How To Check For Motorcycle Fork Stiction Using A Cable Tie 

Many thanks!

Welcome aboard! I am sure you will learn a lot to help yourself be more comfortable with tasks.

At 8:20 It can clearly be seen that when Mr.Moss applies the brake pressure and force onto the forks they push down the cable tie and it definitely bottoms out to where the travel of the forks end based on the pressures Mr.Moss applied. That's perfect. If you take your bike out and you apply more pressure than what he did here...?? That's fine Because the Cable Tie is only going to travel to Your Bottomed Out Position where your forks Stop. Remember your looking for 5 mm from where Mr.Moss had measured. 5 mm or as close as possible you can to the 5mm. Remember also it will change over time as things wear, your fork oil gets thinner, if your air pressure is different less / more in your front tire , if your brake pads are worn... etc.. plus the measurement will be different if you measure it cold and then after an hour or 2 of riding, Especially if it's a hot day, Because your fork oil heats up and makes it thinner than when cold. Also how much you weigh and the fork oil weight your using fork oil comes In 5w, 7w, 10w, 15w, 20w etc.. Your suspension set up will make a difference, including your spring. Is it new, is the oil good, does your bike have static sag.. etc.. All these things can be learned from Dave Moss . Theres alot to learn., I'd suggest taking your time watch his videos, definitely subscribe and before too long you'll learn and know more than most everyone you ride with.. or meet while riding. Also, I'm not saying you are not aware of This stuff already, you may know more than me about this. I just wanted to explain some of what or why you can have your fork bottoming level at different positions. So please dont take my Response the wrong way. I've bn watching his videos for awhile now, many over and over and over again. Ive even written things down. Because I want to learn this, I wanna know why and how and Because. Plus I can help other People. Maybe someday I could do this for a living. Takes years of practice and I enjoy learning. Plus it makes life so much better being more knowledgeable about what my motorcycle is doing and why it is or may be responding a certain way. Have a Great day .

You can do that so you get separate measurements for stiction when you extend the forks vs seeing the difference visually.

I think he means that you pushed the fork down, then didn't reset the cable tie your 35 mm of stiction you recorded looked to be maybe 10mm or more too much down to this error...

Thank you!

You're welcome!

Just somethign I have done that way for a long time. Always ready to see if it can be done better.

In the bash apart fork service videos like the CBR1000/600 - yes. For bushings that are captive (the outer tube comes off in your hand), you buy a new outer tube.

Normally if the manual requires less than 500cc, 1 liter will be enough.

Stiction exists in both directions

@@MakingandBreaking - yes but - he did not shwo us, how he measured the forkholms to be straight - or not. maybe they just aren't. i think he wanted to show us correct maintance work and overall influence of it as far as dust and debris are concerned, but possibly just pick the wrong fork for it.

Making and Breaking i get that but you cant say “the stiction is 30+mm”. Clean/lube and then say “it has just over 5mm now” when you dont do the same test/measurement.

Thanks for the observation and perspective. Way back when I started, this was the way it was always done. I started asking questions and lo and behold, race suspension used grease not oil for better movement. That was reconfirmed 2 decades later and when we did the Graves Yamaha Semi Trailer tour - grease was applied to the seals. The other factor i used was that you have 2 or three scraper rings between the dust seal and oil seal, so that should stop rocks and debris getting in there. The scratched on chrome tubes are generated by worn bushings long past their service life.

The same on every bike, no matter what the category.

Thanks 👍

There's a lot of information missing. Did they pick up the bike and deliver it back to you? Did you give them the bike so they have to do everything? Did you give them the forks only? Did you supply the oil and seals? Did you request any additional work like strip clean internals?

@@catalystreactionsbw i delivered the bike to them and they supplied parts and oils. I paid $300 dollars in advance when I delivered my bike and was told that it shouldn't cost much more so the date was the 26th of June to be worked on,and I got there to pick it up on the 29th of June and was told oh we haven't started on your bike yet so I demanded that it be fixed in 4 hours as I had planned to go for a ride and visit my family and show them my new bike.

@@catalystreactionsbw and I did not request any other work to be done.

Anyway $550.00 I was billed to have both seals in each fork with new oils

Yes you can as that may help with keeping your motorcycle stable.

At 220lbs/95kgs in gear, 5w worked great for me. If you are 110kgs or more, 7.5w. If you have he stands we have in the video by type not necessarily brand, the res is just one task at a time.

@@catalystreactionsbw Cheers for the reply. 'Gentleman and a scholar' have never been truer words. :)

I'd love to see Dave have a seminar like that. It would be Awesome. I'd go for sure. I live in Maine, if he came to Boston or something like that even I'd be there. Hes Absolutely Brilliant . Many years Experience hes taking everything hes learned over the years and made it better. Maximized things.

I had plans to tour the US this year to many major cities but C19 killed the tour. Hopefully in 2021 I can plan again and be able to do that to meet and help riders like yourself.

@@catalystreactionsbw That be Awesome. 😀😎

I do not have a video for that yet.

