shock oil?

[brianwheelies]

anybody know what to use for the stock rear shock oil? i'm going to change mine, with the help of a professional but neither of us knows what oil to use in the dr650's rear shock. any insight appreciated.

[brianwheelies]

update for my suspension rehab. i was referred to using 5wt in the shock but it was too late when i got that info and it was set up with 15wt. with the shock in the softest adjustment if feels good so far, slightly more damping than it had before. in the forks i also used 15wt and preloaded the stock springs. it has very little fork dive now as compared to before, suspension action, although not tested in the dirt yet, feels slightly stiffer. i think that a good jump won't be seeing my frame rails getting too close to the ground. i'm waiting on some steering head bearings and the weather is supposed to be bad this weekend so probably not going to ride it off road. i can't wait to see how it does with the changes. also want to note, i can barely touch the ground now, it sits so much higher. i'm in the nighborhood of 165lbs, more or less depending on how much i eat(i can drop 5-10lbs just by cutting how much i eat in a couple days) so the stock rear is still serving to hold me up with room to spare for more preload. more to come when i get it dirty.

[dmulca]

Forks and shocks are new ground for me. How did you pre-load your forks?

[BCRider]

Preloading the fork springs is done by altering the length of spacers inside the fork legs. And in some cases minor adjustments can also be made if your forks have the center posts on the top caps that screw in and out. Don't confuse this with the litle screw heads that are damping adjustments or air bleeds.

Brian, good luck with the rear. You're breaking new ground since most of us don't have the guy with the nitrogen that can re-pressurize the shock. But it sounds like you're on the right track. Making it a little stiffer as you're doing would also probably make the bike handle nicely if you swap tires and do some motard track time too. Do you know now much pressure it uses for the recharge?

[brianwheelies]

Brian, good luck with the rear. You're breaking new ground since most of us don't have the guy with the nitrogen that can re-pressurize the shock. But it sounds like you're on the right track. Making it a little stiffer as you're doing would also probably make the bike handle nicely if you swap tires and do some motard track time too. Do you know now much pressure it uses for the recharge?

not sure on what pressure, left that to the expert.

as far as preloading the forks, yeah, added pvc spacer in each leg about 3/4" long. front has a lot less fork dive with the spring setting and the heavier oil.