Showa Inverted Fork rebuild
- Thread starter iconic944ss
- Start date
Interesting article Frank, and I even get a mention in it 
I've never had to use a spring compressor to dismantle Showa, or any other, forks. I use the special tool that I made fitted into the holes in the spacer above the spring and get an assistant (wife, son or whoever is handy) to slip the slotted washer in under the fork cap lock nut while I pull the spring down. Same for putting them back together.
And working on the forks vertically means I can fill the oil to the level before fitting the springs.
Be very wary about fork oil weight. They are not all the same viscosity. Ducati usually recommend Shell Advance 7.5 SAE.
However Shell 7.5 has a viscosity of 22 centistokes @40ºC but Silkolene PRO RSF 7.5 is 37.19 cSt, Rock OIl SVI 7.5 is 24 cst, Putoline HPX 7.5 is 33.7 cSt and Motorex Racing 7.5 is 29 cSt. so there is a huge variance.
I found this out the hard way when I fitted an Andreani conversion to my Scrambler. The recommended Öhlins oil was virtually unobtainable and very expensive. I filled them with Silkolene PRO SF 5 which I thought was an equivalent then I was wondering why the forks were hard as hell. There was far too much compression damping even with the adjustment back right off. It turned out the Sikolene had a viscosity of 26.7 cSt instead of the 19 cSt of the Öhlins stuff. Refilling with the correct Öhlins brought proper operation.
See the attached chart below.
View attachment 12480
I've never had to use a spring compressor to dismantle Showa, or any other, forks. I use the special tool that I made fitted into the holes in the spacer above the spring and get an assistant (wife, son or whoever is handy) to slip the slotted washer in under the fork cap lock nut while I pull the spring down. Same for putting them back together.
And working on the forks vertically means I can fill the oil to the level before fitting the springs.
Be very wary about fork oil weight. They are not all the same viscosity. Ducati usually recommend Shell Advance 7.5 SAE.
However Shell 7.5 has a viscosity of 22 centistokes @40ºC but Silkolene PRO RSF 7.5 is 37.19 cSt, Rock OIl SVI 7.5 is 24 cst, Putoline HPX 7.5 is 33.7 cSt and Motorex Racing 7.5 is 29 cSt. so there is a huge variance.
I found this out the hard way when I fitted an Andreani conversion to my Scrambler. The recommended Öhlins oil was virtually unobtainable and very expensive. I filled them with Silkolene PRO SF 5 which I thought was an equivalent then I was wondering why the forks were hard as hell. There was far too much compression damping even with the adjustment back right off. It turned out the Sikolene had a viscosity of 26.7 cSt instead of the 19 cSt of the Öhlins stuff. Refilling with the correct Öhlins brought proper operation.
See the attached chart below.
View attachment 12480
iconic944ss
Elite Member
Good grief - more to worry about - lol - and when is a 'standard' not a standard?
Timely that you mention Andreani - I saw an ad on eBay that they make a cartridge kit for my 900ss - damn fine they look too! Comments please, Derek.
Cheers
Timely that you mention Andreani - I saw an ad on eBay that they make a cartridge kit for my 900ss - damn fine they look too! Comments please, Derek.
Cheers