Front fork adjustment

[valez]

Last year I bought a 92' FZR 1000 with 44.000 km on the clock. Great bike even though it's 19 years old. My only problem is a very soft USD fork, which shows whenever I hit a hole in the road. I changed the fork oil but that didn't help, and I don't think I am up for rebuilding the fork with new springs. Does anyone have a suggestion?

[sweekster]

Have you tried adjusting the preload? That will stiffen it up. What weight oil are you running in there? I, for example, am running 20w racing fork oil and have the preload adjusted down (or tighter depending how you want to look at it) and it's pretty good- and I weight 185lbs + gear.

[valez]

Thanks, I will try the adjustment first, although it is set to standard settings (2 visible rings), and I'm a small guy 160 lbs.
So the oil weight is the only way to adjust the damping?

[yamaha_george]

Thanks, I will try the adjustment first, although it is set to standard settings (2 visible rings), and I'm a small guy 160 lbs.
So the oil weight is the only way to adjust the damping?

Your fork response is governed by the viscosity of oil and the quantity of oil (i.e- the air gap (sometimes called the air spring)) above the oil.

The forks also depend on the springs and if the guy who had it before was say 240 then they will be sacked out after 19 years.
Personally I would talk to a well established Danish suspension house and just ask them what they recommend ........

OR

Flush the forks/ thicker oils say 5mm less air gap and see how that works for you.