[Closed] What oil to use in a Pike if you don't have the right stuff

[i]I think I'll try a service on my Pikes tomorrow, but I don't have the correct 0w30 oil.[/i]

If you haven't the right stuff, why even bother to 'try'? Go for a ride instead.

I just did this on my pikes this afternoon, I just used some 5wt suspension oil.

Obviously I don't know if it will kill the forks seeing as it was only done this afternoon ,but my gut feeling is it will be fine. All it's doing is lubricating the stanchion and bushings.

15wt is best of your options

J&J Baby Oil.*

* May not be the best suggestion, but I'd love to hear that you tried it!

Is TF tuned lower lube mix OK..?

I phoned Tf tuned before doing mine to ask the same question, they recommended lower lube mix, although 15wt would probably be Ok in a pinch.

Just choose one with the right viscosity - Can of worms...

[img] [/img]

From [url= http://www.peterverdone.com/wiki/?title=Suspension_Fluid ]here[/url]

Motorbike shops will usually have a range of quality fork/suspension oil, and many open Sundays.

I think the recommendation when the pikes first came out but rockshox had failed to distribute any 0wt30 was to use reverb oil, which I'm pretty sure is 5wt. I did for my first service, but serviced them again when the proper stuff arrived.

If I were you I'd get some 0wt30 ordered and do them next weekend.

The 3rd party oil that is consistently recommended for servicing Pikes is Maxima Maxum4 Ultra Ester 100% Synthetic 0W30

fwiw I've serviced my pikes using it. You can buy it in 1 litre bottles for approx £14

Buy here http://www.24mx.co.uk/maxima-maxum4-ultra-ester-100-synthetic-1l-1

HTH, cheers

It's only for bushing/seal lubing, it really does not matter that much what you use.

I do, and have always used 15wt in my pikes (had pikes about 1.5 years).

Yeah it's only for lubrication as above so you don't need suspension oil. The RockShox 0w30 is just a type of engine oil but I guess it's a type that they know doesn't have any weird additives that might eat the seals. I've put Castrol 0w40 of some description in mine and it seems fine. I'll get some of the stuff skyragon says at some point.

Other oils may work but why cut corners and not just get the proper stuff? Its not that expensive and will last ages. Not worth risking voiding the warranty / damaging seals etc in my opinion. If its worth doing, its worth doing properly

Maybe. But it makes a bit of a mockery of all of the strict recommendations when mine came from the factory totally dry.

My attitude was that on the very small chance the seals would deteriorate I'd just replace them. In the meantime it's much better from both a performance and longevity perspective to actually put [i]something[/i] in there. My seals haven't eaten themselves (yet).

Thanks for the recommendations folks. I won't bore you with the details as there is another thread on that, but suffice to say that the performance of the forks was poor enough to take some of the fun out of the ride yesterday and today was the only chance I was going to get to look at them before the next ride. I'll get the proper oil (and a full seal kit) and do the job properly soon, but for now there is 15wt in there and they feel fine.

Yeah, almost a year back I spoke to TFTuned and they recommended their lower leg lube. I guess that's what they use if they do a service.

I've used it a couple of times since and everything has been fine.