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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Front Shocks
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Message started by flcruzr on 12/10/08 at 16:17:36

Title: Front Shocks
Post by flcruzr on 12/10/08 at 16:17:36

Hello Everyone!
I have a question...I have not ridden my bike in about three weeks so yesterday and today I rode to work and I noticed that when I run over small holes the front is hitting hard. Can anyone relate or is it me being off of my bike for awhile????

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by Reelthing on 12/10/08 at 17:11:01

seems like too new of bike('08?) to be low on oil in the fork - unless of course these bike ship without oil in there and the dealer didn't put any in there - but I think they ship full - still in warranty?

air pressure correct?

is it a good bit colder out now since the last time you rode it?

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by flcruzr on 12/10/08 at 17:22:26

1E292920382425222B4C0 wrote:

Air is good, weather is colder, still under warranty, and how would I check for oil in the shocks???

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by Reelthing on 12/10/08 at 17:29:34

Shame we don't have a drain plug&fill on these - about all you can do is drain them and refill to measued amount - they have a spring and are oil dampened - if you were empty I'd sure think the forks would pogostick - likely the colder weather has made it feel stiffer

how cold is it and how long is your ride to work?

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by thumperclone on 12/10/08 at 17:36:49

got a suzuki service manual<or clymers will spell it out 4 u..if u need asap i can pm u the ssm specs..monyona p.m.

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by flcruzr on 12/10/08 at 19:17:15

Well, its not that cold...its been in the mid 40's to upper 60's, however the past two days it was in the 70's,

I dont have any manuals besides the owners manual.

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by bill67 on 12/10/08 at 19:25:52

Is it using the full travel of the forks,if its not its probably ok,if the oil was really low it would be springy,like no damping.

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by flcruzr on 12/11/08 at 19:01:24

03080D0D5756610 wrote:

Is it using the full travel of the forks,if its not its probably ok,if the oil was really low it would be springy,like no damping.

No, its not springy, it might just be me not riding it often. :-/

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by LANCER on 12/12/08 at 05:52:50

My new '96 Savage, when picked up new out of the crate from the dealer in '99, did not perform all that well either but I just assumed that it was due to the econo nature of the bike and rode it like that for the first year. During spring checkup for the next riding season I pulled the tubes to check the oil level and found NO OIL AT ALL....yep, a great job done by the dealer on this one ! >:(
When I turned the tubes upside down just a few drops of oil came out. *#^&*% me off, let me tell you. If the dealer had not been so far away I would have made the trip to crawl all over his head for this total screw up. No wonder the thing did not work well. :(
Apparently it is normal for the bike to be shipped without oil, depending on the dealer to service the forks before releasing to the customer.

The ride quality during the first year without oil in the forks was rather harsh; it did move but offered little smoothing effect; surprisingly there was not much of any pogo effect.

After a thorough cleaning and actually having oil in the forks, it is amazing how much better they work. ;)
I used 20 wt Amsoil fork oil and was rewarded with a very nice controlled ride. It really smoothed out the ride and the control in cornering was sooo much improved. :)
I was surprised at how well the econo forks worked.

So, I would suggest that you check to see if there is any oil in the forks first. If yes, then check for proper level and if not then service according to the instructions.

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by flcruzr on 12/13/08 at 14:12:13

Lancer: Thanks for the info... Now I need to know how to check the fork oil??? :-?

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 12/13/08 at 15:40:15

Well, Dang, I would have never thought the thing would even be rideable w/o oil in the forks.

Title: Re: Front Shocks
Post by verslagen1 on 12/13/08 at 15:49:57

313B3425222D25570 wrote:

Lancer: Thanks for the info... Now I need to know how to check the fork oil??? :-?

I recently changed the oil in my forks, with the cap off, the pretension tube out, fork on the ground, the oil comes to about 1/2" below the top of the spring.
If you went that far to check it, you might as well change it too.