I've been trying to use this time on lockdown to grease the suspension linkage and swingarm bearings on my 2015 Sprint GT. Things have not exactly gone to plan. I was trying to remove the rear shock absorber, and stupidly started to undo the connection to the remote preload adjuster. As I eased the bolt a load of oil leaked out. I nipped the bolt back up again, but am now wondering how to replace the lost oil. I took the adjuser knob off and this revealed a large bolt. I'm reluctant to try to remove this though, as I'm not sure what surpises lay in store if I try this. So does anyone know what to do about this? Thanks for any help. Richard
How much oil did you lose? Does the adjuster still work? Now that you’ve got it off the bike you should be able to see how far it compresses the spring. If it still moves then I’d leave it alone, after perhaps a bit of a clean up. If it doesn’t move cos you’ve lost too much oil then your options would appear to be either refurbish the one you have or buy a replacement. Just like @Smilinjack says I don’t know how to get oil back in there.
I would suggest speaking to a rebuild company when the chance arises if you phone round you may find a one man operation still working that could advise you over the phone, mate. You seem to have a bit of a specialist problem there.
Thanks guys. It's good to know that the oil I've lost is not part of the damping circuit. I've not lost very much oil. About three thimble fulls, I'd say. When I turn the adjuster now, it definitely still feels like it's doing some work. I think I found the article you referred to, Jack, on the mechanical adjuster. https://www.triumphrat.net/threads/hyd-preload-adjuster-rebuild.702850/ Then I found this one on the BMW, and this looks much more like something I can manage. I'll give it a go today and let you know how it goes. For info, I took the adjuster knob off again this morning to explore the possibility of adding fluid there. The big adjuster bolt does not feel like it wants to come out, and the top of the housing seems to have been assembled using a two pronged tool and then peened into place. This definitely looks like the shock manufacturer is trying to keep me out.
Right, so after my oil release, I needed to wind the adjuster all the way to two marks off maximum before it started to compress the spring. I found a bottle of jack oil in the garage that a friend left me when he moved house, that I never thought I was ever going to need. And used the syringe that I use for bleeding my mountain bike brakes. And followed the BMW Youtube video. And all is now well. The adjuster now begins working the spring from the minimum position, as shown in the photo. Brilliant! Problem solved!
Result, and zero expense, my kInd of outcome. Just be more careful what you undo in future, eh? You might not be as fortunate next time. Nice one
I wish I could make that promise. I have had one or two mishaps in the past. Like the time I adjusted the valve shims on my gsxr600 and managed to bust the threaded boss off a cam shaft bearing cap while tightening down the cam cover. I had to replace the cylinder head after that. The best thing I can say about that was it was all good fun as I then had to take the whole engine out, and the replacement head was actually not too expensive.
If I'd not got myself into this pickle, removing the shock would have been a fairly straightforward job. Just need to be careful with some of the connectors to the fuel tank when removing that.