Fork leg may be pinched, so follow the steps in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DYHV78tWs1c.html

@@catalystreactionsbw thanks for reply. I only did not this step with brake calipers but I tighten axle, pushed couple times and then locked one leg like in this video. So maybe not enough grease in oil seal and I will have to add grease again, maybe it will be third time to put grease on legs and push to instert grease into seals. It is possible to have too tight seals? I used ariete ari 047 xnbr seals to my showa big piston forks.

@@catalystreactionsbw again unbolted casting black piece where is axis, added grease to seals, pump a few times and screw back everything. Now I have 2mm stiction :) Thank you very much

Suspension not set for you and bottoming out, wheelies, pot hole/manhole cover are the top 3 reasons.

Yes correct!

Lucas brand

High temperature wheel bearing grease www.wd40.com/products/high-temperature-grease/?specialist=GoogleGreases&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoub3BRC6ARIsABGhnybdt9U2noN9DilL3tLI7C6VgJ0AttxoUcn-uTIxYbP7r-cPjzGOjB4aAmO9EALw_wcB

Just a question, Dave. I read a lot about different kinds of grease to find out which one is the best for a special purpose at a motor bike. Why not using a silicon grease ? We are talking about rubber which sticks at the fork. By using silicon grease you are not only minimizing the stiction but care/ cure the seals rubber.🤔 Or is it because of the thermal/ heat problem?🤔

@@ichzuhause8204 Definitely worth investigating to see what the thermal properties are of a silicone grease. If they are similar, that would be a great option!

No one bike is prone to this. It is a maintenance item so any bike can suffer from it.

@@catalystreactionsbw Thanks for taking the time.

As there was no evidence of an issue, so we did not change them. For most as budget is an issue - OEM or SKF seals are preferred should that job be undertaken.

@@catalystreactionsbw cool. Thanks dude. Keep on keeping on!

Many simply service the oil and as the forks are not leaking oil, the do not install new oil and dust seals.

@@catalystreactionsbw Ah, sure, if they didn't leak, no need to change them. But, from my practice, most of the riders decide to change oil only after their fork starts leaking :)

@@VasVF_4 Correct - that is normal then they only fix the leaking leg with new oil and seals

The dust seal is there as a first line of defense to remove material before the oil seal. The oil seal provides most of the stiction ie: 90%

Not at all. You can replace the seals every time as that gives you 100% peace of mind and that in the end, is what is most important.

Just checked his past videos. High temp bearing grease. The other day, I used an unknown "All Purpose Grease" which is rated NLGI 3. Color dark red and a bit firmer than toothpaste. I wonder if it was suitable.

I use the red grease that’s used on caliper piston seals as it is designed to not affect the rubber.

@@denchua my shop uses high temp bearing grease with out issue. I think the only grease to stay away from would be lithium as it dries up. Silicon grease (break seal grease) would probably work, but it doesn't mix with oil so I'm not sure if that would affect anything. And it's much more expensive than regular bearing grease.

Same here, recently removed all my fairing bolts one at a time, polished the heads with a Dremel and fitted them back in with a tiny bit of copper grease on the threads, clean my chain and rear sprocket after every ride too.

@@Markycarandbikestuff I don't do chain and sprockets that often. Normally about every 300 or so miles depending on how dirty it is, or if it becomes dry and needs lube.

@@Apollo-Computers Maybe exaggerated a wee bit, clean my GSXR's chain after every ride but that's dry weather/weekend rides only, fitted a nice Renthal sprocket and Gold chain and want to keep them looking good, the other two regular use bikes are maybe once a week, use Muck off or WD40 to wipe them down and GT85 to lube so they dont get a chance to get dirty lol.

Dave Williams, editor, replying here. Another gentleman made a similar comment. That's my fault in the edit. Your point is well taken. The object and focus of the video was identifying stiction via a cable tie, not taking apart the fork to grease the seal, so I compressed the cleaning and greasing portion. If we hadn't also needed to change the fork oil we wouldn't have taken the fork apart to grease the seal. We would have greased it as we did in the other 2 stiction videos (see the description for links). That method is a quick and effective stopgap until you actually need to take the the fork apart for service. To your point, since we did take it apart, I'll edit up a dedicated full video about how to properly clean and grease fork seals when you do have the forks apart (i.e. all the footage not used in this video), and post it soon. Mr Moss did in fact give it the full cleaning and greasing you expected, I just compressed here for the sake of time (rightly or wrongly). Thx again for the constructive criticism.

@@catalystreactionsbw sorry didnt mean an offense at all intended at all just some people who dont know much about hydraulics mite follow the wrong path. still very nice good videoing

Dave Williams, editor, replying here. That's my fault in the edit. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. The object and focus of the video was identifying stiction via a cable tie, not taking apart the fork to grease the seal, so I compressed the cleaning and greasing portion. If we hadn't also needed to change the fork oil we wouldn't have taken the fork apart to grease the seal. We would have greased it as we did in the other 2 stiction videos (see the description for links). That method is a quick and effective stopgap until you actually need to take the the fork apart for service. To your point, since we did take it apart, I'll edit up a dedicated full video about how to properly clean and grease fork seals when you do have the forks apart (i.e. all the footage not used in this video), and post it soon. Mr Moss did in fact give it the full cleaning and greasing you expected, I just compressed here for the sake of time (rightly or wrongly). Thx again for the constructive criticism.