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/7 Fork Oil Part Number

20774

20774

Liaison
Staff member
I was just up at the dealer getting a new front tire mounted. Since I'm doing a lot on the front end, including a brake fluid bleed, I thought I'd change the fork oil. I've always run BMWs 7.5w in the past. When I asked for a bottle, they brought out 10w. Hmmm...I think that's going to be too harsh for my tastes. I checked a KawaSuzHonda store and they only had 5 and 10. Cycle Gear doesn't have anything either.

My parts guy says tell him the part number and he'll get 7.5w into the store. I went to RealOEM as well as MAX and only see 10w available as 5L bottles. Does anyone have the part number for BMW's 7.5w fork oil?

Thanks...
 
20774 said:
I was just up at the dealer getting a new front tire mounted. Since I'm doing a lot on the front end, including a brake fluid bleed, I thought I'd change the fork oil. I've always run BMWs 7.5w in the past. When I asked for a bottle, they brought out 10w. Hmmm...I think that's going to be too harsh for my tastes. I checked a KawaSuzHonda store and they only had 5 and 10. Cycle Gear doesn't have anything either.

My parts guy says tell him the part number and he'll get 7.5w into the store. I went to RealOEM as well as MAX and only see 10w available as 5L bottles. Does anyone have the part number for BMW's 7.5w fork oil?

Thanks...
Click to expand...

Don't people mix 10w and 5w to get 7.5? I think fork oil's one of the kinds of things that won't stratify when you blend it. Personally I prefer 10w, but this is what my dealer offers for those that want the 7.5 http://www.belray.com/bel-ray-high-performance-fork-oil. They don't have 7.5 but they have 7w.
 
p.s my book version of the Behelfs-Katalog has a fork oil p/n of 31 32 9 196 902 for all Airheads /5 through R100RTs

WHen you search for that on Max it actually does come up, but is $$$ and doesn't mention the weight.
 
I suppose I could have tried the blending thing...one of the shops had 5 and 10w...maybe even Belray. I don't know...I like to stick pretty close to the path!!

I try that number and get 2.5L of oil but other part numbers that supersede it...in some cases, 2.5L costing over $50. This seems to be the latest number - 31429060537 - not sure, it might be "ended". Following that to the parts listing, it doesn't give the weight of the oil. Might be worth a shot. Otherwise, I'll be doing "home chemistry".

I was hoping to find Spectro oil on local shelves but came up empty in my limited searching. I can also dive into Snowbum's website...
 
The old gray 7.5W fork oil bottles show part 07 51 0 412 043. For the longest time that fork oil was dirt cheap - I sold it for $9 per quart - and suddenly it was replaced by something horrendously expensive. The 10W (in the round bottle) was always expensive. Now I'm using Bel-Ray across the board.
 
20774 said:
I was just up at the dealer getting a new front tire mounted. Since I'm doing a lot on the front end, including a brake fluid bleed, I thought I'd change the fork oil. I've always run BMWs 7.5w in the past. When I asked for a bottle, they brought out 10w. Hmmm...I think that's going to be too harsh for my tastes. I checked a KawaSuzHonda store and they only had 5 and 10. Cycle Gear doesn't have anything either.

My parts guy says tell him the part number and he'll get 7.5w into the store. I went to RealOEM as well as MAX and only see 10w available as 5L bottles. Does anyone have the part number for BMW's 7.5w fork oil?

Thanks...
Click to expand...
Kurt, I do believe it is 83192408581 but not sure why you'd want to increase BMW salaries at your expense. As I'm sure you know, it is not BMW Fork Oil, but rather fork oil branded for BMW, and as is all too typical, 2x the cost.

For my money, I'd prefer to give who I think is the originator of the product, Spectro Performance Oils or you could use Bel-Ray. I know that Spectro used to make the oil that BMW sold as it's own until IIRC, Castrol became the supplier. I use Spectro Golden4 in all my air-cooled bikes.

Spectro Golden Cartridge Fork Fluid is available in 7.5w sometimes referred to as 125/150 rather than 7.5w.

