Suspension fork old but unused, will it be ok to use?

[Frank Stross]

Hello, I have just aquired a bike that has done less than 50 miles since new in 2004. It was put in storage and never used. The forks are Marzocchi bomber freeride 130 mm travel and have an 03 written near the bottom which I assume is year of manufacture. My concern is will these forks be ok to use given that they have stood doing nothing for 15 years. Will the oil still be good or need replacing. When first compressed they were a bit stiff and squeakey but after working the fork a few times and a squirt of silicone to the stantions this went away. To me they appear to work ok but I am not very familiar with suspension forks. I have not yet ridden the bike in case I do some harm.

Also I see people's bike caves on this site and a lot of bikes stored vertical against walls. I take it this is the best storage solution for space saving but does this benefit the suspension forks by allowing the oil to remain on the upper seals preventing them from drying out?

 

[RickTheUncivil]

lots of advice out there, perhaps some mixed, an the upside-down fork thing.

coil/oil fork isnt it? so no air chambers etc to worry about. easy peasy. My views:
old oil probably bad, its easy to change so doing that should be no problem.
old seals probably shot, might need changing but see if they leak (hand em upside down) as if they are fine, jsut leave them. Again, simple enough job.

but fundamentally a new fork should be fine to use even if it aint new.

 

[davidj]

Re:

Lower leg oil change and good to go. Marzocchi forks are renowned for their ability to perform despite neglect. 20 minute job for a complete novice, you tube is your friend.

 

[Duxuk]

I had a bomber for 15 years and never laid a finger on it in all that time. The damping seemed to work perfectly and it had no play. They might last forever!

 

[valve bouncer]

I bought two NOS circa 2000 Marzocchis in recent years. Both times I changed the oil as a matter of course but on both forks the old oil came out looking clean and the seals on both were in excellent condition.

 

[Frank Stross]

Re:

Ok, I contacted one of my LBS and they declined to service the forks due to their age and that if parts were needed to be replaced they were not kept in stock which I thought was fair. Given that the forks are as new except for their age I am assuming they will not need any parts replacing but would benefit from an oil change. I am now going to have a go at this myself but am not familiar with fork dismantling and have been unable to find the correct service manual for this fork online. Would the following proceedure be correct to simply change the oil. 1) remove topcaps and withdraw springs from both legs. 2) undo bolts at bottom of lower legs and remove lowers. 3) pour out old oil remove lowers legs and clean. 4) reassemble lowers and refit bottom bolts. 5) reinsert springs then compress fork then fill with oil to 50 mm from top. 6) refit top caps. 7) go and ride bike.
Or can I change oil without removing the lowers and pour oil out from top caps? Also is it a good idea to use Judy butter or not?
I have the correct weight oil 7.5 wt and I also have Judy butter.
Any help appreciated.

 

[davidj]

Re:

Your plan looks fine, it really is easy, especially with Bombers. It is lubrication oil so you do not need to get anal over the spec, just something close. Plus if you don't like the outcome due to too heavy/light an oil you can just do them again .

I use brake and clutch cleaner as a degreaser, cheap from euro car parts.

I personally wouldn't use Judy butter on Bombers. Just wipe the seals with oil before reassembly.

 

[dyna-ti]

On a bomber such as that, and to be honest pretty much any fork, the seals are there to stop the oil/lube getting out, so they always would be dry.
Most as in the case of the fork youve mentioned have an inner seal, which is the main seal keeping the oil in, and an outer or dust seal, which only keeps the dust out, but does nothing to keep the oil in, should the inner seal fail or wear out.

As the internals are normally in use bathed in oil, it is reasonable to suggest that sitting in one area the oil would drain to its lowest point.
However, the oil isnt going to go solid or anything like that and simply turning the fork over to rest on its steerer, then pumped a few times will get the internals bathed in the oil once again.
Repeat that a few times and thats pretty much all there is to it.

If you really really want to open them up to change the oil, which might have been clean prior to storage, theres very little you can improve upon by doing so.

There are vids on bombers and 03 isnt that old compared to many things here, so the manuals will be available, you just need to correctly identify the forks name and model.