[HardtailHack]

Hi all this is my first post.

I have a set of Kowa 200SI forks and I have massive amounts of stiction. The forks have done at least 30hrs of riding yet they feel like they have a lock out function.

I am fairly sure the stiction is between the bushes and the stanchions as the stiction is much worse when you lean over the front of the bike and try to compress the fork. The forks run a dust wiper and below that is a typical garter type seal however there is no foam ring to retain oil like other forks. My forks never have any amount of oil on the stanchions at all which brings me to my question-


Is it possible for a home mechanic to polish the stanchions and bushes on suspension forks? What do the Pro workshops do, is ther some magic black art or is it as simple as a very fine christmas tree hone?

Sorry for the long post, I wanted to give all of the details.

Cheers for the help.

 

[jonKranked]

Is it only in the initial portion of the stroke, or is it through the entire amount of travel?

Does the fork bottom out easily? Or are you having difficulty bottoming it out? Can you tell if you are getting the full amount of travel? Also, how much do you weigh?

How does the fork react on big hits vs small ones? Does it feel fine on big hits, but not reactive/plush enough on small stuff?


I'm just trying to help root out if its a different problem, because there are several other things that could be causing this.

FWIW, Air sprung shocks and forks tend to feel like they have more stiction at the beginning part of the stroke when compared to a fork/shock that is coil sprung.

 

[HardtailHack]

The stiction is all of the way through the stroke it is no worse mid to bottom stroke than towards the top as this part is used more. There is no stiction from the air spring, you can straddle the bike and compress the fork no dramas. Yeah the fork is quite good on big hits however they don't bottom out easily, I have messed around with the pos/neg air spring pressures and have also added a slight amount of oil to the pos spring to make it ramp up a little more. Oh I weigh 220lb, I have almost the same drama with my Kowa 160SS forks as well.

I have also pulled the forks apart changed the oil to 2.5WT and re-greased everything on assembly, which makes the forks nice for around two runs and then it's back to stiction city. They are now back on 5wt oil.

 

[jonKranked]

It could also be the LSC (tho there is no way to adjust it, correct?) Have you tried contacing Kowa to see what they recommend?

 

[davep]

You could remove the seals to isolate seal friction from bushing friction, but I would suspect that this is more of an issue with seals (all the seals combining to give an overall sticky feel). Air suspension will always have more seals and thus more potential for seal frictin/drag.

First thing I would suggest is to lube up the main/stanchion seals. Pack the space between the dust wiper and oil seal with slick honey (or similar THIN grease). This has made a noticable difference on every fork I have owned (marz, manitou, RS).

If that does not make a noticable difference, start pulling the fork apart to isolate parts (chassis from internals, seals vs bushings, left leg vs right leg, etc) and help identify the source of the friction.

 

[HardtailHack]

I have pulled the dust seals off which made no difference as expected, I might pull the main seals out I never really thought of trying that. I have a set of Magura Wotan forks which are air sprung and have zero stiction from new so it is possible.
I don't mind the poor small bup performance but it's when you get stiction mid stroke when you hit something like a root that it really sucks.

I have put grease between the dust wipers and the main seals however I removed it as I was afraid to much crud would get past the dust seals. I also coated everything in Slick Honey when I reassembled the forks.

Is it possible that Kowa use a standard seal or will they have custom ones made? If they are standard is there a chance of finding a low friction type?

I really doubt it is the LSC because 2.5WT oil made no difference.

 

[Wumpus]

This guy is the US distributor for Kowa -- http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/member.php?u=21088

http://www.covicracing.com/index.html

 

[HardtailHack]

OK I have been in contact wit Joe from Covic Racing and he has been extremely helpful, especialy considering I didn't buy my forks from him. The problem could be a dislodged bushing(or two), the Australian importer is sending me some new bushes soon. So hopefully all solved soon, thanks for the input people.