30 something fork fluid is gross

[4cylfun]

So i got my kawasaki triple shop manual and started to go through it. All sorts of stuff i can do myself. Pretty simple bike to work on. Well i got to lubrication and it said to change the fork oil every 4,000 miles. I thought to myself the front end does seem to suck and why not. I opened the drain and opened the fill at the top to let air in. Immeadiatley chunky mud like oil came out at first.

After a few second it was followed by a mixture of clear and blackish greyish fluid. I pumped all of it out and then proceeded to brake clean the [shizzle] out of the springs and chambers. It smelled horrible. FAR worse than differetial fluid.

So after like 2 hours i poured some HD type E fork fluid in it. It was red instead of clear looking but also had the same sort of nasty [fizzle]ing smell. After reassembling the front end the spings seem to dampin a bit more and it may not be completely at stiff as i would like but at the least the oil i poured in hasn't broken down yet.

I should have the ignition key early week what the locksmith says. After that its ready to fire. Only thing i haven't done is cleaned out the carbs. I adjusted and synchronized them but i didn't take apart the bottom end afraid i would [fizzle] something up. But thats the last on the list. Everything else, even adjusting the oil injecting pump has been done. The S1 Mach 1 is ready to rock. Just need new tires REALLY bad.

[Graham_A_M]

Dont open up the bottom just yet. It probably wouldn't need it.

When you first fire it up, take it though the gears, and mix up the fluid in the gearbox, then change it in accordance to whatever they suggest in the manual. Remember since its a two stroke, there is a gear-box with its own fluid chamber. Unlike 4 strokes that share the same fluid for the tranny and the engine.

Of all the fork fluid I've changed, none of it ever stank. What make of fluid was it specifically? that sure sounds odd.
Just use Bell-ray 10W. That should work perfect on that bike, and its awesome stuff. $15/liter though

It would be good to give those forks a flush, all that murky [shizzle] in there cannot be good for the valves & seals, after a short ride drain them again and toss in 10w or 15w.
That should be good for the dampening. The forks (should most likely) have a tire valve fitting that you can add air, if they are too mushy (like all Kawasaki suspensions) inflate the shocks in 5psi increments. 10-15 should be great considering your size, if you enjoy more spirited riding & braking.

[4cylfun]

I cleaned out the forks completely, as in took apart. I used Harley Davidson Type E fork oil. As for the engine oil i'm not touching that, the carboraters are separte. As in the float and stuff is in the bottom of the carb. It connects sideways to the bike as you know already.

Trust me i already have a shop manual for it and have done plenty of research. I know the bike pretty well already. Still not sure of the age of the oil but i'm going to run it and probably change it like a week later. There isn't a shrader core to add air either. You fill um up, pump up, and cap um. Thats all there is to it. The rear springs are teh same, they have a weird adjusting tooth setup but its pretty much the same, no adjustments possible aside from the tooth thing i haven't looked up.