05' Z1 troubles

[Sethius]

hey guys, ive got some 2005 z1 fr 3's on my dbr pro, but for ages now, no matter what've i done they havent been using their travel. today i decided to see what was going on. The forks have air pressure and ive tried various settings includin the 30/7 psi setting that the book recommended for my weight. but for some reason im only get 2.5-3" with my entire body weight on them, even boucing on them im gettin around 2.5-3" aswell. (just below 3" after full on having a go)

so im not quiet sure what can be wrong with them? could one of the cartidges or something be damaged? they arent making any wierd sounds .bottom out etc.

im 71kgs if thats any help, and the oil n springs are stock.

[Martin.au]

Too much oil perhaps? That is a common issue if they haven't had an oil change since purchase.

[-DAvo]

just a wonder, does the air pressure settings have a zero setting?

generally in the marzocchi forks ive ridden (05 66rc, 05 z1fr1, and various drop offs) i found them to feel like utter poopoo with any sort of air in them, for that reason i ran the former 2 forks with zero air pressure and i was getting use of the whole range of travel.

just an idea.

if not maybe as mentioned above you may have a bit too much oil in your forks.

good luck with it buddy

Dave

[Sethius]

yea ive tried running no air at all, (not riden dont want risk to screw anything). They still dont use any additional travel though..

too much oil? how does the usage of the fork change the amount of oil needed? or is it a case of just too much to start with? ive had the fork for about a year now and its only the last month or 2 that ive noticed this happening.

[vando]

it might be time for a service/rebuild.After about a year of hard riding you would almost expect something like that to happen. Not too hard,in fact if you do it yourself you can learn how everything on the fork works so you can diagnose problems before they cause damage, in the future.

[Sethius]

hmm yea.. ill take them down to work and see if we can figure out whats wrong with them down there....might even take out that 20mm spacer while we're at it...

[Cletus]

my fr3's are simmillar, with the reccommended air pressure im only getting about 2.5/3 inches of travel out of my fork but if i release all the air my fork is just way too soft and springy.
if ive got any air at all in my fork it only use's the 2.5 inches of travel but with no air i get the full lenth of travel but its just way to soft.
do you think i need to release some of the oil and then pump up to the reccommended pressure to get my fork working properly? mine is only about a month old.

[bradh]

my fr3's are simmillar, with the reccommended air pressure im only getting about 2.5/3 inches of travel out of my fork but if i release all the air my fork is just way too soft and springy.
if ive got any air at all in my fork it only use's the 2.5 inches of travel but with no air i get the full lenth of travel but its just way to soft.
do you think i need to release some of the oil and then pump up to the reccommended pressure to get my fork working properly? mine is only about a month old.Your first option would probably be to try a slightly heavier oil in them, and zero air preload. If that doesn't get the feel you're after, maybe a heavier spring in one or both legs is necessary.

[Martin.au]

Too much oil basically means the forks go a through a certain amount of travel and then stop because the oil is now being compressed and has nowhere else to go. A lot of Marzocchi forks come stock with too much oil. Get them serviced, or at least check the oil level and you'll probably get full travel.