How forked is your fork?

[Rock Guy]

I love having my suspension run perfectly smooth on my bike, that pretty much goes for everything else on my bike as well. But I must say that the cost of keeping things that way is prohibitively expensive. I do oil change services on my fork and shock myself, but as soon as it gets time to have a damper service done I need to take out a 2nd mortgage on my house. 

 

I just find it hard to believe we are paying fair prices for servicing consumables in SA.

[Grease_Monkey]

Running your fork to the ground with the plan to replace the whole thing, what a waste, you don't really deserve a suspension fork, rather ride a rigid... Just joking, but you get my point.

 

Excatly - no point in buying a brand new Pike RCT3 if it is going to give you no performance than a rigid.

[Odinson]

If you have at least 8 digits and a partially functioning cerebellum, you can do your own lower leg service on your fork and an air can service on your shock. There is no reason to pay someone close to R1k to service your R5k fork. 

 

The only thing I don't service is the damper (Charger) and my Vivid Air shock. The Vivid requires a number of proprietary tools to service and is about as easy to service as it is to figure out why your wife is mad at you. 

[MintSauce]

Problem is that most people do not do the 50hr service, which is quick and should cost in the region of R650-R850.

 

 

The 180000km service on my 2014, modern and fairly highly advanced turbo-diesel delivery vehicle was recently completed. The labour component cost R1300. The per hour rate is somewhere around R600.

 

After adjusting my forks travel internally once after buying it, I would guess a lowers service should take me about 15-20 minutes. A pro mechanic probably around 10mins.

[Tankman]

ok so at Tankman's mid range that is R750 every 2 months = R4500 every year = a new fork every 3 years.

 

Not slating you Tankman - I know you guys need to make a living and a profit.

 

Seriously - less than 90% of bike riders service their forks once a year, or less.

 

Your sum does look quite different then.

 

Do yourself a favour and get a quote on a new Fox fork, if you can get them at R4500, I will take 20 ... send the invoice! 

[MTBeer]

Seriously - less than 90% of bike riders service their forks once a year, or less.

 

Your sum does look quite different then.

 

Do yourself a favour and get a quote on a new Fox fork, if you can get them at R4500, I will take 20 ... send the invoice! 

My comment was based on the recommended service interval, not what 90% of riders do, so my sums are just fine.

 

I think your maths might be more screwed up than that dodgy fork you posted earlier. I said R4500 every year for servicing and a new fork every 3 years so that = R13500 for the fork. (R4500 x 3)

[GrahamS2]

If you have at least 8 digits and a partially functioning cerebellum, you can do your own lower leg service on your fork and an air can service on your shock. There is no reason to pay someone close to R1k to service your R5k fork. 

 

The only thing I don't service is the damper (Charger) and my Vivid Air shock. The Vivid requires a number of proprietary tools to service and is about as easy to service as it is to figure out why your wife is mad at you. 

The damper is easier than the wiper seals. Full rebuild on my Revelation cost me less than R450 and took me 1.5 hours. Next time will take even less. Purchased the rebuild kit and consumables on eBay. Youtube has many step-by-step instruction videos to follow.

[RexFuzzle]

This seems relevant... 

[T-Bob]

Yup they are a pricey thing to get serviced but in relationship to to alot of the cost/s of the bikes it's not so bad. No point not serving and running your fork into the ground because realistically for 70% of the time then it'll be a forked fork you're running. 

I tend to pay about R1200 for a full fork and R800 odd for a rear can. Just had a my guys look at my Monarch rear can after a year and all it needed was a lube. Pretty sweet. 

 

My fork on the other hand was a mess, no compression, dirty and needed the works. What I got back was amazing. What a lot of people forget is the actual service kits aren't cheap and make up a big part of the cost. Working the air out of a pike takes a lot of time etc. 

So what would you think is a good hourly rate for a person to work on a fork? And what is your hourly rate? Would you like an intern working on it for cheaper?

That's and how good it rides after is how I work out if it's good deal.

 

[Thermophage]

This is more a general question so please don't roast me Tank. But why on earth are the services so expensive?

 

I got a quote some time ago (earlier this year sometime) to have my Manitou Minute serviced (120mm travel). Estimated cost somewhere between R1800.00 and R2700.00 depending on the state of things once it is opened. Now to have this done once a year is insane!! I rather opted to ride until it is seven versions of forked and just replace it every 3 years. Cheaper than servicing it for that time...

lol who was trying to rip you a new one?

[Odinson]

I tend to pay about R1200 for a full fork and R800 odd for a rear can. Just had a my guys look at my Monarch rear can after a year and all it needed was a lube. Pretty sweet. 

 

So you paid R800 for some oil in your shock? Don't sound so sweet to me. 

[Mongoose!]

There is no reason to pay someone close to R1k to service your R5k fork. 

 

[Tankman]

My comment was based on the recommended service interval, not what 90% of riders do, so my sums are just fine.

 

I think your maths might be more screwed up than that dodgy fork you posted earlier. I said R4500 every year for servicing and a new fork every 3 years so that = R13500 for the fork. (R4500 x 3)

Well I work with the 90% in reality, not based on recommendations.

 

There is a handfull of pro's suspension that I service probably around 6 times per year, depending on thier season.

 

The rest, once a year but mostly longer. The norm seems to be closer to "Oh, it stopped working, can you fix it?"

 

Yea, you should have started fixing it 3 years ago!

[MTBeer]

Well I work with the 90% in reality, not based on recommendations.

 

There is a handfull of pro's suspension that I service probably around 6 times per year, depending on thier season.

 

The rest, once a year but mostly longer. The norm seems to be closer to "Oh, it stopped working, can you fix it?"

 

Yea, you should have started fixing it 3 years ago!

ok, so what is your recommended service interval on a fork?

[Letum911]

All valid points, for me the fork has not been serviced in the last 2 years, but it has only started working in the last 8 months, prior to that it was only standing in the store room at my dad's place.

 

 

lol who was trying to rip you a new one?

 

A local company in Pta/Centurion who wanted to send the fork off to Cpt to have it serviced.

 

*PS this is one of the main reason's I went rigid on my SS.

[Tankman]

 

So what would you think is a good hourly rate for a person to work on a fork? And what is your hourly rate? Would you like an intern working on it for cheaper?

 

 

Great question, I am all ears!