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orbit398 wrote:
(1)-front fork pressure can be set to help that soft front end, too much air will make the ride choppy & hinder rebound control. I don't have an 81 so can't tell you how much you need to run but can suggest you try some different pressures & see what happens. If your seals leak you really need to re-seal the forks.
(2)-It's been my experience that most Wing front springs are a little on the soft side, adding air helps a lot so try different air pressures. On my 86 I have added some spring spacers to the tops of the springs to help the soft front end somewhat. Just adding thicker fork oil will help the dampening a little but really won't make the front end much firmer on compression. DO NOT add more fork oil than specified or you will over-fill the forks & chance blowing a seal (or hydraulicking the front end). There needs to be room left at the top for the oil to go when you hit a bump & compress the forks.
I really don't know what the stock fork oil weight is as it doesn't really match up to a given motor oil but most use ATF & that would come out close to a 10 weight motor oil (ATF is rated at different temps & different attributes). Again I can't say for sure on your 81 but I use 15 weight in the forks of my 86 & so far it has given good wheel control in all weather.
Twisty
orbit398 wrote:
orbit398,
(1)-front fork pressure can be set to help that soft front end, too much air will make the ride choppy & hinder rebound control. I don't have an 81 so can't tell you how much you need to run but can suggest you try some different pressures & see what happens. If your seals leak you really need to re-seal the forks.
(2)-It's been my experience that most Wing front springs are a little on the soft side, adding air helps a lot so try different air pressures. On my 86 I have added some spring spacers to the tops of the springs to help the soft front end somewhat. Just adding thicker fork oil will help the dampening a little but really won't make the front end much firmer on compression. DO NOT add more fork oil than specified or you will over-fill the forks & chance blowing a seal (or hydraulicking the front end). There needs to be room left at the top for the oil to go when you hit a bump & compress the forks.
I really don't know what the stock fork oil weight is as it doesn't really match up to a given motor oil but most use ATF & that would come out close to a 10 weight motor oil (ATF is rated at different temps & different attributes). Again I can't say for sure on your 81 but I use 15 weight in the forks of my 86 & so far it has given good wheel control in all weather.
Twisty
