Airhead fork oil?.

[Sergeant Joe]

Ok, so I use ATF fluid (about 15-20 weight) in my R65ls, it's ok but somtimes I wish the front was a bit stiffer(on the bike ).
So I was reading up in an old bike book from the 1970's that it was common practice to use motor oil of around the 20w-50 rating, so cold the oil will give the feel of a 20 weight fork oil however once it heats up it will climb to a 50 weight fork oil and will still lube all the inner bits (out of gutter please ).
Now if I do this I should get the better less spongy feel over bumps and aruond corners one would think?.

What say you, the older set of riders from the day, should Igive it a go?.

[carpetburn]

when i put atf in the forks of my 75/6 it was terrible and hard, i find a 10wt good, what are your fork springs like? i use atf in my matchless forks but they were made in 1952

[jtwind]

I've never had any issues with using the fork oil the BMW suggests. It's usually 5 or 7.5 weight. I used 10 weight in my r100gs, I think BMW suggested the 7.5 but many folks suggested 10 and it did work well.

[Beemerguru]

How many Ks on the bike?? Sounds like the springs are gone.

[Stagehand]

I thought ATF was only about 5 or 7w. 50w in the forks? Sheesh, I thought mine were stiff as a board at 15 or 20w! That would be in the PD, and I am really working hard to crush those things.
I would say that there is certainly something going on there... springs or something... you a big guy?

[Sergeant Joe]

Good,thanks guys, I new 50w sounded a bit much .
Now I'm thinking it may be the springs, I can test this by placing car valve springs on top of the fork springs to see if this stiffens there travel some.
as for oil I may just stick to penrite ATF, and yes I am a bigger guy (not fat just built well, like a brick shithouse as one of my mates puts it ).

[dduelin]

Why don't you test the springs by pulling them out and measuring them for spec length? Sacked springs with car valve spring spacers are still sacked springs.

I like BelRay 10wt.

[The Raven]

I hate to hyjack a thread, but what's suggested for my R80g/s?

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by The Raven

I hate to hyjack a thread, but what's suggested for my R80g/s?

AS JT said, usually somewhere around 7.5w. Maybe a little thicker if that seems too plush.

[Airhead Wrangler]

Originally Posted by Sergeant Joe

so cold the oil will give the feel of a 20 weight fork oil however once it heats up it will climb to a 50 weight fork oil
.

If your forks are getting up to 200 degrees then you might need to figure out WHY they're doing that. That's not normal.