You can get it directly from Spectro for $16.19 vs BMW charging $29.90 (or others like Rocky Mountain ATV): http://www.spectroshop.com/suspension-fluids/cartridge-fork-fluid-125/150-7-5w-/prod_51.html

If you feel you'd rather stay with the BMW labelled oil than A&S BMW appear to have it: http://www.ascycles.com/detail.aspx?ID=39061

However, as I mentioned above, I do believe they are the same product with BMW simply having their logo and label added.

This is Spectro's 5w container (identical to their 7.5w contained other than the label compared to BMW labeled product. I don't see any difference in the containers other than the logos.
GFORKOIL-282x442.png 07531467609.5.jpg
 
I think some of these numbers are crossing for a gallon or so. I'm not that interested in getting something shipped...although I would prefer to use Spectro. I may just go get 5 and 10w Belray and be done with it. Sheesh...such a simple thing... :banghead
 
Kurt you appear to be in San Antonio, I believe there's a Cycle Gear there and they'll likely carry the Spectro fork oil. I was in Dallas in September and looked at going to Austin and San Antonio to check out a few shops for my Ducati. Seem to recall I noticed a Cycle Gear in San Antonio.
 
AlanColes said:
Kurt you appear to be in San Antonio, I believe there's a Cycle Gear there and they'll likely carry the Spectro fork oil. I was in Dallas in September and looked at going to Austin and San Antonio to check out a few shops for my Ducati. Seem to recall I noticed a Cycle Gear in San Antonio.
Click to expand...

That's the first place I went after BMW...I saw Spectro engine oil in there a few years ago...figured I'd pick up some fork oil. No Spectro but 5 and 10w of other brands...they had just sold the last two quarts of 7w...forgot the brand. Cycle Gear seems to have gone downhill a bit since the last time I was in there...maybe concentrating on different products.
 
/ Soap Box On /

This "offered" on the Airmail list a time or two...I tend to buy into it because it seems to be a basic principle of supply-demand. This has "discussed" from time to time the idea of buying BMW versus buying aftermarket. Bottom line, the decision we make is really wallet driven as it in reality should be. But a downside of that is that the fewer things bought through the BMW network will eventually make a bean counter take notice and make a decision to save long term money by discontinuing supply for items that are being requested in smaller and smaller quantities. Nothing wrong with that, again supply-demand and management of the bottom line. How many parts for /2s are available through BMW? Some. How many pre-war parts are available through BMW? Very few. You can see the trend. As time goes by, for our beloved Airheads, we will be more and more on our own for parts and services. People step up and fill the gap...hopefully. I'm guilty of this as well. I needed some parts for my R25/2...I called Vech at Bench Mark Works...I had parts in my mailbox in two days. Freakin' amazing! But for my /7, I only think of BMW at this point. I don't consider my Airhead as being that far "over the hill". I have been trying to cultivate this relationship with my dealer. It may or may not help.

/ Soap Box Off /

I'm not really trying to start a big discussion on this. It's merely to explain why I tend to walk the BMW "path" with my /7 so as to have the convenience of going down the road for my needs. In my present situation, cost is not the total driving factor for me...I like working with my dealer and know (maybe hope?) that I get the quality parts I need to get another 100K miles on my /7. It does appear that I will have to go "off the grid" to get my fork fluid.

This works for me... :thumb
 
Understand fully Kurt, if we don't support the Brand then we can't expect the Brand to support us, I try to follow that where realistic as well.

Where I differ is in the items that are merely re-branded and sold at 2x-5x retail for the exact same product in a different package, that's all.

I believe that Cycle Gear has just recently merged or setup a join company with Revzilla. It is possible that they've taken their eye ioff the ball somewhat while working that through. Hopefully that will be the case. We need all the vendors and sources possible, especially for non-current rides. Like you say it's getting harder and harder to find things easily.
 
Snowbum has information on his site dealing with fork oil. Might be worth reading again. IIRC, he has a table on the viscosity differences between brands.
 
I went by Cycle Gear, thinking I was going to get some Belray 5 and 10w and mix them...uhhh, not at $16 a quart!! I'm not desperate for fork at this point...I'll keep researching and looking around.
 
What I didn't want to do was spend $32 for two quarts to blend together to make my one quart that I needed for the refill.
 
Anton -

Yes, Cycle Gear used to have Belray 7w on the shelf. They said if I wanted 7w, they'd have to order a case. Again, I'm not in a real hurry right now.
 
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