Motorcycle Repair: fluid for forks, honda shadow vlx 600, honda shadow vlx

Question
I have a 1996 Honda Shadow vlx 600 my forks have no fluid in them I know that there is supposed to be some type of fluid in them, but I don't know what kind of fluid or how much to use if you could help me out I would greatly appreciate it

Answer
Ben, if your bike has had no oil in the forks for awhile, then the bushings are probably damaged, as well as the fork cases.

Honda suggests either a good quality AFT (automatic transmission oil) or quality fork oil. I don't have the specifics for your machine, but we recently changed the seals on a friends 95 VLX and it seemed like it used most of a 16 oz bottle as I recall. Call your Honda dealer's service department and ask for the cc. or oz. amount for your year and model.

If there has been no oil in them, then the fork seals (at the very least) need to be replaced after the parts are all cleaned up and inspected carefully for damage. Fork repairs are really not for the backyard mechanic as the damper rod bolt tends to just spin in place unless you have a special tool to hold it from inside and an air gun to give the allen screw a good spin. Reinstallation is the same issue, generally.

Expect around a $150 charge for replacing them at a shop, if there are no other damaged parts.

Bill Silver