Kawasaki Versys Forum banner

Front fork maintenance

1K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  onewizard 
#1 ·
Just realised my 07 Versys 650 has never had the front forks serviced or rebuilt. Yet they seem fine and responsive. Is it a important requirement yo get them serviced? Bikes about 33k.
 
#3 · (Edited)
A mechanic / stealership will want you to buy some servicing of course.

Me, I'm just a gen 3 user. Service manual doesn't have an interval for fork oil. I'd say wear in the forks won't get contaminated like engine oil, buy it does wear slowly. So, inspect and watch out for noise or non smooth action. I had a fork leak, cleaned the seal with a home-made sealsaver, and still running fine after 80'000km.

But I'm thinking about it... Why? Only because I expect an unrecoverable leak at some point. Fact is, you will eventually end up in the shop for a fork seals replacement (perhaps even the bushings), and they may change the oil then. So I would wait until then.

The oil is not to blame, the dust and dirt may fail the seal and that when you need to do something. I did the sealsaver trick 30000km ago. No issues.

I would recommend neoprene fork sleeves though. That is very effective against dust/dirt.
 
#4 ·
Inspect the forks carefully and if you feel any friction in the forks or increased dive under braking or increased static sag compared to the measurement you took when new or more than 1/3 of the travel available then it is time to service and rebuild the forks.

You should replace oil, seals, bushings, and springs if you have increased sag.
 
#5 ·
My experience from mountain bicycling is it depends how much dirt and dust you ride. If you ride alot of that on a motorcycle you should put on dust boots to keep the crud out of the fork oil. Dust gets into everything,air filter,cables,chain, etc. Requires more maintenence...
 
#6 ·
Brakes / Brake Fluid



The brakes are far more important, I was shocked when I did my 07 , less than 5 years and the right front caliper fluid looked orange. Vacuum bleed all brakes.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top