MK1 Mert lawill front suspension advise .....

[marksmini]

MK1 Mert lawill front suspension. can anyone tell me about the inside of the damper?

Hello all, not long signed up here but have been reading for awhile now.
after buying deelam's Bike off him ( Gary Fisher RS-1) i decided once home to do what i normally do and strip it down to have a closer look.

after losing the rubber air valve in the grass and spending about 2 hours on my hands and knees picking through the grass if finally found it. all the air pressure came out of the front damper unit and what looked like a heavy spray of oil (when i say out i mean out of the valve for adjustment.)

now with the old rubber valve back in and back up to pressure the suspension doesn't seem to be holding well.
looking at it ive nackard up the valve seal so will be after a new one of them very very soon.
but what i was interested in was this spray of what tastes and feels like a fine grade of oil.

can anyone tell me more about how they work inside eg with a air and fluid mix? or a diafram? i am unsure and what to make sure i haven't popped any seals inside before i carry out replacement of the new air valve

thanks

Mark

p.s hello retro forum, lovely site!

 

[Corduroyboy]

what i was interested in was this spray of what tastes and feels like a fine grade of oil.

I hope you don't test all fluids in this way! :shock: :?

 

[marksmini]

nothing like getting in there i say...
taste any fluids once......
well most fluids....

anyway lol.. back to my question before we divert off topic

 

[marksmini]

anyone? :roll:

even a link for me t read will do, ive searched everywhere i can think possible so if you can advise or feed me any information it would be much appreachited (sorry for poor spelling)

 

[marksmini]

the list is growing...

any idea what sort of pressure should be in the front?

 

[FRED101]

ten days ago I thought i should buy this bike, i should sell my tazmon project, i should sell it, yes and i'll buy the rs1, i will love it, care for it. but i wasn't home last week and now i regret it even more.
Please stop the torture, leave it in expert hands and let us believe you're not like the neighbour's kid in toy story, give this toy the good home it deserves. keep us posted and tell us when it feels better, tell us if it's still alive! please!!

 

[marksmini]

tell us if it's still alive! please!!

it is? o please im only asking for knowledge on the forks... its only the valve air seal which is worn, once replaced there will be no problem its just replacing the seal is the problem, as in locating one, also i wanted to understand the forks more, the history, other types on the market etc, that's all.
I ain't NO kid in a sweet store that's for sure! :?

 

[FairfaxPat]

MERT LAWWILL fork

I helped Mert develop that fork and I named it, also. If I remember correctly, there was about 60cc of 5 weight motorcycle fork oil inside it and around 70 pounds air pressure.

 

[elite504]

Wow- cool from fairfax pat!
As far as I can see, the unit uses the same risse damper arrangement as that on the reat of my Yeti ARC AS/LT, making it a bike with 'awkward' suspension front and rear. Yup, 5w in the front, I run mine at 80psi, and its a shim stack arrangement. The o-rings can leak, and the big one around the screw cap would be favourite. At a guess it was coming apart to try and cure a leak, symbolised by it becoming soft over a day or two. Fairly straightforward to disassemble and repair, but a special tool required to hold the piston in order to split the shim stack. As it is though, the damping is pretty good, and doensn't need messing with. as with all air stff- De-pressurise before undoing anything! Or one-eyed-ness will result!

 

[marksmini]

Re: MERT LAWWILL fork

I helped Mert develop that fork and I named it, also. If I remember correctly, there was about 60cc of 5 weight motorcycle fork oil inside it and around 70 pounds air pressure.

Thats helped me out no end!!!

all up and working again, all it needed was a top up of oil (i changed all the oil) pumped back up and works a dream now.

thank you.
also its very easy to strip one of theses MK1 dampers down for inspection, found it no problem at all.

thanks again

Mark