How do you change the fork oil?

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 5:31 pm

Buddy 125. Just hit 40,000. I found a "how to" for a Buddy 150 but the pictures wont come up?! This should be detailed in a How To section. Exploded veiw does not help and I remember the 150 guy saying he "made the mistake of removing the plastic cap plugs"? I thought my CityCom was hard to change the oil on it. Did I miss a step-by-step how to with pictures? I dont want to booger anything up and not be able to replace the damaged parts. And no, the owner does not want to buy NCY forks, just change the stock fork oil. Thanks for any help!

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 3:24 am

I changed the oil in my forks and the Buddy forks looks pretty much the same as my Blur's. Theres a socket head screw on the bottom of each leg, but it's not a drain plug as far as I can tell. I believe it holds the fork together. I had to remove each fork leg from the triple clamp (I actually removed the entire triple clamp assy from the frame) in order to change the oil. There's a big nut at the top of each leg that requires a 17mm hex driver to remove. Be careful though because the fork spring pushes against it. Once removed, the spring can be slid out then the leg inverted to drain the oil. Pump the fork a few times to make sure you get as much of the old oil out as possible. You can then pour in the required amount of new oil and reassemble. I added a preload spacer in mine to stiffen up the suspension because I ride hard and tend to bottom out the front suspension a lot. I posted some pictures in my tread in the Blur forums under "I seized my Blur's engine", or something like that. If I were to do it again, I'd put about 10% more oil than specified because I can sometimes feel some cavitation. Oh yeah, removing the entire triple clamp was a good idea in my case because the lower headstock bearings were very dry. Hardly any grease in there. The only caution is getting the headstock nuts tightened correctly. Too tight and the bearings/races may wear out prematurely plus the steering will feel strange. Too loose and there'll be a lot of front end rattling, poor handling, and the bearings/races will be destroyed. In the end, it was totally worth the effort because my Blur handles much better now.

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 1:39 pm

The 17mm hex nut or anything else removable with threads does not exist on the top of the Buddy 125 forks, just a plastic plug cap and no idea of how to remove it. I swear I can see the inner fork spring pressing against the plastic cap. The worse part is the exploded view of the forks does not go INTO the fork, so no peeking, and meaning I cant get parts if damaged. So the plastic plug caps are whats got us stomped. Have the service manual and its kinda useless. Basically says replace fork oil/80cc and no steps on how to do it. Of all the forks I have done the Buddy has the craziest assembly method.

DeeDee · Post by **DeeDee** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 2:03 pm

I did this on my Yamaha C3, and it was simple. The service manual tells you: t "Front fork oil type: SAE 10W20 Capacity (each side): 80 CC. I used a heavier weight oil, and added a little bit more. I converted ccs to oz and used a plastic nyquil cup. These are Buddy forks. I believe you remove the two bolts holding each fork into the triple tree. I feel a rubber cap at the top of the fork, and have removed it. I did not feel a drain bolt underneath it. The service manual is lacking detail on the front forks, but I think once you removed them from the scooter, it would be pretty easy to figure out. If you can't find the torque specs, mark the fasteners with a sharpie for reference, and tighten slightly past your marks.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 5:44 pm

sc00ter wrote:The 17mm hex nut or anything else removable with threads does not exist on the top of the Buddy 125 forks, just a plastic plug cap and no idea of how to remove it. I swear I can see the inner fork spring pressing against the plastic cap. The worse part is the exploded view of the forks does not go INTO the fork, so no peeking, and meaning I cant get parts if damaged. So the plastic plug caps are whats got us stomped. Have the service manual and its kinda useless. Basically says replace fork oil/80cc and no steps on how to do it. Of all the forks I have done the Buddy has the craziest assembly method.

That's pretty strange. Don't know what to suggest then. Wish I had a set in front of me to figure out. Sounds like an interesting puzzle, though I can't imagine the spring load being taken up by a plastic cap alone. Seems awfully dangerous to me.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 5:47 pm

DeeDee wrote:I did this on my Yamaha C3, and it was simple. The service manual tells you: t "Front fork oil type: SAE 10W20 Capacity (each side): 80 CC. I used a heavier weight oil, and added a little bit more. I converted ccs to oz and used a plastic nyquil cup. These are Buddy forks. I believe you remove the two bolts holding each fork into the triple tree. I feel a rubber cap at the top of the fork, and have removed it. I did not feel a drain bolt underneath it. The service manual is lacking detail on the front forks, but I think once you removed them from the scooter, it would be pretty easy to figure out. If you can't find the torque specs, mark the fasteners with a sharpie for reference, and tighten slightly past your marks.

