Front fork oil viscosity

nich@tine · Sep 8, 2011

Hi, does anyone know what the factory front fork oil is?

Service manual lists "KAYABA SS-8 or equivalent"

searched within the forum and googled but revealed nothing actually.

one of my front forks leaking oil that's why I am trying to find out which oil to buy for replacement.

thanks.

lilyanx217 · Sep 9, 2011

I weigh 135lbs and i'm 5'6. I bought 7.5w fork oil. Changed my oil and replaced the seals. I didn't like the feeling of it. I would of got 5w fork oil instead if I knew how it felt like. When it hits bumps, it's like hard, but for my old fork oil. It was pretty smooth

Just my opinion

TinchoOo · Sep 9, 2011

I've changed the fluid some weeks ago. Used Motul Fork Oil synth Medium (15W) and poured 330cc on each bottle. (Started with 360cc, but it was way too hard)
I feel great with this setup, the only thing I want to change is the rebound, sometimes it feels a little bouncy on bumpy roads, but in the flat, it runs great.

chuckbear · Sep 9, 2011

5w is OEM in the zx6r/zx10r, can't say for sure about the 250.

nich@tine · Sep 9, 2011

castrol oil finder tool on the web resulted with 10W fork oil.
I don't have much experience so I better go for recommended oil viscosity.
I can't believe that still I have no clue about this frakin KAYABA SS-8 !
I think I am gonna try 10W.
Wish me luck guys, hope I won't screw the things up!

lilyanx217 · Sep 10, 2011

Let me know if you need help with anything. I can try to walk you through it since I took the forks apart before. It took me about 3 days, about 5 hours each to figure everything out.

crash277 · Sep 10, 2011

heres a nice little spec sheet i found

http://www.kawasaki.com/site/Kawasaki/Techpubs/English/spec_id/2009/sp_EX250J9F.pdf

and the SS8 is a 10W

so you can find the 10W of your choice and use that.

nich@tine · Sep 11, 2011

I decided not to do the job by myself, I went a repair shop instead.

After the fork disassembly I have noticed several very very small bumps on the innertubes.I could barely saw them and checked with my fingers.Asked the repair guy if these might have caused seals got defected.He said that it might.We would assembe the forks back and cancel the the repair or we would try a way to get rid of these little bumps.He sandpapered them using water.It is stupid isn't it?Anyway...he (we) did it.

After the repair process my riding feeling became totally different.It is much more stable and comfortable now.

If oil leaking occurs again I will have to replace the inner tubes or whole forks.

Front fork oil viscosity

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities