BONES BACON ON SERVICING & MAINTAINING SUSPENSION
Avery common question I get from both support riders and customers is, “How often should I service my suspension?” The question sounds
like it should be simple to answer, but many things have
to be taken into consideration.
Let’s start with a common misconception. A rider tells
me his bike just isn’t handling well anymore. I immediately ask him how long it has been since he’s had his
suspension serviced. He informs me that he changes
his oil himself all the time. Well, in the old days, changing the oil would be enough to get the job done. Not
anymore! Today, the oil that comes in modern bikes
and is used by most reputable suspension shops is very
high quality and, to the surprise of many, is usually the
last thing that wears out. Instead, the metal shims get
fatigued, or the piston bands degrade, or the O-rings
wear out, and the pressure seals in the fork start leaking (preventing the cartridge from staying pressurized).
When you add in the normal wear and tear on the seals
and bushings, there are a lot of things other than oil that
have been gradually going wrong with your suspension
as you race with it. Think of it this way: if you smoked
your clutch plates, just changing the engine oil isn’t
going to bring the plates back to life. When parts wear
out, you need to replace them. And unless you’re willing
to invest in oil, nitrogen and an inventory of shims, seals
and bushings and other parts, you are better off sending
your suspension to a shop that has a good track record
of working with and tuning suspension. They will have
all the parts that your forks need in stock and the
know-how to recognize what’s worn out. Although you
will have to pay for this service, as opposed to doing it
yourself, it will be money well-spent.
Now, when should you send your suspension components to an established shop to get them serviced? There
is no length of time that is set in stone. For example, when
I would pull Ryan Villopoto’s suspension apart at 15 hours,
I would literally have to throw everything inside away. It
was hammered. On the other hand, at 15 hours, Christophe
Pourcel’s suspension looked like it had hardly been ridden.
It’s obvious that how much your suspension wears varies
with your riding style, soil type and track conditions. If you
ride hard like Ryan Villopoto, you will need a shorter
maintenance interval than a rider with a smooth style
like Christophe Pourcel. Plus, sand tracks are harder on
suspension than hard-packed tracks due to higher internal
temperatures reached on the sand tracks.
I service our team’s practice bike’s suspension at anywhere from 10 to 15 hours. This depends on which rider it
is and whether it’s set up for Supercross or motocross. I
tell our race mechanics to use an hour meter to keep track
of how much time is on the suspension so they can send
it to me at the limit. But, you most likely don’t have a
full-time suspension technician looking out for your bike
or a mechanic to keep track of the hours on it. But,
you still need to develop a pro-level strategy for your
suspension needs.
First, you have to know how worn your suspension is
and how long it is taking for this to happen. An hour meter
will tell you how many hours are on both your engine and
your suspension. Second, to establish the suspension performance, you need to look for clues. Maybe your suspension
just doesn’t feel right, you keep having to go stiffer and
slower with the adjusters, or the adjusters have become
less effective. Third, take all this into consideration and ask
your suspension technician to look closely at how worn all
the parts of your forks or shock are after servicing. This
will help you create a time line for service that suits both
your riding style and the type of riding you do.
Let’s go over one final problem that pops up a lot. If you
just got your suspension back from getting it serviced and
a rock nicks your fork tube, the nick will most likely tear
the fork seal and the seal will leak like a sieve. Even
brand-new forks can be damaged by a wayward rock. If
you feel that you are mechanically inclined, you can easily
change the fork seals yourself and repair the nick by
following your bike’s service manual instructions. It’s not
a hard job and only requires a small investment in special
tools and oil. Also, a lot of suspension shops offer good
deals on changing fork seals, repairing nicked tubes and
resetting the oil, because they don’t have to take the fork
completely apart to accomplish this.
Just as the piston and rings inside your bike’s engine
wear out, the piston and rings in your forks and shock
have a limited lifespan. Keeping everything fresh will
result in your bike’s performance being more consistent
and you having more fun. ❏
Jim “Bones” Bacon has tuned the suspension of
the biggest names in motocross, including Jeremy
McGrath, Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto. If you
have a suspension question, send it to
mxa@hi-torque.com.
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