Those forks look almost identical to the Blur's. Is it possible to get a closeup picture of the top of a fork leg?

DeeDee · Post by **DeeDee** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:01 pm

I believe this video is close. Buddy front shock does not have the drain valve. I believe you remove the shock from the TT, and the cap at the top of the shock removes. You would simply turn the shock upside down in a catch pan and slowly compress it a couple of times to work all the old oil out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaL5mQuaoX8

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 7:12 pm

DeeDee wrote:I believe this video is close. Buddy front shock does not have the drain valve. I believe you remove the shock from the TT, and the cap at the top of the shock removes. You would simply turn the shock upside down in a catch pan and slowly compress it a couple of times to work all the old oil out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaL5mQuaoX8

That video shows a non-descript front shock that is nothing like a Buddy 50 shock. Also, the forks on a Buddy 50 are different from a Buddy 125/150.

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:30 am

The semi-translucent fork caps look almost pressed in, and they are flush mounted also. I still think the springs are touching these plastic caps. So anyways we are in a holding pattern. I have taken apart all kinds of forks before from=Honda Hawk NTV650 forks, CBR600F2 forks (put on the Hawk), 94 CBR 900RR forks, Yamaha pre-bug Zuma forks, bug-eye Zuma forks, Hyosung Sense forks (VERY annoying design), Aprilia SR50 forks, Ninja 500 and 250 forks, and a few others I cant think of at the moment-and I got stumped by some weird plastic caps on a Buddy 125! Like I said, I found the rebuild how-to in the search but the pictures wont load, and now I cant find it again!

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:40 am

Found the post! 08 Genuine Buddy fork seal options. May 14, 2011. azdriver posted pictures but they no longer load!!! He advised not to remove the plastic plugs on the top. So I take it the forks are like the Hyosung Sense's? Why dont the pictures load?

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:21 am

sc00ter wrote:Found the post! 08 Genuine Buddy fork seal options. May 14, 2011. azdriver posted pictures but they no longer load!!! He advised not to remove the plastic plugs on the top. So I take it the forks are like the Hyosung Sense's? Why dont the pictures load?

The hosting site where the pictures are stored may no longer be up or his account with said site may have expired.

Do the fork legs have a socket head screw on the bottom? If so, you may have to remove them and disassemble the forks in order to change the oil.

DeeDee · Post by **DeeDee** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 1:19 pm

The semi-translucent fork caps look almost pressed in, and they are flush mounted also. I still think the springs are touching these plastic caps

. I reached up along the front fender and removed one of the caps. They were pliable plastic and were easily removed. I felt a smooth metal surface under the cap. Mine is a 2014. I have no need to remove the forks. I would bet money you remove the fork and the whole top of the tube is a threaded cap like in the video.

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:08 am

Pulled the fork legs out of the tree. I do not think the caps are removable without permanent damage. If the forks are like the Hyosung Sense forks, you can remove the bottom bolts to dis-assemble the forks IF the inner piston doesnt start spinning on you. Mine spun. Those Hyosung forks were a strange design, and I was forced to remove the threaded metal caps (not plastic mystery plugs) and jam a allen wrench into the top of the piston to hold it still for dis-assembly. Then I cut a notch in the top of the piston so I could hold it still with a big flat head screwdriver. The plastic caps are still whopping our butts! Not going to try and remove them till I can see what we are dealing with first.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:22 am

Sounds like a real challenge. Best of luck and please do let us know the results with pictures if possible.

PNWbuddy · Post by **PNWbuddy** » Thu May 02, 2019 3:43 pm

Fork oil can be changed. The PGO service manual does not have a parts blow up or any instructions. It does state that the fork oil volume is 80cc with recommended fork oil being SAE 10w-20
I assume forks on all of the years are the same.

Remove the top plastic plug, on my '07 it was brittle, I drove a screw driver into the center of the plastic cap and pried it out. there was some rust in the tube below the plug so the plug wasn't providing a perfect seal, I'll replace it with something better.

There is a steel plug recessed in the fork tube, it is held in place with a c-clip. Push down on the plug (hard to do) then remove the c-clip. The fork spring will push the plug up so you can remove it. There is an o-ring on the plug to seal the fork tube.

PNWbuddy · Post by **PNWbuddy** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:56 pm

here is a picture of the fork. I used a lighting clamp to hold the fork tube in place while compressing the plug in the tube. You can see the c-clip retainer showing just above the plug, it fits in a groove in the tube. The fork oil was low in my '07 and not the same amount in each tube. The plug has an 0-ring seal which was in good shape and there was no evidence of any leak.