my project = air in forks!!

[mattness]

ok my personal project for the next few weeks is getting these front forks to hold air, has anyone done this personally that knows the trick?
mine hold air for about 2 hours, i used a valve stem tool and that fixed the leaks(well, the big ones) but it still just doesnt last. I dont see air bubbles coming up anymore.

your input is valued!

 

[rumblethump]

Forget the air.Put in 15wt oil & shim the springs a little.
Better yet, put some good springs in it.

 

[4gasem]

Agreed! Dump the air... Get some Race-Tech springs some 15wt oil and new seals and you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier...

Chris

 

[one2dmax]

he's already got new seals and good oil. He should not need anything else other then maybe a spring change (which can be done fairly easily with the forks on the bike). No air as well.

Sean

 

[mattness]

Im in the market for springs, hit me up with what you've got!!

 

[dannymax]

Only 2 choices that I know of....Race-Tech or Progressive. I have one of each on my bikes and like them both.

Far, far superior to stock!!

 

[DanQuin]

I'd still look to see what is amiss with the forks holding pressure. Part of the forks working "components" is the air gap, or what is also known as an "air spring." It's the reason fork oil levels are important, and what gives the forks their progressive nature. As the fork compresses it compresses the air and the compressed air becomes more resistant to further compression.

If you are losing air slowly it may not be of any consequence, but if it's not holding pressure at all it may not perform as you'd like. I'd continue to try to find the source of the air loss.

 

[gamorg02]

Im in the market for springs, hit me up with what you've got!!

i have a set of stock springs with 10k miles on them. I also have 2 progressive lowering damper rod springs. So if it can be done, you can have the kit for free and make a 1" longer PVC spacer than stock (if not even a little longer to stiffen it up) and then internally drop it an 1" with stock springs. not sure if that would be do-able tho

 

[mattness]

ok i have the forks off the bike with 50PSI in each, we're gonna see how much each one held overnight.

 

[PATMAX]

Did I read that right 50 psi? Doesn't that effectively blow out any possible sealing the boy had left? It's been a while since I had an air assist Max fork. Perhaps I "misremembered" the max allowable psi.

 

[texmax]

HOLY COW! I think 14psi is max for fork air pressure. Might want to bleed off some pressure.

 

[mattness]

this should be a true test of these forks!!! :gun shoot::gun shoot::gun shoot:

 

[gamorg02]

or time 'til failure of your fork seals. didn't sean just replace them?

 

[mattness]

ok one fork lost 5 PSI, the other lost 8 give or take a point.

we're wondering if they can lose pressure out of the bolt at the bottom of the forks?

anyways,

we tore em down and lost a spring thing that went into a thing.

pics below.

theyre a little blurry but pics are pics!!

im just wondering if i reaallllyyy need that spring? looks like you cant buy just the spring everywhere we've looked, you have to buy a few other things with it, prolly gonna cost around 30 bucks shipped.

one spring was inside of the plastic piece, the other was on the outside of it like it had come out. also one of the plastic pieces looks a few years older than the other, pics below.

anyways, whats the spring even do? all input appreciated!!

 

[gamorg02]

having just finished the project those springs are a pain to keep seated in the cups there when u get the damper rod in. i can't imagine they do much at all. i'm not 100% sure mine are seated right to be honest. no way to tell.

i wouldn't worry about the looks of them. i had different coloured oil in each of my forks!

 

[mattness]

ya were gonna see about trying to buy just the spring off this website we found. we're gonna call em when theyre open. its gonna be a shame spending 30 bucks on something that might not even do anything :ummm::ummm:

 

[gamorg02]

Id ask sean if he had some, or just get a spring from hw store I bet ull be fine. Or leave em off. Id be interested in what others opinions would be

 

[one2dmax]

Not sure if I have one?? I think they are on the newer forks and not on the older ones. Will need to look if I can remember. When you are all said and done don't put air back in the forks. That is only a band aid fix that Yamaha came up with. Run thicker oil and be done with it. The oil you had in there is $60 a quart so if you saved it you may want to reuse it. It's a synthetic blend.

Sean Morley

 

[gamorg02]

Not sure if I have one?? I think they are on the newer forks and not on the older ones. Will need to look if I can remember. When you are all said and done don't put air back in the forks. That is only a band aid fix that Yamaha came up with. Run thicker oil and be done with it. The oil you had in there is $60 a quart so if you saved it you may want to reuse it. It's a synthetic blend.

Sean Morley

could you see that spring doing anything extremely functional? I know i can't. with how much pressure and forces are involved that spring must compress immediately and do nothing afterwards.

 

[one2dmax]

I'm not sure what the engineering aspect of that spring was other them maybe help keep it located when assembling the forks.

Sean