Fork Service Advice.

[Alastair_S1D]

Hey guys. Just need some quick input. I am busy servicing my Manitou Markhor by myself. I have changed travel from 100 to 120.

Before the service I had an issue that my fork was not using all it's travel. It was getting about 60mm before "bottoming out" but there was still lots of stanchion remaining. Sag all set correctly. I read that too much oil in the damper leg can cause that and so putting a bit less than what Manitou recommends is beneficial. In the case of 120mm I've read that the fluid should be around 100mm from the top of the crown/stanchion vs 97mm as recommended by Manitou. Anyone else experienced this? I'm using motul Fork Oil  Expert 5wt as damper fluid. 

 

And this also leads me to my next question. Is should we be following the service guidelines as gospel. Because they recommend using 15ml per leg of 5w-40 semi-bath oil. That seems quite low. When I cracked the fork open and drained it, barely anything came out. I want to make sure this fork is well lubricated and functioning as good as it can. Can I add more semi-bath fluid to the lower assembly? Maybe 20-25ml per leg? Would there be any disadvantage to that? I'm using Motul 7100 5w-40 fully synthetic as the Semi-bath oil. 

[Alastair_S1D]

This is the first time I am servicing my fork. Before it had been done by a shop. 

[DieselnDust]

Adding more oil will take up more space and will increase the air pressure under the wiper seal when you bottom out the fork. This can dislodge the wiper seal over time. The solution is to service the lowers more regularly to clean and top up the lower leg lubricating oil.

[droo]

Stick to what the manual suggests. The damper will ingest oil from the lowers over time and if left too long this will cause the loss of travel that D&D has described.

Also note that Manitou's service instructions state that oil height must be measured with the lowers fitted and the air spring inflated, which will affect the measurement a bit.

Once you've set the height and closed everything up, release all the air from the spring and check that you're getting full travel. If not, consider adjusting the oil level.