-Alex2- profile

Glyn O'Brien.

One of the few guys who cans away from his forward foot.

Emm-eye-double-enn-double-ae-arr, Minnaar. Gotta love that '03 World Champion's jersey, I hope he gets it again soon!

Yeah, like the American voting population!

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: -Alex2-

That was just directed at Syncro, who seems to be a troll.

Maybe a bit, but I'm perplexed at the nature of this thread and even you have to admit how your information/posts and the direction of this thread (set by you) are all over the map.  Besides a general curiosity about service intervals it seems like you're trying to equate a problematic experience with one fork, an air sprung fork, with basically all forks while admittedly not knowing the difference or caring about how well your fork is performing. Then on top of that your're trying to compare service intervals for a fork(s) that may get ridden 2-3 times per year with riders who are probably out 2-3 times per week or month at the very least.  Basing a service interval off of time frame vs actual use is as bad as recommending oil changes in a car based on the amount of time that goes by vs km's driven. 

IMO you would have been better off saying "Hey guys, I've got a problem with my Boxxer..." and then given enough details so people could actually help you. However, what you basically  did is create a poll about service intervals based on your riding experience (which doesn't really match up with everyone else's btw) and then complain about fork servicing while saying hey, fix my fork. And one other thing that doesn't seem clear is if you have all these forks bolted to different bikes or if you're swapping out forks between one or two bikes. 

You asked heckler why new forks need constant service and the answer is they don't. Higher performance level forks do need regular service, but it depends on how often you're riding and the conditions you're riding in. Ride once a month and you could probably service a fork every 2-3 years. The issue with your Boxxer seems to be more than a simple service, it's probably worth sending it out and telling them in detail what's going on with the fork.

Pay attention, Syncro. I said that the oil in the top left leg that's related to air loss according to the manual, is in an area that doesn't seem to have any moving parts. So why would it matter whether the fork is being ridden or not?

The Boxxer doesn't hold as much oil as older forks. Problem solved.

Posted by: Brother-Lu

Forks have literally no oil in them now compared to 10 - 20 years ago.

Yeah, that's what I figured in a previous post. That explains it.

Posted by: heckler

My ‘99 Bomber Z1 BAM has never been serviced and still feels as good as when I got it in ‘02.

For realz.   I’m terrified of what the oil smells like so refuse to open it  

The rest of my forks get cleaned and lube oil changed at home every few months.   So easy, so cheap,  so worth it.

Any idea what changed in the last 20 years so forks need constant service now?

Posted by: Hepcat

Ol' Alex here has had a big first day on the board eh lol. No where to go but up...or out.

I haven't posted in about 9 years, so my post counter restarted. I have about 380 total.

Posted by: RAHrider

Posted by: -Alex2-

I used to ride regularly, asshole. Never did any maintenance back then either, never had any worn stanchions or air loss. And the 2007 Boxxer manual says to add a teaspoon of oil to the top of the left leg every so often to avoid air loss, not drain any old oil out. That means the oil in the top of the left leg is gone.

How do I lock this thread? This is pointless.

I don't think calling anyone asshole is necessary.

As for the topping up oil business, I think that was when seals kinda sucked and through use, oil would slowly creep out of the lowers along the stantions. A fork that is ridden 3 times a year shouldnt lose oil. I also may be misunderstanding what you meant.

That was just directed at Syncro, who seems to be a troll.

Are there better seals available now? The oil mentioned in the manual directly relating to air loss goes into the top of the left leg, which if I'm not mistaken is a cavity surrounded by non-moving parts, so as far as I can tell, the riding time shouldn't make a difference.

Posted by: thaaad

Did it do it before you had the stanchion replaced?

Without opening it I think I'm out of ideas though to be honest.

It did it once before, and once after I had the stanchion replaced.

No worries, much appreciated.

It's not the U-Turn Boxxer, although I did have that problem with my 2006 Pike Air U-Turn, which is why I eventually sold that. The Boxxer is a Solo Air, so positive and negative get inflated simultaneously, and the air loss happened a year after inflation.

Not trying to be negative. I appreciate your spitballing.

One other thing that might be relevant was that I did get stanchion wear on this Boxxer once and had to have the stanchion replaced, even though the fork got serviced once a year. Never had that happen on any other fork before even after 20 years with zero maintenance in the same conditions.

Posted by: thaaad

And this happens like clockwork every year?

The reason I ask, wonder if it's just coincidence / not specifically the seal and there's something else happening.

(Examples - you're flexing / twisting the fork and the air piston is on an angle for a split second causing air bypass, or there is damage super high on the stanchion and you don't encounter it until you take a big hit and then it leaks, maybe the oil in the air side gets tacky and doesn't prevent the leaking that you mentioned from the manual, something like that)

I'm not very familiar with the RS line so it's also possible there are issues with that seal or something.

Without seeing / disassembling the fork I might not be able to help. Fluid function with a much detail as you can give might be your best option.

It first happened roughly a year after I got it, but I can't remember the exact circumstances because it was so long ago, and then after that I always remembered to service it once a year until it became uneconomical because I wasn't able to ride much anymore. Then I stopped having it serviced, and sure enough, one day when I was riding a different bike and I let my friend borrow that bike, it let all its air out while we were cruising back home just on the road. I know that info isn't very helpful, but doesn't it still seem like it's just a higher maintenance fork than some of my 20 year old ones that have dealt with the same conditions and never had an issue?

Posted by: syncro

That should tell you that it’s not the seals that are the problem. 

Score one for having a qualified/experienced person do the maintenance on your gear.

It's only ever been serviced by Dunbar Cycles, roughly once a year until I gave up and just stuck to my more reliable older forks.

Posted by: thaaad

If you're legitimately riding it once or twice a year and it's consistently losing air on the same ride with new air seals then that strikes me that the air seals are not the problem.

Unless I'm not understand what you're saying which is entirely possible considering that the story is spread out over like 5 or 6 posts with new details in every post, and troubleshooting over the internet is a nightmare at best.

Okay, you do sound like you're being genuine. I'll try to be better at explaining.

The air seals are never new when they fail, they're around a year old, but it's the same result whether they've been ridden once or 100 times in that period.