Proper Fork air pressure

well squirrelman told me to go buy the manual for my bike. I probably should. But not even the manual has as much info on it as this forum. I am curious to know what the proper air pressure is for an 86 700 f2. I know that some things are subject to personal preference. However I do not want alot of dive in the front end when braking and I dont want to feel every pebble I ride over. What would be a good psi?

 

Answer - 0psi

Adding air pressure to the forks is a bad idea. If you find the fork springs to be too weak (what are your sag numbers?) then you should upgrade to a set that better matches your weight. After that if you still have trouble with bottoming then you should add fluid in 5-10mm increments until the bottoming goes away. Upgrading the valving also helps too.

 

Thank you, I beleive there is @ 12 psi in the forks but will release that asap.

 

if you do "experiment" with air, use a hand or foot-operated bicycle pump only to add.

max suggested air is 6psi, which is too low for most gagues to measure accurately.

if you are heavier than about 190 lbs, try air between 3-5psi.
usually adding air just blows fork oil past the seals.......

 

Well , I released any air in the forks and pushed on the bars w the fr brake on, while sitting on the bike, and they didnt bottom out and came right back to original place so I think thell be O.K.

 

Hey V4Dan,
Way back when, I had an '86 Shadow. I ran 6 psi. in the forks. So, I agree with squirrelman. Hope that helps.

Mac

 

Run 0psi and change your fork fluid to some real fork oil, not the atf stuff that came in it. And that leads to the next question, has it ever been changed? You can do a whole lot to the front end just by changing the spring preload and fork fluid weight.

 

I found with my 80's V-4s that running air in the forks was a recipe for blown fork seals at a young age.

Factory spec is 0-7 PSI, use a bicycle pump, NOT THE GARAGE AIR, and I even bought a special low pressure gauge that read only from 0-10 PSI just for that purpose. Still, fork seals would not last as long.

I finally gave up on the air. As Jamie mentioned, get front springs that are correct for your weight. And set the oil level/weight accordingly.

Sonic Springs makes affordable replacement fork springs for just about anything.

http://www.sonicsprings.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=25&osCsid=8cfd9735ccfc611da2d12e4b79d10781

 

Thank you all, I probably sound like a newbie, but I see some of you are senior members, It is from the knowledge of Yoda did Luke Skywalker Rise!!!!

Thanks.