Just wondering what the best fork oil is. Im rebuilding the forks on both my bikes. 08 race r6 and 07 street r6. I heard ohlins was a good oil. I want to use 5w but they have it rated in cst. Does anyone know What the equivelnt cst is to 5w.
Do your forks have Ohlins internals? Ohlins fork oil is good, but its also very pricey, not good enough to warrant its price tag in my opinion (JMO). You cannot compare one oils 5wt cSt rating to another. As you will see here they vary greatly. Ohlins oil that is recommended for 25/30mm carts and FPK kits is 19 cSt @40C. So you can see where it fits in this chart. I personally use Redline Yellow for Ohlins stuff, and Yellow and Red mixed 50/50 for Traxxion AK20s. http://www.peterverdone.com/archive/files/suspension oils.pdf Depending on what is installed in your forks, get the recommended oil brand/weight the tuner suggests, find on the chart there and you can substitute with whatever is as close as possible if you can find it. As I said, IMHO I like Redline Synthetic suspension fluids. They are made here in the US, lots of different weights you can mix together to get just the right weight you need, and easy to find and affordable. Not to mention it is top quality fluid. You can find lots of positive reviews on the stuff.
Check with Racetech and get their oil recommendations for this application and go from there. As an example, Traxxion recommends this specific oil in 7wt for their AK20 carts. http://www.maximausa.com/shopping/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=44
Check out STG, under their Ohlins section: http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com/Categories.bok?category=Ohlins+Fluids In each product, there's a rough comparison of cst to w. And as mentioned, I would check with your local tuner on which oil they recommend.
In a pinch, I have used both Motul Expert and Factory line Light 5W and it worked fine. Both are just over 18 Cst.
I ordered the ohlins 19cst from stg. Im not very particular. The oil charts help alot. As long as i got a decent oil in a weight thats not way off and its not leaking im happy. Ive done alot of mx forks but never road forks. Im gona do my daily driver r6 first since its ot as critical as the race bike.
Why do you mix the Redline Red and Yellow as opposed to just using Maxima 7wt? I agree Redline makes quality lubricants but is there a specific reason other than the brand?
