New fork oil level weird !!?

Okay, I rebuilt my '82 KZ750H forks with the good help of folks here on the board. Then I went to fill them with oil. My manual says to start with about 280cc's of oil, then measure the distance from the oil level to the top of the tube. The book says it should come in at 436mm (+/- 2 mm). I made my measuring rod indicating the top of the fork tube, the 436 mark, and made it about 40mm past the 436 mark so I'd have some indicator of where a too low level was.

Testing the level, the rod stayed dry!! The book says that the forks should be fully extended during this test. Is that wrong? I assume this is the original KZ750H fork, but have no way of knowing. I'm a bit hesitant to put more oil in.

What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

Are the springs inside the forks as they are supposed to be when measuring the level?

Good Luck!

My manual, a copy of the actual Kawasaki manual for this bike, definately says the forks should be fully extended and the springs removed before doing the oil level test. Another manual I downloaded from the web says the same thing.

Here's a quote from the page dealing with this. read No. 8


Are they wrong? If so, that's fine. Just want to be sure.

I'm sometimes too fixated on the earlier large fours where Z1 through '78KZ1000A2 fork oil levels are measured with springs inside the forks.

The specific model FSM should of course be followed.

But such a mess, what with some of the oil dripping and clinging to the springs.

I would do it that way only once, then also measure and record the level with springs installed, to allow future measurements without having to remove the springs.

I believe it's also correct to be primarily concerned with the level as opposed to the volume, as volume may vary with a dry fill (after fork overhaul) vs a wet fill (routine flush and re-fill).

It is worrisome that the level didn't appear on the extended portion of the dipstick which would have supposedly submerged below the surface. How much too far down is the level with the volume as specified in the FSM?

If the fork tubes aren't stock, may need to determine their source to learn correct oil level measurement for them.

I do note the quoted manual page says more oil may need to be added to reach the specified level.

Good Luck!

Don't know if applicable, but occurs that an LTD model might have longer forks requiring more oil than the similar standard model of the same year.

Sometimes a special manual supplement is issued for the LTD model covering the differences.

Is it possible that the standard model fork oil volume is in this case being applied to an LTD which might require a larger volume? Just guessing.

Good Luck!

Well, don't I feel stupid! Patton, yes, I found a supplement at the back of the bopok for 82's that does have different oil amounts (290 when changed, and 308 when dry-different from the standard amounts).

I'll give it a try and if it works you won't hear from me on this thread again. Thanks for pointing that out.