Z1OwnersClub GB

I am just done fitting seals to the new forks and filling with oil.
The only info in the manual I can see is for a J,k&M models, nothing specific for the R. When I put approx 320ml of oil in a compressed fork and pump it a few times, let the air work out and measure oil level I get 181mm instead of 126+- 2mm which is obviously way off for the J but closer for the K&M. Forks are assembled correctly and compressed with the spring out. Am I missing something or can anyone advise on correct ELR oil level?
TIA
P

If you have an original workshop manual, R1 info is on page 10-57, same level as J2
Rob

Hi Rob,
I put 320mm of oil down the tube, which going by the J table would have given an oil level of close to 110 +- 2mm, I measured 181mm. Also my springs are 595mm long, the J springs are much shorter ( 529mm I think) The new tubes seem very similar to the original. Bushes went on ok. same length etc. I will measure the oil I took out, (and allow for the dregs). I will go with this and hope for the best!
WHATS THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN!!

One last query, Do lads put the 7psi in the forks as per manual or just seal them up and let the weight of the front end increase the pressure in the tube?

I did my forks recently and I am sure they should be fully extended, rather than compressed.I will double check tomorrow.
Rob

fork oil lever is generally done fully compressed, but it seams the zeds are done fully extended.

Manual says compressed and if extended where will the oil go on compression?? Also this will cause the oil level to be even lower than the current which is way too low according to j spec?

Just checked my notes, it is compressed when measuring oil, I got mixed up with setting the emulators up which is forks extended. My settings for b2 forks are 325ml oil which gives 140mm oil level. This figure is different to the books, because i had 10mm removed frim the fork tube, due to not needing the b2 handlebars.

always worth checking the manual, mine says fully extended !!!!!

The factory manual for the J says 110mm oil level. It also says that oil volume may be different to that quoted but is always secondary to oil level. Clymer manual says 110mm for the J forks and both of them say; fork legs fully compressed, with the springs removed and all air evacuated by pumping the forks. Racetech data from KYB says; fork oil level for J forks and for Z1000R (1 and 2) is 110 mm. This will also be fully bottomed and springs removed.

Factory manual for the J2 1982 model and by implication the Z1000R1's says; 126mm oil level.

The amount of air gap at 110mm is enough for the forks not to bottom out and will not restrict travel in use but fork springs at 595mm may well coil bind before you get full travel and they may lock but not hydrolock from the oil level being too high. The Clymer manual gives 518mm spring length for UK models and 543mm for US and Canadian model J's. Not untill you get to the KZ1100D model do you get springs over 590mm, so my guess is you may have the wrong springs in it perhaps an attempt to stiffen the front end a bit but i cant see any real numbers for Z1000R for spring length anywhere.

The Z10000R's do appear to 'ride high' at the front end compared to the J's but then they may also have fractionally longer front top tubes and a potentially different rake angle which would go some way to explaining that. Spring length is also not the same as spring rate so your long springs may have a softer rate and as if that isnt enough; longer springs compressed into the same space will take up more volume and push the oil level higher.

When my forks were standard i used the 110mm oil level for J models and now they are about 115mm to 120mm as i have different springs and different oil viscosity.
I think with youre long springs and a 181mm oil gap you will get; no damping and a very high and very harsh front end. You may be using higher viscosity oil too which will make both those problems far worse. Air, as a medium for damping in forks is a very poor substitute for oil if you get the ratio balance between the two wrong, as it was explained to me and everything i have tried has shown that to be the case.

AL

Do youre existing springs have any goboldy gook etched or stencilled on them parhaps in the form of 0.45Kg/mm in white ink maybe?

Hi Al,
Fair play, yet again you're spot on. When I went back to my springs and measured again, they obviously were swollen from all the oil!
They have dried out a bit now and they have shrunk back to 545mm, so with a thicker oil they shouldn't aborb so much and should stay at 545mm!
you were on the money with the 590 springs not going to work!
I will go with the 110mm oil level and see how it goes.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about oil quantity or level, Ive done experiments on other bikes like 1200 bandits (and others) where ive put slightly more oil from factory spec, and thats from a full strip and clean, and found no difference in the way the bike handles. not talking a lot of oil, maybe rounding the quantity off too say 200ml instead of 180ml.
some oil levels are crazy !!! like how the feck do you measure out 351 ml accurately ? theirs always a few ml's left in the jug. why not just 350ml ?

Hard Road wrote:I wouldn't be overly concerned about oil quantity or level, Ive done experiments on other bikes like 1200 bandits (and others) where ive put slightly more oil from factory spec, and thats from a full strip and clean, and found no difference in the way the bike handles. not talking a lot of oil, maybe rounding the quantity off too say 200ml instead of 180ml.
some oil levels are crazy !!! like how the feck do you measure out 351 ml accurately ? theirs always a few ml's left in the jug. why not just 350ml ?

I agree, As it happened, I measured the amount of oil I took out of the old 'original' tubes it was 600ml for both. that is spot on what is meant to do an oil change.
I put in 320 in each new one, but was 70mm low, however it only took approx. 50mm extra to make up the distance to 110mm so I presume this may be down to a slight difference in the Terrazoni forks. anyway. Trying to compress the spring to get the cap on is going to be fun! I don't think 595mm would have gone in too easily!

I added a short second paragraph above Phil, probably after you read the diatribe.
As Rob had said; R1 follows J2 so the most likely number despite what has been said elsewhere, is an oil level of 126mm. Not 125mm or 127mm but 126mm
This may be more critical if youre aftermarket top tubes have a different wall thickness (internal volume) than standard.
I am glad your springs are back to playing the game.
As it also says in the factory book; oil volume is always secondary to oil level so i would aim for 126mm as a starting point not the 'uniform' quoted J figure (probably J1 only) of 110mm. 110mm may be too 'tight'.
I have , or did find with the standard J forks that oil level difference is very noticeable at the limits but it depends where you draw youre own line.
As was also written in the factory book; the oil level is taken fully compressed.
AL

Al,
Your timing is impeccable! I was going to reassemble but I got too much jip trying to put the caps on by myself so I went at the r2 clocks I picked up some time ago. ( whole other story) I will adjust level to 126mm tomorrow before getting the sprog to help me close them up! It’s always easier get him to help out on weekends,he will be booking the “DadTaxi”tomorrow!