Panigale 899 Fork question

[MonsterHPD]

Hello,
I know this is a Monster Forum, but you know a lot of other stuff as well. I'm assembling a set of Showa BPF forks for a friend, which has been a bit of a learning experiene so far. I think I have gotten my head around it now, but I dont know what oil is recommended, what the oil level should be, and how to measure (what parts are supposed to e in when you measure).

If anyone with the info could help me with this, I'd be very grateful     

[greenmonster]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B99ZG8WTqrhAYlloVXdnZWNNYVE/view

[MonsterHPD]

Great, thanks a lot 

[MonsterHPD]

Evening;
over the weekend I've had a go at the BPF again, can't sau I much like these forks.

Right now, I still can not see how they do the oil level.... both the Duc manual, and this vidoe from Youtube, approx 18 minutes in, use an oil level tool to set oil level after the fork rod guide has been screwed back in. I can't see where the oil gets into the fork rod guide as the only connection between uppre side and liwer side is the clearance betweenfork rod and guide, which is not much.
If anyone sees what I'm missing, id be much gratefule (again ...).

[Speeddog]

It appears that there are holes/valves in the fork rod guide to let oil in or out due to the volume of the rod.

[MonsterHPD]

It appears that there are holes/valves in the fork rod guide to let oil in or out due to the volume of the rod.

Hi Speeddog,

There are holes. or at least some gaps, but not as obvious as in the sketch. I did some testing an realized it's meant to let oil through, but it takes a while.

I also got some advice from Gareth at Reactive Suspension, and usd that setting: 110 mm oil level with spring and spacesr, but no piston / rod / rod support, and bolted the thing together. Hope it will work out now .... and thanks for support.   

[MonsterHPD]

I have now assembled the forks, and since these forks seem to be a bi t of an enigma, I figured maybe some observations might help someone else faced with a Showa BPF job.

The background for my job was a friend racing an 899 wanted to take out the K-tech cartridge kit he had had installed in order to sell it off. As it happened, in addition to the left-over BPF parts, he also had 2 partially disassembled fork legs. Being the cautious character that I am, I figured maybe it would be better to try assemble a complete BPF fork out of the various parts before taking the perfectly working K-Tech-kitted forks apart. Anyay, below some observations that might be of help to someone:

•   On these forks, spring preload is at the bottom of the forks. You can take the whole pre-load assembly out if you get the special pin socket required. However, the corresponding pre-load
        components will not come out unless you take the fork foot off the fork leg. Also, I'd be impressed by anyone getting the pre-load assembly back together with the fork leg still attached.
        You have been warned …. But unless you plan on installing a cartridge kit, don't touch it.
•   If you do take the leg off the foot, you need an oxy/acy torch. Don't forget to first warm the area around the grub screw thoroughly and remove the grub screw. It will screw the threads
        up otherwise.
•   Before re-assembling, clean the threads in the fork foot as good as you can ( I use a discarded fork leg with a groove cut across the threads), and (especially important) clean the threads
        on the fork leg with a thread file (pitch 1.0 mm). Screw the leg into the foot until you feel a positive stop. If you don't feel a positive stop, disassemble, dress threads better, reassemble.
        The fork foot will leak otherwise. No points for guessing why I know … 
•   If you just need new seals and possibly bushings, they are the same as, for instance, an 848 fork. The lower bushing on Showa forks come in 2 versions, 15 mm high and 20 mm high. This
         fork had 15 mm ones.
•   On the recommendation of Gareth at Reactive Suspension (York, UK), I set oil level at 110 mm with bottom spring support, spring, and spring spacer in place.
•   De-aerate, assemble fork rod support by turning backwards until you feel the threads un-catching, torque down reasonably, re-assemble the top nut, done. You need the special hex socket
        for the rod support, BTW.

I hope this can be of help to someone.  I don't like these forks, since I think there are too many concessions to the sole aim of having a big diameter damping piston, including how the adjusters affect the damping, but if you think they work OK, that's fine. My opinion is purely from a workshop perspective, not a riding one. I've so far never ridden a BPF bike. They may be great.