sitting inverted for a while and get quite a bit of the old fluid to come out. As long as the tube you are using can reach all the way to the bottom of the damping rod, it will get most of the fluid out, but it will leave more behind than if you would have tipped it over.

And if you change the fork oil twice, using the pump method you describe, it will have very little of the original oil remaining. Id measure how much you get out of each side. Sometimes they come from the factory with different amounts in each fork leg. They should have the same amount in each leg. 7 ounces per leg should do it, because the fork will still be "wet" with the old oil. I'd use Walmart house brand ATF, run the bike for a week, then change it again. You can either use ATF or something like Bel-Ray fork oil, which is more expensive. If you use ATF again the second time, then you have the option to change it again without feeling that you are lighting cigars with $20.00 bills....ARH :D