Fork spy joint tenere 700

[Alain Maurice]

Is it normal that I have to change my oil seals on my fork every 12,000 km?

[motonap]

12 hours ago, Alain Maurice said:

Is it normal that I have to change my oil seals on my fork every 12,000 km?

Fork oil needs to be changed every 12000 km, so better to replace the seals while you are at it, rather than have them blow out because they weren't replaced when the forks were serviced.

[Alain Maurice]

Thanks a lot. 

[katana]

Depends.  I will change the oil only is the seals are good. 

[Hibobb]

17 hours ago, motonap said:

Fork oil needs to be changed every 12000 km

Where did you find this? I looked in the owner's manual and the service manual to confirm it, but didn't find it.

This was all I found...

 

 

 

 

[Hibobb]

It is odd.... Yamaha is specific on Oil Changes, Antifreeze Change, flush & replace Brake Fluid, but not on fork oil.

Yes, I am sure your bike would benefit from fork oil & seal changes every 12,000km (7,500 miles), but really.... that seems excessive.

I wonder why there in nothing in the service manual with a definitive timeframe.

 

 

[motonap]

7 hours ago, Hibobb said:

Where did you find this? I looked in the owner's manual and the service manual to confirm it, but didn't find it.

This was all I found...

 

 

 

 

Avg fork oil replacement for road bikes is about 16000kms, based on usage of the T7 on and off the road, so 12000 seems like a good avg. Besides speaking to quite a few suspension specialists, it is recommended to change the fork oil around that much.

[Hibobb]

13 hours ago, motonap said:

Avg fork oil replacement for road bikes is about 16000kms

Hummmm?? I trust you, but will be looking to verify... (How is THAT for being polite)

The service manual from my 1992 DR350s says to replace every two years.

The service manual from my 1989 Transalp says it is "Non-Scheduled Maintenance".

[random1781]

16 hours ago, motonap said:

Avg fork oil replacement for road bikes is about 16000kms, based on usage of the T7 on and off the road, so 12000 seems like a good avg. Besides speaking to quite a few suspension specialists, it is recommended to change the fork oil around that much.

And to bracket it in from the other end, dirt bikes are 20-30 hours. I think manufacturers shy away from publishing specific numbers for adventure bikes since there's a pretty big disparity in how they're used. 12000km does seem like a good baseline, with longer or shorter services depending on how much action the forks see and how much is noticeable to you. I went longer with my last bike, and when I finally serviced it, the difference was immediately noticeable. With the T7 I'm doing every other service or when I have the tools for it.

[Hibobb]

@random1781, I have watched your videos... and your proposed maintenance is justified.

You definitely take your bike to the limit... well done!

Me... not so much. I plan on every five years, when I get my colonoscopy.

[motonap]

On 11/2/2023 at 6:57 AM, Hibobb said:

@random1781, I have watched your videos... and your proposed maintenance is justified.

You definitely take your bike to the limit... well done!

Me... not so much. I plan on every five years, when I get my colonoscopy.

I just got the front fork on my T7 serviced - technically a rebuild but only oil and seals changed! Has made a world of a difference from the saggy front to a very nice feeling ride. 

So would definitely recommend an oil change if you have found that the ride feels stiffer and more rigid than it used to be.

[S.Ga.Rider]

Seems excessive to me. Im at 21k miles on the original seals.

[random1781]

1 hour ago, S.Ga.Rider said:

Seems excessive to me. Im at 21k miles on the original seals.

Here's a fun comparison.

 

My partner and I are both on T7's and travel together, so they see almost identical miles and terrain, although I'll take the dumb route when I can. She's much more conservative with her riding compared to me and also has about 60kg less weight on her bike. After 20k miles, she just changed out the oil on hers because she had the opportunity to do so for pretty cheap. The oil looked pretty good, and her first impression on the street was a slight improvement in plushness, but nothing dramatic. She said she could have skipped the oil change and it would have been fine, but for the low cost it was an interesting learning experience.

 

This is in stark to my experience where my oil was clearly in bad shape at about half the miles, and the change was immediately noticeable.

 

Honestly after seeing hers, I do think that 12000km is probably excessive for "average" riding, but that's an extremely broad generalization.

 

I think what makes deciding what to do so difficult is that you experience a gradual change in performance, so you don't necessarily realize it's as bad as it is until you do the service and go from one extreme to another. If you're able to inspect the forks yourself, then it's a no/little cost thing that you can do more often, but if you're having to pay someone to do it, then I'd push out the first service until I needed to or felt like something was off.

 

And I've never really noticed a direct difference, it wouldn't hurt to bleed the air occasionally.