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Gen 1 fork oil weight

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greenman1966 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote greenman1966 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Gen 1 fork oil weight
    Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 05:44
in my workshop manual it says 5w and 20w. Why is this? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote damo46 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 08:09
It's mostly 5w thats used, you can use up to 20 maybe, you could also mix say a 10 and a 5 if you wanted but I think 5 is the way to go, especially for road use.
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IanG View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote IanG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 08:10
F*kc knows LOL

Probably the same reason they specced 15/50 oil,they were tied to Agip oil and they didn't make their preferred choice so they went with what they did.

It does give instructions for mixing said oils to get different viscosity's though

Remember these manuals and bikes were designed back in the late '90's,there probably wasn't the range of choice we have now.

Most suspension tuners will stick to their chosen brand of oil and will also probably default to 5wt to ensure consistency of any mods across applications.

In my case I used 5wt also but next time I'm thinking I may blend in some 10wt to slightly stiffen the action without altering the shim packs

www.apworkshops.co.uk
www.apriliaforum.co.uk
www.apriliaownersclub.co.uk

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Spoonz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 11:06
5w is oem for ohlins and early Showa had 20w that may be why. IMO 5 is way too light for Showa  and 20w slows the rebound too much. Down the middle around 10w is where I went or 7.5 for ohlins. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote IanG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 11:36
Interesting,any idea what kind of date they used 20wt up till?

I would think the '02 Showa's would be solid with 20,they were over damped with 5wt
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stevex Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 17:01
My last fork oil change I used 5w, Showas on a '04 Gen 1 T.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Spoonz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 17:07
Not sure what year it changed but early. All the early rs models, climbers and some capos also ran it.  Part of the Italian fascination for supplying bikes set for 2 up riding or “ heavy duty” something Ducati did right up until the pannigale came along. 

Below is a post I made in 2012 when oil confusion came up. 

 
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10wt is now standard in Europe

US bikes get 5wt oil, 520ml and many of the manuals are Us versions on the net so easy to get confused. The reason is Us bikes use Ip fork oil and they don't make a 10wt so they run thinner oil but more of it.

Officially the option for "heavy duty" which i guess is 2 up is 20wt but that seems too thick to me.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote greenman1966 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 18:15
It makes sense now.
I had decided that 5wt is a bit on the thin side for my weight and riding style, I was curious as to why the manual goes to great length to explain how to make 10wt oil when it easily available (motul).
thanks everyone.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WallyB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 20:29
I found it quite interesting comparing different oil manufactures specifications. I was led to believe cst is more important than weight as this is a constant whereas weight can vary for different manufactures.

If you use say Shell and you find 10w is to heavy, fine if you use Shell 5w to make it lighter. But you may find a different oil manufactures 10w could also make the fork action lighter.

Have a look at this link.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lammy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 21:21
Originally posted by WallyB WallyB wrote:

I found it quite interesting comparing different oil manufactures specifications. I was led to believe cst is more important than weight as this is a constant whereas weight can vary for different manufactures.

If you use say Shell and you find 10w is to heavy, fine if you use Shell 5w to make it lighter. But you may find a different oil manufactures 10w could also make the fork action lighter.

Have a look at this link.


Yep, unlike engine oils, fork oil weight is an unregulated number that far from correlates from one manufacturer to another. Google viscosity chart for an example. When I changed my fork oil last year, I replaced the stock stuff with Castrol 5w. Can't quite remember is if was synthetic etc because even within a manufacturer, the 5w's viscosity of one product will be different (possibly by quite a lot too!) to another. But I got the oil based on it being about 10% thinner than stock. 

Apologies I haven't got the info I compiled around but the best way to find new fork oil is to see what viscosity the current stuff is quoted at, then decide if you need thicker or thinner an by how much and then have a look at the brands you know you can buy to see what viscosity matches your needs. 

As an example of how different it can be (and this will not be the worst example): 
-Castrol 20wt at 40 degC, 68mm2/s
-Valvolene 15wt at 40degC, 98mm2/s! By comparison, the Valvolene is like treacle, yet it's weight would lead you to believe it's much thinner!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote IanG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 21:30
A minefield,I guess that's why Ohlins always use their own oil for all applications as it's then a constant

I think most tuners will always stick with their own tried and tested favourites as well so they can better evaluate any stack changes

I forget what 5wt I used but it was like petrol it was that thin,I'll definitely go up a grade or two from the same range next time I strip the forks
www.apworkshops.co.uk
www.apriliaforum.co.uk
www.apriliaownersclub.co.uk

Looking forward to the next track day
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Apr 2019 at 20:35
look for the centstroke value (cts) it's much more reliable  than quoted wt iirc ohlins is 19.2cts, so look through the oil specs to find the closet and remember you can mix in a bit of say 10wt to tailor the viscosity to suit, it's not totally accurate but better than relying on quoted weight which as mentioned above varies wildly between oil manufacturers 
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