The Confusion that is Fork Oil

[Fred W]

Yeah, I don't understand the logic either. Sounds pretty dumb to me.

 

[Randy]

Yeah, I don't understand the logic either. Sounds pretty dumb to me.

Don't know why it would sound dumb. The idea of doing different things in each of the fork legs has been around for a while.

 

[Fred W]

Because it's easy enough to figure out how to mix fluids to get the correct viscosity that you want, for one thing. And putting too heavy of a fluid in one fork leg would create negative effects in the unadjustable parts of the dampers that won't be undone by putting too light of a fluid in the other one.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Remember, racing has almost nothing to do with day to day operation. If a racing team rebuilds it's forks every race, they're cool with that. Just like they're cool breaking down and rebuilding engines all the time.

Road worthy vehicles have much different requirements, so lots of stuff that works on a race track will not work on daily drivers. "Oooooooooo, race teams doors are welded shut, so that must be the way to go." Right?? Now, imagine the same shenanigans with your engine. Some of the dumbest shit I have ever heard about cars came from a "race team mechanic's" mouth.

 

[Randy]

Sorry. Was a poorly played April 1 joke. Pretty sure there's no way to change a fluid's dynamics and change the way fluid runs through orifices.

Thanks for entertaining me. No hard feelings, I hope.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Sorry. Was a poorly played April 1 joke. Pretty sure there's no way to change a fluid's dynamics and change the way fluid runs through orifices.Thanks for entertaining me. No hard feelings, I hope.

Bwaaaaahahahahahahahahaha...You're a jerk, but that was funny shit. I'm guessing that means it was better played than you think!

 

[raesewell]

I did ask if it was because it was 1st April

So to get back on track is there anyone out there that knows the viscosity of the Yamaha M1 oil?

 

[Fred W]

You got me, Randy. Well played. :lol:

 

[Randy]

I did ask if it was because it was 1st April

So to get back on track is there anyone out there that knows the viscosity of the Yamaha M1 oil?

Is this helpful?

https://www.peterverdone.com/archive/files/suspension%20oils.pdf

 

[RossKean]

I did ask if it was because it was 1st April

So to get back on track is there anyone out there that knows the viscosity of the Yamaha M1 oil?

Is this helpful?https://www.peterverdone.com/archive/files/suspension oils.pdf

Link to Peter's stuff was already posted. No reference to M1 (just the 01). A separate reference called them both "0 weight" but that did not have specific viscosity data. I suspect that the two are similar although they are clearly different products.

 

[raesewell]

It looks like I'll have to wait and see if Yamaha get back to me.

 

[Randy]

I did ask if it was because it was 1st April

So to get back on track is there anyone out there that knows the viscosity of the Yamaha M1 oil?

Is this helpful?https://www.peterverdone.com/archive/files/suspension oils.pdf

Link to Peter's stuff was already posted. No reference to M1 (just the 01). A separate reference called them both "0 weight" but that did not have specific viscosity data. I suspect that the two are similar although they are clearly different products.

I thought the M1 and M01 (far be it from yamaha to have the same thing called more than 1 thing) were the same and also the same as R&T43 and equally expensive. What's the reason for looking for the viscosity? Aren't different oils, even though traced back to having nearly the same viscosity regardless of what they say on the label, going to have different additives and different anti foaming agents that are going to make them act differently?

 

[RossKean]

https://www.shopyamaha.com/product/details/01-suspension-oil?b=Search&d=35&dealernumber=

https://www.shopyamaha.com/product/details/m1-suspension-oil?b=Search&d=35&dealernumber=

Different product designation and different price (from the same supplier). Are they truly different? Who knows.

 

[raesewell]

The viscosity is the all important figure. I want to know the viscosity of the original fork oil so that I can make a decision based on fact rather than fable.

I can then choose whether to go up or down in viscosity or stay within the same range.

 

[Randy]

Gotcha. I'm going to go on trial and error. I'm going to swap springs and toss in some Motul 5w. If I don't like it, I'll drain it out and put something else in. The crap that's in there has been in for a few years, so, I'm sure anything I put in will be better than that.

 

[raesewell]

The Motul 5W factory line is the fully synthetic and is the closest to the Ohlins R&T43. Without the exact figures from Yamaha I have been working on the assumption that the M1 is the same or damn close to the Ohlins (19 cSt). My choice would be the Motul 5W (18 cSt) or possibly Silkolene 02 which is also fully synthetic (17.94 cSt)

 

[Fred W]

I had never noticed the changes before this thread, but going back through all of the specs that I've accumulated I now see that the Yamaha 01 suspension fluid was only the specified fork oil for 1st Gens. For all second Gens from 2006 thru 2012 only Ohlins R&T43 in the specifications charts. And now all 3rd Gens (both A and ES) the charts specify Yamaha M1 suspension fluid.

We know from Verdone's published info that the Yamalube 01 Fork oil is ~ 15 cSt at 40F. And from Ohlins' web site we can see their R&T43 is close to that at 19 cSt. So, all three fluids may be very much alike. But it is also possible that the M1 is different from the others in some way since the forks were radically redesigned in 2013. The A model forks went to a single sided damper, and the ES is a totally new design.

We really do need to know more about the M1 stuff.

 

[raesewell]

We really do need to know more about the M1 stuff.

That's what I've been saying all along

 

[Kelvininin]

I just changed my fork oil with Bel-Ray 10W. The 20 mile test ride went well.

 

[redneckj]

Motul 7.5 weight fork oil in GP valved FJR forks works really really good. Just sayin.