Soooo - Long story short - my bike sat exposed to the east coast elements for almost 2 years... The front end(forks) seem to have NO PRESSURE or any function other then diving to the bottom of their travel. I assume this is due to the cold of winter and then hot of summer killing the gases inside?

Does anyone know what I am in need of and how much this might cost to take car of or if I can do it myself???

Im in San Diego and will be going back to Vermont where the bike is to see if I can resurrect the issue and ride her a bit while home. Any info is really appreciated!!!

THANKS~~~

 

front forks are fluid filled, rear shock is gas.

 

right - so what do you think I need to do for them?

 

Get 1 litre of fork oil and just try changing it to c if the oil is bad. If that doesn't change any thing i'm afraid you have to do a full fork rebuild. Have a look for rebuild kits on the net or ask your lolal dealer to get you one. If you are doing it for the fists time might take up to few hours and the manual is a MUST HAVE. Nothing to hard just need some tools, parts and time. If the forks are not coming back at all you might suspect broken spring, but not most likely. Good luck.

 

If it has sat for that long you're almost certainly going to have to renew the seals at least. Not a difficult or expensive job but you absolutely need a manual. My tip, once you have the fork leg out of the bike, before you do anything else loosen the allen bolt in the bottom of the leg that holds the damper inside. The bolt is recessed far enough up to be clear of thethe axle hole when the fork is in place, so it's easy to miss. Doing it first means the internals are still under pressure and will help hold the damper while you loosen the bolt. Only then take off the cap at the top end. My tip #2, remember that the internals are under pressure and it's very difficult to remember what order springs and spacers etc came out in when they've just pinged all over your workshop and you're covered in fork oil. Good luck!

 

just had my forks seals done, everything said and done cost me a little over $100. BUT OMG DOES IT FEEL LIKE A COMPLETLY DIFFERENT BIKE. im no longer unsure of myself going into long turns at highspeeds hoping there are no bumps or differences in the road. the rear end will come up real nice if i slam the front break and just under simple breaking my bike no longer dives everywhere. not to mention it just feels different going in a straight line.. tall and strong. its nice to have some breaking power. think of changing your front pads as well as hey might be saturated with that nasty fork oil. good luck!

 

So seals for sure - if my seals are bad, would there be obvious leaking of the fork oil??? I didnt see anything that looked like leaks, maybe it was faint and had been rained off? I looked the manual over and decided that it would be a job I can do my self with no problem. Just gonna have to ride it to the shop to get it started..... Hhehe.... That should be fun times. Slow and steady's gonna win that one! Any other idea are still very welcome, Id like to have my potential game plans all set to fly before I get there. Thanks guys!

 

no sign of oil on the forks or tire/pads? im thinkin they must been bad for a while or there would be obvious leakage

 

cannon, pull up your damn pants

 

are they seated too low for you sir?