My 200NS has run for 44,000kms and coming to 4 years. And that includes the arduous 2-month SE Asia Tour earlier this year. I don’t think the fork oil on my bike has ever been changed. The Bajaj owner’s manual calls for a fork oil change interval of 10,000km. But this is one of those things that is commonly neglected – and yes, I’m amongst the guilty ones.
You see, I bought the bike pre-owned and I have absolutely no history of its previous maintenance. So I took the bike to Universal Motors and tried to schedule for a fork oil change. But the mechanics there dissuaded me and casually mentioned that “it’s not a necessary procedure unless it starts leaking oil”. And since there was a pretty long queue with 5 other bikes before my turn, I decided to hold out the fork oil replacement for awhile at least.
Just then, it almost seem as if my Pulsar had a soul, it didn’t seem to like the neglect treatment. And in protest, the fork seal start leaking 6 days after my visit to UM. So, now I REALLY have to get it changed.
So I called up Universal Motors earlier today to check if there is a bike queue. Yeah – bummer. The wait is gonna be long. As I’m preparing for a trip to KL in about 2 weeks time, I would really like to get this leak sorted out as soon as possible. Since UM was busy, I headed to GP Motoring – a relatively reputable motorcycle repair shop that’s somewhat within walking distance from my place.
As I enquired with them, Ah Qiang, the mechanic there, informed me that while he was confident of replacing the fork oil, the oil seals will have to be ordered and will take some time to arrive. Well, since I had some time today, I decided to make a trip to UM to get the oil seals myself ($8.50 each). And while I was there, I bought a set of fork dust covers too ($6.50 each).
Honestly, I’m not sure if it was the new oil, the 15W weight, or the 220ml per fork quantity of oil, but the ride now DOES seem more planted and I experience less nose diving when using the front brakes. The ride feels firmer, but the damping is a tad bit lesser than before the oil change.
I don’t know – I don’t really have sufficient experience to comment on this. But I’m sure glad to have finally made this LONG overdue maintenance procedure!
What a nice workshop, full of things………..
Nice post however it lacks more details.
Did you use special tools to disassemble & reassemble the fork?
I’m thinking of just replacing the oil in my forks, 8 yrs old, but no leaks so no seals required at this stage. Was it difficult to get the fork assembled, did you use a vice?
I didn’t do this myself. I paid a mechanic to do the work. No special tools required. It was rather simple actually and I witnessed the entire process.
20w oil would make the damping even more suitable for 200ns.i am using motul 20w fork oil in my 200ns. Feels ways different than the stock oil and the ride quality is awesome. Viscosity of oil does make a difference in ride quality.
Yep! Different weight will lead to different damping properties.
Hi,
Did you use 220ml in each fork with the Motul 20W fork oil?
How much quantity needed it
Can any one send me pictures of front fork spring and spacer tube of NS.
Why would you need these pictures?
Hi my bike also don’t have spacers tubes however it’s available in part catalogue.
what is the right amount of fork oil in one fork to put?
According to the service manual, the Pulsar 200NS takes 285ml of fork oil when completely dry.
please can you write the amont of oil for each fork.Best regards.
Sure – I already did.
I’m from India,I have the same Euro 5 NS200,it has done around 23,000km in almost 5 years,the amount of bike ridden may seem less for 5 years but when I do I ride real real hard,proper usage of every component in the motorcycle(complete use of tachometer).Then about a year I’ve been experiencing some dampening issues and ride discomfort,the front headlight unit is vibrating and making lots of rough crackling noises which is very irritating and complete front end of the bike is stiff,so stiff that my spine tingles very badly and was getting unstable in few situations compared to when it was bought new,I’ve been maintaining my bike with regular service intervals except the fork oil replacement,I’ve asked the service guy for a replacement,he was like “nah,it’s fine,you don’t need a replacement unless you really need it”,just the way Singapore boy mentioned before,they just try to avoid the hassle of servicing cause their just lazy,and not everyone are willing to spend money on things that just work completely fine. Now I think I really need and fork oil replacement,thanks for the info:) @singaporeboy.????????