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Berg Front Forks (05FE)

M

Mrs.Berg

Joined Mar 2008
8 Posts | 0+
Hey guys

Before posting I did try searching the downloads, etc to see if this has been discussed at length. I'm sure it has but I must have missed it.

My husband has an 05FE450 and one front fork is leaking. He's gonna fix it himself-so I need to buythe fork pounder & liquids plus seals, etc. Are there any directions on this site to help steer him in the right direction? Any recommendations on the type of oils, tools, and how-to's?

As always, thanks for all your time in advance!!

We're taking the bikes on an extended vacation so we gotta make sure they're all good to go-
 
hello mrs!

go into the doc, into front suspension and in there you'll see most of what you need. no REAL need to buy the seal thumper. just cut the old one in half if you have some tin snips and then lay them over the new ones. you then bash the old ones with a rubber hammer until the new ones are out of sight and half of the old ones!

fish the old ones out with a screwdriver and fit the cliip.

a really important photo is the one that shows the order in which it all has to be refitted.

regards

Taffy
 
I have cut a PVC slip coupling (2 inch if i remember) in half and used it as well for a seal driver.
 
Here's a pic of a home made seal driver tool. Better than buying the proper things for loads of $
 

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A picture from soe.:



A bath room caulk tube cut off and split in one place.
I have never used anything else than a "tool" like this, only I cut mine a little more than twice as long to provide better grip and stability. :)

Fork oil with viscosity around 21 - 22 cSt @ 40deg C.
http://www.peterverdonedesigns.com/lowspeed.htm for a list of fork oils.


How to steer him I don't know, you should have thought of that before you married him... :D

Regards.
 
Thanks so much for the input and photos. I'll give it to the Mr for him to contemplate! He's a stickler for new tools though and any excuse to buy a new tool is golden for him, so we'll see if he decides to make something himself; not sure if I can sell him on that! Thanks!
 
I have two things to say on this matter. First, when sliding the new seal onto the fork tube, cover the end of the fork tube with a piece of Saran Wrap, or similar stretchy food wrap. It helps to not cut the new seal lips as they slide over the machined grooves. Second, I have found that using a 2.5 wt fork oil, instead of the recommended 5 wt, improves the fork action. Some will argue against this, but on my '06 FE450, I have run 2.5 wt for quite a while, and swear by it. So, try it if you dare!
 
buzzard said:
I have two things to say on this matter. First, when sliding the new seal onto the fork tube, cover the end of the fork tube with a piece of Saran Wrap, or similar stretchy food wrap. It helps to not cut the new seal lips as they slide over the machined grooves. Second, I have found that using a 2.5 wt fork oil, instead of the recommended 5 wt, improves the fork action. Some will argue against this, but on my '06 FE450, I have run 2.5 wt for quite a while, and swear by it. So, try it if you dare!
Click to expand...

Zatcly
found both to be true
 
wt numbers are standardized for motor oils, not for fork oils, obviously. They still print it on the bottle since people like to buy by wt numbers. Look again at the peterverdonedesigns list of fork oils and you will see much heavier oils at 2.5 wt than some 5 wt oils and vice versa. the wt numbers are nearly meaningless for fork oils but for comparing fork oils of the same brand. In motor oils wt numbers tell us what in motor winter properties they are specified to comply to cold, and that is intermixed with high temperature shear viscosity specifications too to make things even more complicated and even more far away from forks.
Motorex 5w should be a fairly safe bet and is available in many countries.
I like Q8 -5 fork oil. (And they have had the integrity of not using the W letter!) but it is unfortunately not available in all countries.
2.5w if you want to experiment, some like it and some don't. Some mix 2/3 of 5w and 1/3 of 2.5w in the winter, or other proportions according to taste and temperature.

Yes protect the seals from the sharp edges and use lubrication when seating them with the beloved seal thumper tool. And at reassembly don't forget to make sure the piston rod end is screwed in and bottomed properly in the fork lid before you tighten the spring guide or you will not be able to adjust the rebound damping.

Regards
 
or other proportions according to taste and temperature.
Click to expand...

:D

honda ultra cusion oill tastes and handles terrible, motul smells of their whaling heratige but works good, belray smells of xylene and fades quick, fully synthetic ATF is great but too thick, smart performance and alien snake oil is expensive so for taste perhaps we need 10wtsoybean oil and heaps of salt :lol: :lol:

re thin 2.5 wt or 15-16Cst, in 12mm rod forks, have found that the bottoming cones need 25- 30Cst to do anything really usefull and the rest of the forks need 15-25 Cst. playing with increasing viscosity the bottoming cones finally start to work really good with 36Cst. just gotta love the WP RnD guys.

regards

Bushie
 
Whatever weight of oil you decide to use is up to you ,if you want to know how much oil to put in it is 600mls per fork leg this will give you 100mm air gap much easier knowing this.have fun :D
 
who told you that pitt?

FE?

500-510ML per leg approximately and about 125 air gap (std fork)

regards

Taffy
 
I told me, That that is how much was used the last time I serviced my forks with a 100mm air gap each leg took 600mls
 
so your off-road bike has just 100mm air gap?

ok, fair enough.

regards

Taffy
 
650ml for approx 100mm in 12mm rod forks

the two different forks (12mm and 14mm rod) have different air and oil volumes so if taffys running 100 -- 110 in a 14mm fork and steve and I run 85 - 95 in a 12mm fork we are at about the same level of botoming resistance from the air spring.

I like 90-95mm and 24Cst. (7-8Wt approx)

oil height is measured without springs installed so the volume of the springs and the ammount of spring packing spacers alters the effective air gap.

different springs can mean different oil height so one guys 100mm is anothers 90mm

make sure the forks are brought to full extension assembled without springs in upright position before making a final check on the oil height. if not done the oil level canl be as much as 15-20mm higher than intended.

oil lock occours around 80-85mm in 12mm rod forks I'm guessing its around 100 in 14mm rod forks Taffy?

some soft guys run 120mm even 140mm in 12mm rod forks others run 85-90mm no worries. off road or not more oil helps the forks with some of their crappy design issues. it also makes the BV and MV work harder which may not be desireable.

regards
Bushie
 
thanks so much for all the info; we're putting it to use as we speak. We'll see how it all goes! My husband says thanks for all the tips too!! He's the mechanic, I just type- :D
 

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