Gathering the parts to do a fork rebuild on my 2013 GT, steering bearings need changing too, I've got the fork overhaul kit for both legs, in each kit there's a bush which I presume is the bush which goes in the bottom of each outer tube, looks like there's also another bush which goes on the top of the inner tube? Or is that the same bush which is in the kit but available separately? Would be grateful to hear from anyone who knows. I replaced the seals 30k miles ago and couldn't find a definitive answer as to the fork oil weight at the time, ended up with Motul 7.5w, I'm pretty sure this oil is too thick as the front does feel quite harsh and I'm never able to use more than around 60% of the fork travel, anyone experimented with a lighter oil, thinking 3.5w but would like to hear first hand experiences with this please.
There are 2 bushes, one fits in the fork outer and is Teflon* lined on the inside, the fork stanchion slides up and down through this in use. The other is lined on the outside and fits on the top of the fork stanchion and slides against the inside of the fork outer tube. It’s fairly obvious which is which. As for fork weight oil, that’s a little bit subjective but I usually use a fully synthetic 5W eg Motul Factory Line. The amount of fork travel used is more a factor of the preload, the spring Nm, your weight, riding style, road conditions etc rather than the oil viscosity. The oil viscosity will affect the rate of compression & rebound but not the overall amount of compression (unless the legs have been overfilled and there’s not the requisite air gap in there).
If forks won’t compress enough it’s spring or, more likely in this case, air gap incorrect isn’t it rather than oil weight?
Cheers, I'll try a lighter oil and order the other bushes. There's a possibility that the previous owner changed the springs but probably unlikely, just after a bit more compliance on rougher roads, as most of the roads in the UK seem to be these days.
