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From Pvdwiki
Contents
1 What does the Suspension Fluid do?
2 Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF)
3 Viscosity (ISO)
4 SAE Oil Weight
5 Saybolt Universal Second (SUS)
6 Viscosity Index
7 Synthetic, Mineral, and additives
8 Generalities
9 Comercial Brands and their properties
10 Mixing Suspension Fluids
11 Bicycle Fluids
11.1 Rock Shox
11.2 Fox
11.3 Marzocchi
11.4 Answer/Manitou Oil
12 External Links
Essentially, the oil is forced through an orifice or past a spring loaded shim to creating a resistive force to the action of the
shocks. Aside from other changes that effect damping, the viscosity of the oil and how the viscosity changes as the oil heats
up will be large factors in the system.
This means that if you are in Florida or Mongolia, AFT is going to be available and consistant. This is a very important bit
of information for the mechanic.
ATF is far too thick to be used in a modern cartridge damper fork. These forks tend to use oils in the ISO 16 range.
Viscosity (ISO)
Modern fluid viscosity ratings are on an ISO VG (visocosity grade) using test standards set down by ASTM D-2422-97
(2002) (http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/DATABASE.CART/REDLINE_PAGES/D2422.htm?E+mystore)& ISO
3448:1992 (http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=8774&ICS1=75&ICS2=100&I
CS3=) system of: cSt@40C / cSt@100C / VI. ‘cSt’ stands for CentiStokes, an accurate dynamic measure of viscosity (ISO
3104:1994 (http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=8252&ICS1=75&ICS2=80&IC
S3=) & ASTM D445-04 (http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/DATABASE.CART/REDLINE_PAGES/D445.htm?L+
mystore+gwao3944)). Using these numbers, you can tune oil viscosity with a very high degree of precision in a specific heat
range. A straight line graph made from these two viscosity numbers at each temperature can give a very close approximation
of the oils viscosity at any other usable temperature.
These problems can be seem graphically by comparing several systems to each other. Viscosity comparison chart (http://ww
w.pvdwiki.com/images/c/cf/Shell-viscosity-comparison.pdf) Courtesy of Shell Oil.
Suspension oil is labeled by weight because consumers are used to thinking of oil (ie. motor oil & gear oil) in these terms.
The SAE weight system has a very broad and vague viscosity range and does not even cover the viscosity range that most
quality motorcycle suspension systems require. Another point of confusion is that motor oils and gear oils are rated for
viscosity on the SAE scale at different temperatures, leading to similar viscosity oils having very different ratings. SAE J300
(http://www.sae.org/servlets/productDetail?PROD_TYP=STD&PROD_CD=J300_200405) is used to define engine oils,
while SAE J306 (http://www.sae.org/technical/standards/J306_200506) is used to define drive line (gear) and chassis
lubricants.
A rough conversion table from SUS grades is HERE. A very, very rough conversion table from SAE gear and motor oil
grades is HERE.
Conversion from SUS to ISO (http://www.pvdwiki.com/images/4/45/Shell-SUS-to-ISO.pdf) Courtesy of Shell. (Assumes VI
of 95)
Viscosity Index
The Viscosity Index is very important in a suspension oil. “The viscosity index (V.I.) of an oil is a number that indicates the
effect of temperature changes on the viscosity of the oil. A low V.I. signifies a relatively large change of viscosity with
changes of temperature. In other words, the oil becomes extremely thin at high temperatures and extremely thick at low
temperatures. On the other hand, a high V.I. signifies relatively little change in viscosity over a wide temperature range.” So
specifically with regard to suspension, the greater the VI, the more consistent the damping will be over a large temp change.
ASTM D2270-04 Standard Practice for Calculating Viscosity Index From Kinematic Viscosity at 40 and 100°C
VI = 100+(10^(LN((EXP(1.0727+0.6175*LN(cSt@100)+0.9744*(LN(cSt@100)^2)+(-0.3764)*
(LN(cSt@100)^3)+0.04824*(LN(cSt@100)^4)))/cSt@40)/LN(cSt@100))-1)/0.00715
On a lovely Sunday morning, the ambient temperature may be 21C (70F). Motorcycle forks will run in the 26C (78F) temp
range, rear shocks will run in the 65C (150F) range and rear reservoirs will be around 43C (110F). While motorcycle rear
shocks require very high VIs (over 300) to function well over such a huge temperature range, motorcycle forks and bicycles
do not. Anything over 100VI will be serviceable for them.
Generalities
Most cartridge type forks use a viscosity of 16 cSt@40C. (Except for Ohlins R&T, 19 cSt@40) Most damper rod type forks
are specd for a viscosity of 34 cSt@40C. (Basically ATF Fluid) although most setups require far thicker for adequate
performance.
