help with Marzocchi Bomber Z2

[SWIFTYOHNO]

Having recently started to use my 1997 Kona Kula fitted with Z2's a fair bit again I put the forks in for a service and seal change as they were leaking.

Since getting them back from the shop they have felt very stiff and I am getting nowhere near the 70mm of travel, at a push maybe 30mm.

The shop has had them back a couple of times to try and sort them out but no real difference and don't seem very clued up on older forks despite why they told me initially and quite frankly I have lost confidence in them.

I suspect they have the wrong oil and/or wrong level of oil in the forks, maybe something else as well with refitting everything.

I am also having troubles setting up the sag as no matter how much preload I dial in it makes no difference. Manual suggests 7mm -15mm, mine sticks at 22mm no matter how much preload I dial in.

Now, having put a little weight on as I have got older the sag issue I am guessing may be the wrong spring in the fork for my weight, to start with. Springs fitted as standard is Medium which is for riders 145Ibs to 180Ibs I now weight 195 Ibs.

So I am thinking that I should maybe have the springs changed to the heavy option for riders 180Ibs to 220Ibs and start over?

Any thoughts appreciated plea guys.

In light of the spring/sag issue ,am I being unfair to the shop even though they have never asked me about my weight or had any chat with me about possibly changing to heavier springs?

I have found a place fairly close to me that will undertake this work (Windwave in Gosport Hampshire) if I get the forks off and send them to them, as I am reluctant to go back to the shop that did the original work.
Any knowledge of Windwave anybody please. I am in Worthing.

 

[Gruff]

Re:

Check with them first to see if the have the springs as last time i was after some firm ones all they had was extra soft.
I would check the oil height and weight. It's dead simple i used motorbike fork oil available from any motor factors/ Halfords.
I have the user and service manuals in PDF so if you PM me your email address i'll send them over.

 

[SWIFTYOHNO]

Re:

Cheers Gruff you have a pm.

 

[Rob H]

Windwave are the UK importer for Marzocchi, I've used them a couple of times in the past and their service has always been first class.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Manuals are in the gallery&archive including tech tuning manuals.
Plenty of service threads on the forum. Windwave as mentioned are the importers and know what they are doing.

They are simple forks to work on and you could do it yourself. But if the springs are wrong then thats the place to start.

As there are one or two threads running on this at the moment
They are all serviced a bit like this
http://marzocchiworkshop.blogspot.co.uk ... eries.html

 

[datmony]

Re:

Sounds to me like the put too much oil in. These shocks are pretty simple to service yourself with some basic mechanical knowledge. Grab the PDF and tear that bad boy apart and see what's what.

 

[SWIFTYOHNO]

Well I've stripped and rebuilt the gearbox on a 40 year old Landrover and it is still running after seven years so I guess I might just give them a try.

 

[datmony]

Re:

With that level of mechanical ability you will be more than fine, these are super easy. Everything you describe tells me too much oil was put in them and it is easy to do if you don't follow directions.

 

[SWIFTYOHNO]

Re:

Off for a weeks holiday tomorrow so will tackle them when I get back and let you have an update.

Thanks for the advice all.

 

[The History Man]

Just ordered all the necessary for my Z2s and am waiting to see how you get on and now you go away for a week.

How thoughtless

May strike out alone at the weekend if it all arrives.