Removed, cleaned and greased.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by bigheavy150

…some of the holes in the linkage were 1mm too big and i have about 1" of free vertical play with the bike on blocks[/b] is that a problem", or just a nuisance?…

I’m inclined to believe 1-inch of free vertical play in the swingarm is less than desirable. :( Perhaps Weldangrind can help you find bushings that fit the swingarm better.

Originally Posted by bigheavy150

…also i turned my rear drum brake caliper (the one on the drum between the drum and the conetor bar thing) I turned it UP so it is out of harms way more.just needed a little bending to clear the swingarm…

I did the same thing with the brake drum lever on my Zong. Besides a desire to increase ground clearance, I moved the lever so I could more easily employ my swingarm stand to raise the rear wheel of my bike.

Originally Posted by bigheavy150

…do they use 5wt fork oil in these bikes? if someone wanted to replace the front fork oil with a heavier one, like 10 or 15 could i just measure how much oil comes out and put the same amount back in and still have proper level? Can i use 10w-** motor oil? ATF? or should i just leave it alone?

I’m afraid I can’t tell you the weight of your fork oil. :( However, I can tell you two methods to measure the current volume of oil in your forks.

The best method is make a T-shaped piece of paper, and insert it into your forks after you remove the fork caps, and the springs, and before you drain any of the old fork oil. Remove the paper, and measure the distance from the the bottom of the T to the oil mark. After you drain your old oil, and before you reinsert the springs and the fork caps, refill the forks to the same distance from the top of the fork tube.

The second method is to measure the amount of old oil you remove, and refill the forks with the same amount. The first method ensures you get the correct height of oil, which is the desired result. However, it doesn’t hurt to employ both methods, just to be safe.

You shouldn’t use motor oil in your forks. However, many motorcycle owners replace their fork oil with ATF. In fact, the QLink service manual recommends using ATF to replace the oil in the forks. When I replace the fork oil in my Zong, I am going to use either Golden Spectro Cartridge Fork Fluid (125/150), with a cSt of 26.1, or Mobil1 Synthetic ATF, with a cSt of 34.0. The higher the cSt, the heavier the fork oil.

Fork oil degrades with use, and I have ridden my Zong almost 40,000 miles. Therefore, I think it is time for me to change my fork oil. However, if you don’t have many miles on your bike, you might want to delay this job for a while. When I replace my fork oil, I am also going to replace my fork seals, and dust wipers.

Spud