Fork Oil

[RPG]

Any reason to change the fork oil on a 2004 R1150RT? If so, what oil does one use? Cannot find any reference to it in any of the manuals I have.

 

thanks,

 

Rick

[Firefight911]

No. It is there to lubricate the fork legs. Nothing else.

[BlueRidgeBoy]

My previous bike was an Airhead and I was used to changing the fork oil annually. When I started maintaining my Oilhead I had the same question as you. I couldn't find anything in the BMW or Haynes literature. I asked the service manager at Hebert's in Baton Rouge and he gave me same answer as Phil (above). He went on to say the fluid has no damping function and is good for the life of the bike.

[RPG]

thanks guys, I thought as much but wanted to be sure.

 

Rick

[JohnBeaven]

Supposedly it is good for the life of the bike. However, on my R11RT I had it changed and the seals replaced at 100000km.

How long is "life"?

[russell_bynum]

No. It is there to lubricate the fork legs. Nothing else.

 

Exactly.

 

With traditional telescopic forks, the forks contain springs, damping valves, and oil. The oil is an integral part of the damping function of the suspension and should be changed regularly (usually about once a year).

 

The Telelever front end uses a shock/spring unit very similar to the one on the rear of the bike. All of the spring and damping functions of the front suspension are handled by the spring/shock. The fork legs really don't do anything other than connect the handlebars to the front wheel. As such, the oil doesn't serve any purpose other than lubricating the fork sliders.

 

Generally, you wouldn't change the fork oil until one of the fork seals started to leak.