Smart Performance Inc. New SPI - 3

[mach1jonny]

Hello does anyone know if the new SPI - 3 fluid is compatible with the old SPI-3?

[frezno]

ask Dave

[mach1jonny]

I called Dave - no answer.

I know he's busy, must have a lot of orders to fill.

[proform]

He told me two years ago not to mix the old with the new.

[mach1jonny]

Thanks - that's what I needed to know

[grayracer513]

That is correct.  The old (smells like gear oil/sulfur) oil is not compatible with the new, bluish oil.  If you're changing only the outer chamber oil, you should also change the inner chamber/cartridge oil, as the two will inevitably mix.

 

The new oil gasses off less during warm-up than the old one, so venting the forks after warming them up isn't as important as it was with the old oil, and the new oil doesn't require as much warmup as the old, either.

[Hans Schmid]

I talked to Dave briefly over something else but forgot to ask about the suspension fluid, what's special about it?

[grayracer513]

Dave has been working on re-engineering suspension fluids for sometime now.  He has now come up with his second completely different formulation (about 2 years ago) that addresses some of the negatives associated with the first  one.  Both are non-Newtonian liquids that help in the absorption of energy and reduce cavitation issues.  The compatibility problem is with certain components he uses that can be reactive with other components in some oils.  The only real "harm" it seems to do, as far as I know, is that the reaction ends up stripping the blue finish off some KYB shims, and can blacken bright finished parts. 

 

Really very excellent suspension fluid though.  Been using one or the other of them for six or seven years now. 

[NitrousR1]

I've been hearing good stuff about his fluid but I end up dumping fluid every 10-15 hours for setup changes. I understand his fluid can be ran for a long time. Would it benefit me running so little time on it? Is it worth it?

[grayracer513]

I think it is.  When I used to run the same oil in both chambers, I used to reclaim oil that hadn't seen much use by pouring it through a filter and letting it settle.  Now that I use two different weights, the fluids mix after while, and I can't really do that.  I'm pretty sorted out on the setup in my own, though, so that doesn't come up as much.