Jolene, Jolene, Jolene...

[gixxerjasen]

Yep, if your forks aren't usable anymore, you've successfully pulled off a GixxerJasen.

[wheatonFJR]

...

[NTXFJR]

...

Saying that 3 times for emphasis or what??

[wheatonFJR]

...

Saying that 3 times for emphasis or what??

Yeah, it's my way way of saying you ain't but a scurvy little spider! <Jimmy Stewart>

[dsmack]

Finding and reading your excellent transmission repair thread last night was the best thing I could have done with my time!

Kudos for having balls enough to dive in to the innards as you did, and then documenting what you found and repaired... that is just the type of thread that can help others, and potentially save thousands of bucks.

I'll bet next time you two will be able to beat "Flat Rate" for the job, too!
Don

[Festus]

And the story continues....

After 7.....YES......SEVEN trips to DMV, I finally got the title. Of course the registration was wrong, listing it as a BLACK bike. MotherF'ers. Why so much hate towards Jolene?

I called to complain about the color being wrong on the registration. So I get multiple envelopes in my mailbox from DMV about a week later. Keep in mind, I should have 1 month decal and 1 year decal. This is what I have now...



Worthless idiots.

Finally....



Now back to work, front forks off, forks drained, parts and oil here, heading to see Bob this weekend. I don't know shit about forks, but the oil had a strong odor and was like water. I'm sure it was worn out. On the last ride, I tried to see how it felt. It seemed to take the down stroke on a bump (compression?) decent but when coming back up (rebound?), it seemed like it was hollow.





I've got a set of Helibar risers to put on after this, and then it's about wrapped up.

[LKLD]

She was definitely squishy, as mentioned, and getting that done will make her a new bike!

After riding Janna (2016 ES) for a couple of thousand miles, I've come to this conclusion.

Jolene is faster. No matter how hard I excel on Janna, it's just not the same thrill I got from Jolene. Jolene just pulled stronger and faster. Of course this is all subjective, but Janna just doesn't give that "Holy shit!" acceleration.

Janna, on the other hand, falls into corners. She is just so easy to lay over, compared to Jolene. Jolene had to be worked over. However, Janna feels much lighter, and feels more organic, and easy to ride to the edges of the tires,

I can hardly wait to test Janna on the mountain roads next month!

Steve, I'm so glad to see the DMV thing getting straightened out. k

[raYzerman]

Several comments:
Lotsa fork oils stink right out of the brand new container. It's really hydraulic fluid, doesn't go bad per se, just gets contaminated from aluminum oxide from the lower bushing riding up and down in the aluminum lower tube (non-ES). OEM fork oil M1 viscosity is a bit thin, said to be 5W but it's more like 3.5W. Squishy... combo of not enough preload on the progressive front springs and your damping settings. But with that mileage, new bushings and oil will make it feel brand new again. New non OEM oil will be a higher viscosity.

I'll offer a theory on the '16 seeming slower (you're not the first one to say so), the gearing on 1 and 2 is taller, maybe needs a wee bit more twist of the wrist. IF you're using Touring mode, well.... gotta twist even more. 4 and 5 are less tall, in theory should zip a bit faster for same throttle input over the 5 speed. Falling into turns..... tars and tar pressures. That 36 psi front recommendation is too low.

[Festus]

That's interesting Rob. I hope, at the end of this, Jolene is back to handling like a dream.

Ray, I went with the Bel Ray 5W. I wanted to go 7W but they didn't have any, so I got what they had. At least their 5W is close to 5, as opposed to the Yamaha stuff.

[bungie4]

Everybody knows that the '13s are fastest. True story bra.

[gixxerjasen]

Everybody knows that the '03s are fastest. True story bra.

Fixed it for you.

[wheatonFJR]

Everybody knows that the '13s are fastest...

Fixed it for you.

You are so correct!

[bungie4]

Its true.

[Intech]

I got my hands on parts of Jolene today! We took care of the forks. That oil was nasty. The right fork had a lot of "gunk" at the bottom. Steve can attest to that. I let him clean it. The other one wasn't bad as it doesn't have as many moving parts. First time I did Gen3 forks. Steve can attest to the puzzled look on my face when I noticed no dampening adjustments on the left fork. I checked and restored the dampening settings and put the pre-load at 2 lines out. With the new and heavier oil I don't think he will want it at one line. Easy to change, though. I think he will feel a very noticeable difference.

[Viper_Dad]

LKLD, I can attest to the fact that Jolene is MUCH quicker than Raven, my '08. My bike is in excellent mechanical shape but acts like a 10 year old bike. Jolene, on the other hand, responds immediately and made me shout expletives more than once, especially in Sport Mode. I have no doubt the fork oil change will make her lean like the Tower of Pisa!

[wheatonFJR]

LKLD, I can attest to the fact that Jolene is MUCH quicker than Raven, my '08. My bike is in excellent mechanical shape but acts like a 10 year old bike. Jolene, on the other hand, responds immediately and made me shout expletives more than once, especially in Sport Mode. I have no doubt the fork oil change will make her lean like the Tower of Pisa!

...As long as he brought her fresh rubbers.

[raYzerman]

ViperDad, if I could make a suggestion, and you're not too emotionally attached to Raven, perhaps the blackbird should be set free to nest in another home and keep Jolene "in the family" so to speak. Like the end of a Disney movie (see the Florida connection here?), everybody lives happily ever after.... yeah I know it's more complicated than that......

[Festus]

A HUGE thanks to FU Bob. That’s Fork University Bob to me! Everything came apart and went back together fine. The lower bushings were showing copper in spots so I think the timing was right.

Stupid me, I should have asked if Bob needed a second set of hands putting his PAIR plates on. That hit me about 3 hours later. Sorry for not thinking to offer that Bob!

One confusing point is the damper(or rebound) adjustment knob on the top of the right fork has a heck of a lot more clicks than the book calls for. When I stopped by to drop the forks off, I checked my bike and it also has nearly 40 available clicks. So what we did looks the same as my bike, but the book says it’s a lot less clicks. Any insight into that, Ray?

I hoped to get them on tonight but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

[wheatonFJR]

The number of clicks will vary from fork to fork.

[raYzerman]

Loosen top pinch bolt. Undo fork cap all the way (back off preload first, it will "pop" up). Loosen the nut (14mm & 24mm wrenches), remove cap by unscrewing it. Push down on the damper rod inside the cartridge tube. Do you feel a spring pushing back on you as you push down on the rod? Say yes if you can. If you say no, we'll talk (ya got parts missing and they're in the drain pan at Bob's). So that was a check to see that the rebound needle and spring are down there at the bottom of the cartridge. If they are, great, might be the fork cap was not screwed all the way down on the cartridge before snugging up that 14mm nut... it should bottom out (turn preload adjuster in a touch so it it flush with bottom of the cap, make sure 14mm nut is run down far enough/almost all the way against the spacer before spinning the top cap back on. Snug up nut, reinstall fork cap, tighten pinch bolt. How many clicks you got now from lightly seated? Should be 21-ish, 40 is a few too many, but doesn't necessarily mean missing parts.
On Gen1/2 this wasn't a problem, Gen 3 when the forks are turned upside down there is a risk of the needle and spring falling out, nothing to hold it in there but gravity. If memory serves, sum guy named Wheatie found out at a Griff tech day we had..... which was my first Gen3A fork experience.