It’s called a fork because it has two prongs that go around each side of the wheel. In nearly every motorcycle available today, the front wheel is held on by an axle that’s connected to the fork. The “fork” is the suspension at the front of a motorcycle. I mean, before we get to this, let’s make sure we know what a fork is! We all start from somewhere… Please enable JavaScript in your browser to submit the form What does a motorcycle fork do?
So I often see words bandied about like “cartridges”, “gold valves” and so on. There’s a lot to motorcycle maintenance that is never going away!Īnd aside from maintenance, upgrading motorcycle forks is top-of-mind for people who want to get more performance out of their motorcycles. Just like maintaining the chain (or shaft or belt), brakes, tyres, and controls. One really important thing about changing fork oil is that we’ll have to keep doing it in an era of electric motorcycles.
So here’s everything I’ve learned about motorcycle forks, fork oil, and what can go wrong with the front suspension of a motorcycle, written down in simple terms so I can explain it to myself and others. Manuals usually recommend every 30-40,000 kilometres, with some (like Ducati) giving a time period, too. Ohlins Motorcycle Forks on a Ducati motorcycleīut that doesn’t change the fact that motorcycle manuals recommend changing fork fluid more often than most people do. You may also be interested in our motorcycle braking systems faq. So this time I decided to learn everything I needed to know about motorcycle forks and attack the problem with confidence. Every time I try something new on a motorcycle there’s a little fear I won’t get it back together and I’ll have to call in a pro. To be honest, I was always a little scared of motorcycle suspension.
And given its history (and that it’s a little bouncy), I was 100% sure it needs new fork oil, too.Ĭhanging fork seals and oil is something my bikes have rarely needed - since the first one (decades ago) when I was too green to understand what any of it meant. I recently bought a motorcycle that needed new fork seals (discovered thanks to my trusty inspection checklist). Every bike is different, but I’ll try to cover a lot of bases in this FAQ. This article is a general FAQ on everything you may need to know about motorcycle forks.
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