FH - fork oil

Changing or replacing the fork oil on these later Ariels should be a breeze with their neat drain plugs and filler caps and I was approaching this job with all the confidence of the naïve...

The stainless filler caps came (I think) from Acme and need a bit of a polish - I have given this a few minutes on a 150 grit wheel and you can still see some machining marks, so we will need something more aggressive. These are 1/2" CEI and fit with a fibre washer underneath:

For some reason that I don't currently understand, there is a further 1/2" CEI plug underneath these top screws, which closes onto a seat on the fork top nut, leaving a hole of around 1/4" diameter:

This plug is very short - it's easiest to lift it out with a magnet on a stick:

You need 7.5 fl oz of SAE 30 fork oil for each leg - that's about 215 cc. Fork oil is designed to avoid foaming and to protect the inside of the slides and stanchions from corrosion. I'm going to use the 250 cc syringe that I use for gearbox filling for this job.

Should take seconds.

Here we go. One good push will have it done.

Or not. It's cold, the oil is thick. The hole is small and the oil ends up on the lift table.

I'll stick a tiny tube into the hole to let the air out...

That works, but it takes a ridiculous amount of time.

Contemplating a special nozzle or a tin funnel, I spent a while gazing around the workshop looking for inspiration which I found in the drawer of goop tubes - silicone sealant, caulk, no more nails (other glues are available) and other stuff like that. This is part of a decorators caulk cartridge - the nozzle is long and thin enough to go right through the top nut of the fork stanchion, so the oil is introduced to the full bore of the stanchion and is already past the restriction. 

Of course, there is precious little room for the air to come out, but it does, slowly. You have to fill the funnel twice to get all the oil in, but at least you can sit down and pick your nose while it dribbles in.

Happy days.