Fork and shock oil upgrade

[Spuzvica]

Hi, my t7 is now approaching 25kkm and has done a fair bit of offroading. As I am 193cm tall with about 100kg fully geared I have already upgraded my shock spring to 85Nm which made the rear slightly better.

 

However, I've always had a feelimg that the suspension was ok at day start but as the terrain got rougher and suspension oil hotter it felt as if the situation worsened significantly. As if oil turned to water and provided significantly less dampening than before.

 

I want to now service front and rear suspension, obviously changing the oil, maybe even fork springs to match my weight.

 

Two question:

1. Can you guys recommend high quality oil to replace the original with? Preferrably a bit thicker.

2. Which for spring rate should i put? I have read several reviews where people put in harder fork springs according to soring manufacturer spec as per their weight and most said they should have gone with one level softer.

 

A few considerations:

- I am an average rider at best so i am not looking for high speed performance or high jumps.

- I dont want to spend the money to replace the internals or entire shock.

- road manners should not be jeopardized.

- I am from EU so oil and springs should be easily sourced from around here.

 

Thanks for any tips!!

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Spuzvica
Fix typos

[Ray Ride4life]

My Touratech WTE came with Motorex fork oil.
Changing oil does not change the heat problem, for that you need to upgrade the piston to a larger diameter.
A cheap solution is to get Hyperpro font springs and a slightly stiffer spring in the back but in de back no progressive.
The link system already makes it progressive and a progressive spring on top of it will only work wit heavier riders, spring rates to weight are always based on a naked rider (just on the scale, please not on the bike).
An average rider will eventually become a good rider and at that point you might want a bit more after all.

[Redneckj]

100% Motul and shock oil.  It won’t fade with temperature.   

[Spuzvica]

22 hours ago, Redneckj said:

100% Motul and shock oil.  It won’t fade with temperature.   

Which grade? 10W, 15W, 20W?

Motul Fork Oil, 1000ml

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Motul fork oil is a technosynthese fork oil for on- and off-road use. The technosynthese fork oil of Motul represent a high standard in the fork oil…

 

Btw, what's the amount I need for the forks?

[Redneckj]

Stock valving I’d use the 7.5W oil.  If your running aftermarket valving, use what the manufacturer recommends for weight but use Motul oil.  

Edited April 17, 2022 by Redneckj

[Spuzvica]

My bike is now getting all suspension serviced with upgraded basic k-tech internals replacement. The suspension guy told me that the shock air pressure was much too low compared to what it should have been from factory causing shock oil to foam upon heating up and performing poorly after a while off-road, just what I was noticing. Everything was stock and no suspension component has been opened until now. I guess worth checking if you are on stock suspension and your rear end is bouncy-bouncy after a while offroad.

He also mentioned that oil was in poorer condition to what one would expect after 25kkm. I do use the bike off road extensively so I would not say it's really a surprise. I would say roughly one third of those kms were offroad which is enough abuse to deserve a good servicing.

 

Guy also mentioned that one should use the oil of the manufacturer of the internals. So if it's stock shock/fork, use KYB oil, now that I will have k-tech internals, he will use the k-tech oil. Makes sense to me. He is a true suspension specialist dealing exclusively with enduro and big enduro servicing of suspension and having spoken with him for an hour, he seems to know what he is talking about.

 

But let's see, I am excited to get the bike back and feel the different with k-tech internals and new oil. Will post an update next weekend when I get to test it.