Front shock absorber rebuild.

[chris-bob]

Does anyone know what oil is in the front shocks on a Tank Urban 50?  I am assuming it's just shock oil, but want to make sure before I dump some in.  Also, does anyone know how much to put in the shocks?  I know I should probably just replace the front shocks, but I really want to see how the thing handles with something other than the cheap crap they put in the shock at the factory.

[frostyman]

I find this interesting. I know nothing about the front "shocks". I hit a bump and it seems like it bottoms out---and I'm not sure how well they are to begin with. I've never done any maintenance on them---or the rear shock now that I think of it. Hmmmm...

I thought about asking this myself. I'm not even sure where to get the parts if I wanted to replace the front "shocks".

[chris-bob]

On my Tank 50, the front shocks have a spring in them and oil(I'm assuming it is just shock oil), and a valve at the bottom between the piston and cylinder.  I can't find any info on what type of oil and how much oil to use.

[frostyman]

It doesn't say jack about it in the manuals.

[chris-bob]

I called a shop in Seattle for advice.  The Kymco shocks use 5 or 7 weight oil and hold 61cc oil in each shock.  I got some 10 weight oil since I weigh 190#.  I am going to catch the oil from my shocks and measure how much comes out.  I'll just put that much back in, since there are no traces of any leaks at either shock.  I'll let ya'll know how it turns out.

[frostyman]

I called a shop in Seattle for advice.  The Kymco shocks use 5 or 7 weight oil and hold 61cc oil in each shock.  I got some 10 weight oil since I weigh 190#.  I am going to catch the oil from my shocks and measure how much comes out.  I'll just put that much back in, since there are no traces of any leaks at either shock.  I'll let ya'll know how it turns out.

Your awesome. Thanks.
It's probably something I need to do, for sure.

[chris-bob]

So my shocks had 30ml of shock oil in them.  I had to go online and find a calculator to realize that 30ml is the same as 30cc...so easy to convert metric to metric.  Reminds me of a song by Jansen Price on his Nu, Ladna album titled Ten(Metric is Better) http://jansenprice.com/music?song=61-Ten-Metric-is-Better. Anyways, I'll finish the job tomorrow and post the results.  Before I took them apart, one shock was spongy and the other would bottom out with little exertion.  That, and the oil was very black and smelly.  I am putting Ams Oil synthetic Shock Therapy 10# weight in it.

[frostyman]

I hope it works out.

It's unknown territory for me, to be honest. Thx for posting.

[chris-bob]

I did the shocks(I really should start calling them forks...) tonight.  I put 35cc in each shock.  I wanted it to ba a little stiffer for my 190ish frame.  Seems smoother, but I haven't been able to try them yet since I also epoxied 2 body panels and painted 3 body panels.

[thecableguy]

Definitely let us know how it rides...  I'd consider doing something like that on mine as many of the streets around here are crap.  Pothole city.  Anything to give a smoother ride 

Jim

[scooter rebel]

in the old days we just used automatic trans fluid in them. I understand 150cc of Dextron III automatic transmission fluid

you can put washers in them to compress the spring to give it a pre-load also, there are spacers available for the job too, but I don't know if they sell them for these forks, alternatively you can look for different rate springs.

[chris-bob]

So I completely forgot about updating this thread.  I did get her all together and when riden around the front-end seems to ride much nicer.  No leaks, and when I hit the normal bump in the curb by my house, instead of bottoming out, it responded as the forks were designed to.  It is a little stiffer and when the front brake is applied, I don't nose dive as much.