Adjusting air pressure in shocks..

I was just wondering how often those of you with adjustable shocks have to add air. I checked my front shocks on my '82 Spectre today and they were down to practically nothing after about 3 months of use. Is this normal or do I have a leak somewhere?

Normal for shocks that old. You might want to think about getting some aftermarket non-air shocks, I did and the change in the handling and ride was day and night. I knew it would help but I just didn't know how bad my old shocks were until I got new ones.

So that means new forks? What would work for this model, anyone know?

If you have bucket loads of money to spend, then Ohlins forks would make an excellent upgrade, I think they are a little over $10,000 for the nice ones

Progressive fork springs and new seals work for us normal people (~$100 total)

For those with the $$$, Ohlins rear shocks can be had for ~$2000 for the piggyback models, ~$250 for Progressive rear shocks.

Check the o-rings (ref# 92055A in attached pic) in the cross-over air tube, it sits right below the upper triple clamp on your bike.

I had a similar problem with my ZN forks leaking air. It turned out that the o-rings were way dry and had dirt in between them and the fork tubes, which in turn prevented them from sealing properly. :pinch:


Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2006/11/23 13:26

You should try to fix whatever is broke, but another solution is to get a spring kit with stiffer springs (25 y.o. springs are probably shot anyway). I use the springs from Works Performance and set the preload so I barelky have to use any air. We set up my buddy's bike so he could eliminate the air system entirely. It causes less "sticktion" on the fork seals and less stress on the seals so they don't blow out oil.


Their kits come with dual-rate springs and a pre-load spacer you cut to size.

Make sure the springs you get are about the same diameter as the ones you take out within about a millimeter, just to make sure you have the right kit.

Replace the oil while you're in there and make sure the level is exactly as it says in the manual.

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2006/11/23 18:14