... together with a bit of theory. To kick said theory off: My TR1 doesn't run a pair of stock forks, but an old XS1100 set, because I wanted to use the bigger 298mm disks. They are almost a straight swap, you'd only need a different XS1100S front wheel or special wheel bearings for the thicker axle.
That aside, the XS1100 forks have a few other things going for them: first they are intended for a substantially heavier bike. Which means, the fork springs are perfectly adequate for a TR1 and if one were so inclined he or she could run some much lighter weight oil than is common on bikes of this era and thus improve the overall riding comfort A LOT.
Also, unlike the stock forks, these specific ones aren't bent, which resulted in a bit of a surprise after I loosened the pinch bolts and both fork-legs still attached to the front mudguard just started to slide out.
With the caps off, I tend to rinse them with diesel until no more damping can be felt and the diesel, that comes out is (mostly) clear again.
Bit of patience and turning them up-side down gets rid of whatever it was that was in there before.
And in the case of XS1100 forks, which should be filled with 212ml of 10W30 oil, I went with 230ml of 10W fully synthetic fork oil.
And no the mix of old oil with diesel didn't smell very pleasant. I think "pretty rotten" would be a rather appropriate term to be honest.
The surprising bit: This isn't the original 1978-vintage oil, but only two or three years old, yet still it smelled terribly. Regardless of which, the whole episode was totally worth it as the suspension quality is in a league of its own compared to before. Might try a slightly lighter weight oil next year, just to see if it improves the overall finesse of the forks (I doubt it), but they are very responsive even on light bumps and don't bottom out on hard braking anymore. I guess I have to call this a massive success.
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