Shock questions or confirmations

New to motorcycles, new to this board and Kawasaki. Have 1983 KZ550 F-1 Spectre. Son bought it for real cheap and gave it to his Dad. Now I know why he passed it on/up. Despite the patch work condition, I rather like the bike. Who knows it's my first motorcycle. Being old (the bike that is), it's great to learn on.

However I've been disatisfied with the ride. Armed with my trusty Clymer manual I began to check the air shocks. Front shocks hold air, but need to have pressure near 30 PSI, even slight bleeding drops the pressure to zero or near zero. Today when bleeding them, a black oily substance blew back out with the air.

The rear shocks are also air shocks, but they can't hold any air pressure greater than 2.2 PSI (great new digital gauge). That's not right.

I tightend the valve stems for both of the air fittings and this made no difference.

I suspect it's time for a fork seal replacement on the front shocks and probably replacements on the rear.

Does that sound correct to everyone?

Again the bike is old, lots of other cosmetic issues and tune up issues to deal with. I wonder just how much its worth to find OEM air shocks or just go with something else. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

A company called race tech does fork rebuilding and might be worth going to their website at www.rachtech.com also www.progressivesuspension.com , www.hygearsuspension.com , www.aftershocks-suspension.com and www.gpsuspension.com

This and many other forums for Kawasaki motorcycles are a wealth of information about the old bikes.

Another forum I advise at is www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum

IMHO you REALLY need suspension work. 30 PSI in the front is WAY over what you should be putting in there. Factory spec is between 5-8 PSI. The "black oily substance" blowing out the air valve is probably very contaminated fork oil. My manual is out in the garage and it's raining so I can't give you exact specs on fork oil but to make it short, a complete fork rebuild should be in your near future.

As to the rears, there are a number of options. ebay can be your friend here. You can find replacement air shocks there, or you can find new take-offs from a Vulcan or even from a Harley Sportster (these will require some mods to put on). I read somewhere that the shocks from a Vulcan 500 are a direct bolt on. New parts can also be had very easily. The best place to check for parts is www.z1enterprises.com . Very good prices, EXCELLENT service and very willing to offer good sound advice.

Again, IMHO a bike sprung as yours is should be addressed immediately. You are in a very unsafe riding condition.

I have an 84 KZ700 with a similar suspension. the max front air presure should not exceed 13 psi, over presurizing can blow the seals. I replaced the oil in mine and the old oil was black with contaminants you could try this first but it sounds like your front seals are blown. Once you replace your seals you need to get a hand pump with a gauge to presurize. I replaced my rears with progressive shocks from Z1enterprises and like them.