YSS shock opinions?

[maviczap]

Or a bit closer to you NTECUK

http://www.mctsuspension.com/Home.html

[NTECUK]

It's a F3 old school bike.
It's lost the Gasses. But fair dues as it's a 1987 bike. (but still fun and if you pump up the damper it's got surprisingly good road handling)

[maviczap]

Pretty sure MCT or one of the other companies will be able to rebuild it

[Jayneflakes]

We tried to get the original shocks on the ZRX rebuilt, but it proved too difficult to do them and in the end we have decided to just replace them. The bike is only a 97 model, so you would not think that the shocks would be that knackered, but there you go.

[Bibio]

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

We tried to get the original shocks on the ZRX rebuilt, but it proved too difficult to do them and in the end we have decided to just replace them. The bike is only a 97 model, so you would not think that the shocks would be that knackered, but there you go.

its funny in a kind of way. you would not go from 1997 with the same engine oil in your bike but people dont even think about servicing the suspension or even replacing brake fluid (i jest not, i have seen brake fluid like treacle).

after 10k the oil in your forks/shocks is fubar just like it would be in your engine. most people just see a bill for £100 to service their shock and think ermmm no.

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by Bibio

its funny in a kind of way. you would not go from 1997 with the same engine oil in your bike but people dont even think about servicing the suspension or even replacing brake fluid (i jest not, i have seen brake fluid like treacle).

after 10k the oil in your forks/shocks is fubar just like it would be in your engine. most people just see a bill for £100 to service their shock and think ermmm no.

Sadly the shocks were not user servicable and even who we sent them to struggled with them and in the end gave up. I totally agree about the oil though, the difference in performance between a well serviced fork and one left for years is startling. When I was a mountain bike racer, my Marzocchi fork used to really drop in performance if the oil was not regularly changed. Only once did I have to change the bushes, but every six months or so, the fork oil was refreshed and it made them feel like new. The contamination by tiny bits getting past the seals or just general wear through the damper made the oil turn to gloop.

When I changed the oil in my SV forks, they felt so supple and lovely, not at all like the brick sprung nasties I had before. The sludge that came out looked like crude oil and smelled nasty. What went in was bright pink and smelled lovely. When I finally come to sell those forks, the internals will be in great condition because they have been cared for.

With the new YSS shocks that we now have, they are fully servicable and we can have them rebuilt and filled with fresh oil as often as we like. I just hope that she looks after them and not just bolts them on and leaves them to perish. Oh well, happy days.

[Jayneflakes]

New shocks fitted and they are pretty cool.



Not bad for cheap shocks from Thailand.

Oh I have also painted up that rear rack/grab rail so it does at least look a bit better.

Originally Posted by Bibio

after 10k the oil in your forks/shocks is fubar just like it would be in your engine. most people just see a bill for £100 to service their shock and think ermmm no.

My maintenance manual says to inspect the forks and shock at 7,500 mile/one year intervals. It doesn't say anything about replacing the oil.
Compared to what your engine oil does, suspension oil is very lightly stressed.
It does eventually go away, even if you never get leaks, or seeps or weeps from your seals. It gets wiped past on the pistons as they move. The air spring gets lighter and the damping gets dodgy. Things get dirty in there too. But, if the damping is still OK, I run suspension oil for 20-30,000 miles, and I've not seen wear on the bushings, so I'm going to keep doing just that.

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

When I changed the oil in my SV forks, they felt so supple and lovely, not at all like the brick sprung nasties I had before. The sludge that came out looked like crude oil and smelled nasty. What went in was bright pink and smelled lovely. When I finally come to sell those forks, the internals will be in great condition because they have been cared for.

Leaving your fork oil in until it looked like crude oil wasn't exactly caring for the forks. How many years/miles was it in there?

Originally Posted by wideguy

Leaving your fork oil in until it looked like crude oil wasn't exactly caring for the forks. How many years/miles was it in there?

I was thinking about good fork maintenance. Mostly it consists of keeping the pistons clean, removing bugs and dirt and dust. Depending on where you ride, wiping them after every ride with an oily rag is good idea. At east look at them to see if they need it. Also depending on where you ride, pulling up the dust covers every season and cleaning out on top of the seals, then applying some waterproof grease and re-seating the dust seals is a good idea too. If you keep the pistons clean and dirt away from the seals, the seals last a very long time, keeping the oil in (and clean).