'07 Monster S4Rs Fork Oil Level

[DucatiRider_MN]

I had a fork seal recently start weeping so i replaced them last night. It slipped my mind to measure the fork oil level before i drained them. I assumed the factory service manual or google would easily provide the answer i was looking for. Well i was wrong, the manual only says total capacity .492L and google only returned one result that i could find.

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/56-superbikes/259841-996-sps-ohlins-forks.html - this post specifically calls out the S4Rs ohlins fork and says 170mm.

I used this oil - Ohlins Road and Track Fork Oil 01309-01

Now this might be right but something feels off to me. I feel like i drained my forks pretty well and but i put nowhere near .492L per leg. I did bleed the cartridge and made sure to also extend my bleeding to include the top out spring on my range of travel. I feel like the fork is softer than i remember but honestly this could all just be my perception since i just changed it and i havent ridden the bike hardly at all this year.

Does anyone know if the 170mm recommendation is correct for this bike?

[SpikeC]

 This is from the Ohlins manual for the R&T forks:

NOTE!
Adjust the oil level in mm according to the figure with the fork fully compressed and with the spring mounted. For the right recommended level, please see the mounting instruction.

Unfortunately I am unable to paste in the chart of oil to air spring from the manual. It does show the impact of levels between 80mm and 110mm, though.

[brad black]

the fg3380 spec sheet i have says 170mm and 390ml.  springs and preload tube out.

[DucatiRider_MN]

Thanks for the replies so far. When i measured the oil level the forks were fully compressed and the springs were out but the spring spacer was installed. The spring spacer was a pretty thin part with a small plastic ridge for the spring to sit in. I can see it making the oil level just a little low but i wouldnt imagine more than a couple mm.

Any one have any ideas on how many ml that might displace?

[DucatiRider_MN]

Regarding my question about spacer ml displacement never mind. I thought i could leave the forks on the bike and just top them off with some oil but as i got into it i realized that is never going to work. Since i had to take the forks off again i decided to pull the spacer, add oil and measure at 170mm and know that its done correctly.

For anyone who is considering doing this service themselves i highly recommend this video by dave moss, well worth the 5 dollars. It didnt leave any questions unanswered for me.

http://www.onthethrottle.com/product/ohlins-road-track-fork-service-howto-video/

I have done a couple of forks before this one and have used another dave video in the past and again it was very helpful.

The dealer wanted between 3.5-4hrs of labor, about 120 bucks for the seals, not sure about oil, probably about a 600 dollar job and i think the hours are way inflated.

Parts and tools (powersport superstore):

Ohlins Oil and Dust (04730-01) - 52
Ohlins Oil (01309-01) - 30
Motion Pro 43mm seal driver (08-0490) - 32
Motion Pro bleed rod (08-0337) - 30 - you could probably manage without this, but its helpful for more than just bleeding (ie compressing spring)
Motion pro fork oil tool (08-0121) - 16
Tool to remove cap - 10 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K5JT9O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Total - 170 + shipping... you keep the tools :-) and the satisfaction you did it yourself.

A tip i learned while doing some research was that you can put something like a plastic bag between your socket and the ohlins anodized finish (preload adjuster) to protect it from marring.