Hi all.

Well my buddy ended up getting the GSX1400 after.

Damn good value at the end of the day I think. Runs and goes well, brakes are all in good order and doesn’t look to have been utterly fucked with. It just seems to have been forgotten about, but corrosion doesn’t seem to have taken hold of the tank, or the bones of it either.

He has a fresh set of Metzelers for it when the oily bits are finished with and, being a self-employed crash repair specialist, he has all the equipment & know-how he needs to get the bike looking just how he wants it.

He’s pleased with himself, to say the least!

The only real issue the bike had was a sorry front end. Pitted stanchions, leaking seals and obvious signs that the bushings were shot to shit.

So the forks were stripped and the stanchions went to E & G Manly in Ashbourne who, fair dues to them, turned them around within the week, despite saying they’d probably take a fortnight.

With those refurbished, and a rebuild kit from Wemoto, it should be back on two wheels before next weekend.

Now the questions, for those that got this far!

The manual recommends Suzuki L01 fork oil and online opinion varies on whether the L01 is a 0wt or a 5wt.

And I’m also aware that similarly labelled oils from different manufacturers aren’t necessarily comparable.

So does anyone have a recommendation for an easily-got suitable alternative to the L01 or what weight oil would be best for the GSX14? 0, 5 or even 10?

Secondly, is there any advantage to less or more (than Suzuki specs) oil, for a particular weight, being used with the original (2002) fork springs.

More oil stiffens things to some degree, doesn’t it?

I have a little filling/height setting kit coming, so we can get a baseline sorted and can go from there, if needed.

Thanks in advance for any input.