Ohlins Steering damper use 16 cSt @40C for street and 19 cSt@40C for enduro and MX
Ohlins Shocks get set up with Öhlins Shock Absorber Fluid No. 309 (#01306-01) (13.7 cSt@40) Penske Shocks get set up
with Silkolene Pro RSF (5wt) (26.7 cSt@40)
Comercial Brands and their properties
The oil in a bike's fork or shock not only cools and lubricates the system, but is the heart of all the damping control available
for the springs. All phases of the damping involve the viscosity of the oil used in the system. Oil is such a critical suspension
tuning decision that is the first priority to get worked out after spring/sag choice. No matter what all of your friends say
about what the greatest high speed valves are or wild shim stacks, you should agonize over oil choice. In general, Use the
least viscous oil possible that produces good slow speed damping performance with the damping adjustment screws out 1
full turn from full closed. This ensures that a fair amount of fine tuning will be available for track and weather conditions.
Suspension fluid must be changed often for optimum performance. Rear shock oil suffers from thermal breakdown due to
the extreme temperatures that they operate in and shear forces under high load (hydrocracking). The fork does not suffer
from this but does suffer from massive amounts of contamination from inside and outside.One more very important point
must be made when talking about oil tuning. While tires may take around 10 minutes to reach their full running temperature,
the rear shock on a motorcycle can take upwards of 30 minutes to fully heat up. This being the case, you should not attempt
to change any settings in the suspension or make any decisions on which direction to go with oil viscosity until the bike has
been ridden hard for at least 30 minutes.
Mixing Suspension Fluids
Suspension fluids can be mixed my targeting a specific kinematic viscosity at a specific temperature. Since the componenent
fluids maintain a fairly straight line change in viscosity as temperature changes, a ratio mix can be devised. Accurate mixing
of viscous fluids requires application or the Refutas Equation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity#Viscosity_of_blends_o
f_liquids)
These two charts were prepared for Red Line and Silkolene oils:
Red Line Mix (http://www.peterverdone.com/wiki/images/7/7f/Red_Line_Mix_Chart.pdf)
Silkolene-mix.pdf (http://www.peterverdone.com/wiki/images/c/c3/Silkolene_Mix_Chart.pdf)
Or you can go to Jay Lee's (jayz28 @ MTBR.com) website for a web based calculator.
http://www.provire.com/index.php/mtb
Bicycle Fluids
Rock Shox
Rock Shocks OE fluid was Torco. They have since changed to Maxima 85-150 (http://www.maximausa.com/products/suspe
nsion/forkfluid.asp) Fork Fluid for damping on most forks. 15.9 cSt.
Totem uses Maxima 235-150 for lubrication and 2.5 wt (?) for damping.
Fox
Marzocchi
Stock oil is Spectro. Rumours of Silkolene causing problems in Marzocchi forks exist. Be careful using this mix.
Marzocchi Oil- Marzocchi Bomber Factory Fork Oil comes stock in all bomber forks. It is synthetic and is labeled as being
7.5wt. While this oil can be ordered in the US, Marzocchi is basically repackaging Golden Spectro Cartridge Fork Fluid
(125/150, Very Light). This oil is rated at 26.1 cSt@40C/5.25 cSt@100C/VI 150. A very similar oil to this is Maxima
Racing Fork Fluid (125/150, 7wt). It would be preferred to run a mix of Red Line Synthetic Fork Oil of 37% Red Line
(Light, Yellow) & 63% Red Line (Medium, Red). In the past I have found Marzocchi forks to work far better with a thicker
oil in them.
Answer/Manitou Oil
Manitou forks use, for lubrication, Motorex Semi-Bath Fork Oil, 5W40 from Motorex of Switzerland. This is actually
Motorex Motor Oil Power Synt 4T SAE 5W40, a synthetic motor oil. This oil is rated at 90.9 cSt@40C/14.6 cSt@100C/VI
169. This is some serious pancake syrup. This oil is not widely available, but can be ordered at most motorcycle dealers
through K&L Supply Co. (PN# 35-3911). Similar oils do not really exist as suspension oils. Closest is Red Line (Heavy)
(66.8 cSt@40C/16 cSt@100C/VI 256) or Maxima Bicycle Fork Fluid (20wt) or Maxima Fork Oil (20wt) both of which are
rated at 65 cSt@40C/12.9 cSt@100C/VI 201. If you can get access to Red Line Synthetic Motor Oil 5W40, it is rated at 94
cSt@40C/15.1 cSt@100C/VI 170 and is probably your closest bet.
External Links
Wikipedia - Viscosity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity)
Wikipedia - Viscosity Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity_index)