fork seal replaced

[SlowOldGuy]

Maybe the damper rods were not installed correctly (by the PO) and that was keeping the forks from bottoming out.

If you think oil holds the bike up, then take out the spring and see what happens.  :-)

The tapered spindle will give you a hydraulic cushion at the bottom of travel, but that's not holding the bike up.

DavidR.

[Bozo]

Maybe the damper rods were not installed correctly (by the PO) and that was keeping the forks from bottoming out.

If you think oil holds the bike up, then take out the spring and see what happens.  :-)

The tapered spindle will give you a hydraulic cushion at the bottom of travel, but that's not holding the bike up.

DavidR.

I'm a Newby here so don't punish me if my answer is not to your liking. The dampener rods can be a real pain if not aligned correctly with the hole below and the forks just lock when pushed down, obviously if the forks have some bounce then this is not the problem.

The other issue is the thickness of oil 15-30W (engine oil?) combined with max setting which would cause a hydraulic lock with sudden movement. My forks run 12W fork oil is the hotter Western Australia climate with progressive springs (with spacers) and midway dampening.

Currently my bets are with the dampener rods.

[Mark Olson]

Maybe the damper rods were not installed correctly (by the PO) and that was keeping the forks from bottoming out.

If you think oil holds the bike up, then take out the spring and see what happens.  :-)

The tapered spindle will give you a hydraulic cushion at the bottom of travel, but that's not holding the bike up.

DavidR.

If you think the springs stop the forks from bottoming out ,take all the oil out and see what happens.

we all know springs hold the bike up , but the oil is what controls the travel of the forks up and down.

if the oil level is low you will bottom out even with brand new race tech springs going over speed bumps and curbs and such.

that is why the level of oil and weight is so important.

different for each rider.   the 120-130 mm is a starting point to be fine tuned to your riding style.

if you overfill the forks then they are stiff as hell and hydro-lock.

[andyb]

Sag is controlled by spring rate.  The rate at which you use the travel is set by the oil (or lack thereof).  Oil can prevent bottoming because of the intertia of the front end travelling down, it slows the travel and prevents it from overshooting the balance point (set by the spring and preload).  There's a big difference between sitting on a stand in the garage and measuring where the forks are (oil does nearly nothing in that situation, unless you're way overfull) and seeing how the suspension moves in a dynamic environment. 

A professional rider can likely tell the difference easily, but most people that I've talked to notice the effect of damping to a much greater degree.  Absolutely full forks (no air gap) will not be hydrolocked for long, as the seals will give out almost immediately!

Without looking it up (being lazy) I want to say stock oil spec'd is 10w for the FJ.  If the oil is more than a few years old, almost anything will be an improvement, as forks do ugly things to the fluid you put in them in short order.  Springs also wear, but at a much slower rate.

And yes, the damper rods are a right bastard to get installed properly.