Fork oil capacity 1985 Honda GL400

[GSXCHCH]

After removing my fork to get the studs removed - see old post (just finished putting this all back together) I found that the oil in the fork was pretty dirty and needed replacing.

Does anyone know the correct oil capacity of the forks for a 1985 GL400, as it is a grey market bike its not covered by my manual. From the diagram the shocks seem the same as a cx500 of the same era but there are diffferent amounts of oil shown for each sub model (i.e. cx500c had 220cc of oil per leg and the cx500D has 185cc). The GL500 fork diagram sems very close but has some small differences the capacity of all GL500's is 210cc per leg.

Both of my forks have drain plugs however the top plugs seem really difficult to remove, they don't have a socket head due to the air fittings and its very difficult to get a spanner on the two flat faces that are there. Is there any reason why I can remove the air fittings and use a syringe or similar to squirt the correct amount of oil into the fork leg -( this is where the old dirty oil was leaking from when the fork leg was removed)

[F5 Dave]

um yeah it will take ages.

really would be best to flush the forks out & drained well, they will be full of grey sludge. Better still to full pull apart & wipe, but it is a CX. Flush with kero & drain, pump, drain overnight would suffice.

caps should come off easily enough. Should be like my old CBX, I'm struggling to remember but I thought it was just undo the connecting airline & use a spanner. Use the triple clamp to hold the legs, even if you have to slide them up or down to get access. The likely have an assembly circlip to stop them sliding up, but it is easy to ping off.

yer on your own with qty of oil, have to try internerd forums for CX freaks. Or just fill to 6" from top fully compressed with no springs. Then add more if too soft until you're happy.

[Robert Taylor]

F5 Dave is on the money but personally Id completely strip the forks. Its amazing how much oil and wear sludge still remains inbetween the inner and outer tubes, even after extensive flushing. Use genuine fork seals, all but a small handful of the aftermarket seals increase friction radically.