Recumbent suspension fork oil damping advice

[Robert Johnstone]

Due to an unfortunate hanging the bike from the ceiling experiment some
oil has leaked from the forks of my HPVelotechnik Streetmachine GT. I
suspect that this oil wasn't from within the damping chamber, since the
forks seem to still work fine, but I'd like to service them now to check
that there is still sufficient oil in them and that the seals are OK.
Can anyone offer me advice on doing this?

I don't have a manual for the fork - I bought the bike second hand. The
fork in question is made by Ballistic, but isn't marked with a model
code. Here's a photo:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/RobertIJohnstone/Fork/photo?authkey=9NhlMy31pVw

How should I go about dismantling the fork? Is there a particular weight
(viscosity) of oil that I should use in the damper? Should I replace
anything that's not obviously broken - seals or bushings, for example.
Where can I get spares that will fit this old fork that must be
near-obsolete?

Bob

[Pob]

"Robert Johnstone" > wrote in message
...
> Due to an unfortunate hanging the bike from the ceiling experiment some
> oil has leaked from the forks of my HPVelotechnik Streetmachine GT. I
> suspect that this oil wasn't from within the damping chamber, since the
> forks seem to still work fine, but I'd like to service them now to check
> that there is still sufficient oil in them and that the seals are OK. Can
> anyone offer me advice on doing this?

Are you sure the oil is from the forks? I thought the ballistix fork was
spring/elastomer

I'd be inclined to check your hs33 brakes myself...

pOB

[Peter Clinch]

Pob wrote:

> Are you sure the oil is from the forks? I thought the ballistix fork was
> spring/elastomer

So did I... (my Streetmachine GT has the Ballistic fork)

But Ben Cooper at Kinetics should know, or the folk at Bikefix.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

[Rob Morley]

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:28:45 +0100
Robert Johnstone > wrote:

> Due to an unfortunate hanging the bike from the ceiling experiment
> some oil has leaked from the forks of my HPVelotechnik Streetmachine
> GT.

No fork that I know of will lose oil by being hung upside down unless
the seals are knackered. Pob suggests brake fluid, but I thought those
old Maguras were all closed-system.

[Robert Johnstone]

Pob wrote:
> Are you sure the oil is from the forks? I thought the ballistix fork was
> spring/elastomer
>
> I'd be inclined to check your hs33 brakes myself...

Yes, I'm sure that that's where the oil came from. The brakes are still
working fine, I'm glad to say. I expect you're right about the forks
being spring/elastomer, since they're still working fine. Maybe the
previous owner got confused and decided pouring oil into the forks would
be a good idea...

Bob

[Robert Johnstone]

Thanks for your advice, everyone. It sounds like I don't need to worry
about the oil 'leak' because it probably shouldn't have been there in
the first place. I may still dismantle those forks to find out what
exactly is inside. I suppose that there's a spring and elastomer in each
side of the fork, since there's an adjustment knob on both sides.

Bob