Fork drain plugs

[photomike666]

Being that I have some time on my hand, I thought I'd change the fork oil in the race bike. It's sitting on stands. so I thought undo the caps, open the drain plugs, capture old oil, refit plugs, refill and do up the caps - how hard can it be?

So I undo the caps and look for drain plugs. Do you think I can find any? So I consult the workshop manual. It only shows the removal of the forks, and has the oil tipped out from the cap end once the fork is off the bike.

Is this normal? Do I really have to remove my forks just to change the oil? At the botton of the fork legs is the compression damping screw. It look like the whole part is removable (comp screw goes through larger bolt), is this advisable and will it drain all the oil?

[mike-s]

nfi about the compression damping bolt being an effective drain point, but yeah, apparently USD forks need to be removed to allow effective draining.

a p.i.t.a i know, but ah well.

[I-K]

...So I consult the workshop manual. It only shows the removal of the forks, and has the oil tipped out from the cap end once the fork is off the bike.

Is this normal?

It's certainly how I've done it on both my current Kwakas and the dirtybike...

Keep in mind that there's going to be oil trapped inside the damper cartridge, and you have to pump it back and forth a few dozen times to squeeze it all out. Can't do that with the forks still in the bike.

Furthermore, there's going to be oil clinging to the spring and the rest of the internals. Through removal and partial disassembly, you get the opportunity to wipe these clean and ensure you get minimal contamination of the new fork oil by the old.

[mrmina]

mate just follow the manual. sometimes they take the long way round but its worth it in the end

[Barrabob]

another thing to watch is the rebound adjusters on reassembly if you have a manual it will tell yah how much to wind the bolt up into the adjuster...kind of need a photo really but you will work it out if you reassemble and have no rebound adjustment.

[Che]

Remove the forks???? Gees and me and my 5 mates just removed the fork caps and inverted the motorcycle.... lol...

[JetPilot]

Yep, removing the forks is normal.
Its a big pain in the ass.