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adding some oil to the wiper sponges without stripping them down sounds like a good idea as a 'I know my forks really need a lowers service but I can't be arsed at the moment' solution. But I'd be a bit worried about either scraping the fork ano with a syringe, introducing dirt past the seal when I'd wedged something in it, or nicking/damaging the wiper with whatever I was using
Storing the bike inverted ensures the foam rings/upper bushing are always lubricated.
Few drops of wet chain lube on the stanchions. Compress forks a few times, then wipe clean. No need for anything else and never attempt to put oil into the forks from about the seals. You'll just stretch the seals and encourage dirt to get in.
Putting the bike upside-down for a few hours if not ridden in a while is a good idea.
Storing the bike inverted ensures the foam rings/upper bushing are always lubricated.
post above suggests maybe not - oil doesn't necessarily end up in the right place between the two tubes. Also, stoping upside down much more likely to give issues with brakes if there's any air in them, and simple isn't practical for a lot of us.
@mjsmke what evidence do have to support, because it’s bs, they are rubber seals and will not permanently deform by gently sliding in a very small round ended needle.
The outer seals keep large particles out, the foam rings protect against dust and water, but neither effect the sliding of the sanctions, that is done by the bushes and relies on an oil film between the bushes and the outside of the inner stations turning a bike upside down the oil just runs inside of the hollow in stanchion, putting oil directly on top of the bush keeps it lubricated and any excess soaks into the foam rings.
Putting anything other than fork oil on them is not a great idea, put a bit of fork oil in a small container and spray some of the silicone spray or whatever else people are using and look what it does to the oil, it will cause it to separate and become less slippery.
At the end of the day, a lowers service can be done in about 30 minutes without any special tools, so do it often, keep the seals clean, the foam rings wet and oil in the lowers and your forks will work fine, if you don’t they will feel crap no matter the damper or settings.
RSP Hyper Wiper. After washing/drying.
Chris Porters method – Clean out seals with a motorcycle seal cleaner tool. (thin, shaped piece of rigid plastic sheet that pushes down past the seal)
A friend of mine runs a motorbike suspension service/tuning company. He reckons he all those tools do is get more dirt into your forks.