Fork Bleeders

TCracing

TCracing

PR Addict
Have used three different brands. Two After market name brand. One After market Off brand. All Leak Fluid. Which means they leak air. Which EQUALS worthless.
Fact is the air Resists bottoming after blowing through the mid stoke. loosing fluid creates less bottoming resistance and, WELL..., you see were this snowball is going...
Can anyone suggest a good simple fork bleeder that works? Else I'm putting the srews back in.
 
Don't remember the brand of the set I had but they worked great for awhile but then one of them blew out. I ended up just putting the screws back in.
 
baxterj787 said:
I say use the screws. Why pay $ for something that comes free on the bike to begin with?
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Well the Idea is that you do not have to use a screwdriver to bleed the air out of the chamber after it heats up from riding. Just push the button after ten minutes or so of riding out on the track and Viola Your suspension is set. BUt!!!!! What makes the difference if they leak. LOL
Plus I think they help with seal life when tied down in transport.
 
Don't want to piss anyone off but I think these are completely unneccessary. As stated earlier just use the bleeder screw and equalize the air a couple times per ride.

If they were on my bike I'd be worried about them getting snapped off in a crash or whatever. Almost all bikes now have rubber mounted bars and when I crash good mine almost always twist. Then what? Drill out the busted piece at the track? When I had fork subtanks I had that happen. Luckily I was able to get the broken piece out with a pick, and also lucky I had the OEM screws with me so I could keep riding.

How many people are checking their tire pressure every time you ride? That is way more important than letting air out of the forks a couple more times than you would with the screw.
 
im with that guy ^^

never heard good things about the bleeders.. and the amount of maintenance it takes for these bikes..whats turning 2 more screws each morning before u ride/race???

i just do it routinely with lubing my chain and stuff like that.
 
Do I think they are neccessary, no. Do I think they are convenient, yes. I honestly check the air pressure in the tires every time we ride. I release the air build up in my kids forks all the time with them. I don't ride hard enough to care about the pressure in my forks!!
 
To each his own of course, but being the lazyazz I am...the convenience is enough of a plus for me. I bought mine(motionpro) about 3 bikes ago and have just transferred them from bike to bike so the cost really isn't an issue.

It was mentioned that what would happen if a bleeder broke off in a crash...I could pose the same kind of question about when the screw is used...while taking that little screw out multiple times per riding day,what happens if you drop that little sucker in the grass and can't find it? I'm sure either way, whether a screw is lost or the bleeder breaks off...we'd probably just jam a piece'o wood stick or something like that into the hole :)
 
Thanks for the input

Thanks for the feedback. I think weighing personal experience and the lack of positive re-enforcement for bleeders I am goiing to find the screws and put them back.

I guess the determining factors are:
1. I know they leak.
2. If ya loose a screw at the track you know you did it and can fix it without loosing fluid.
3. When they leak, you must refill your forks and with the sss kyb you have to remove, empty and replace. for correct fill level. Cannot just measure oil height.

Know if I can just find them.
 
I have a set of those screws in my purse. :) We have all had the fork bleeders, I am the only one that can keep them. My daughter was one of those that wreck and broke them off, hence why I have the screws in my purse for back up. She no longer runs them as she has broke a few sets off. I have had no problems with mine, I believe they are the Outlaw ones. The tops are nice and colorful.
 
Had them on my Kx 105 back in 02-03 ish... Right side would stick, but in reality I couldn't tell the difference with the suspension being any different whether I bled them or not.

fork bleeders = worthless. I don't notice any difference in my suspension when I bleed them or not...so why have them?
 
GeorgiePorgie said:
Had them on my Kx 105 back in 02-03 ish... Right side would stick, but in reality I couldn't tell the difference with the suspension being any different whether I bled them or not.

fork bleeders = worthless. I don't notice any difference in my suspension when I bleed them or not...so why have them?
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I'd think it's going to depend from bike to bike, or how soft/stiff a person's forks are when it comes to being able to tell the difference after bleeding. I'm not super sensitive to small suspension setup changes, but on my YZ250 I can definitely tell the difference when my front end doesn't settle down in corners and pushes in tight corners.

Speadking of which, I've got some kind of bs going on with one of my fork tubes right now...it's got more stiction than the other side I and can tell that it's affecting the handling in the corners. Oil and seals were changed but still doing the same thing. Parma Dave has them and is looking for any kind of slight bend in in one of the tubes...hopes it's something cheaper to fix than a bad upper/lower fork tube. Anybody ever had an issue with a fork tube that has more stiction than the other side after changing bushings?
 
You still messing with those forks mooch? Better get that fixed, give the old bikes a break and ride that thing.

I'm pretty much oblivious to a lot of set-up stuff but with upside-down forks I'm hyper sensitive to fork bleeding. I tend to over react as the front end begins to break loose. I really like the slight flex of conventional forks but keeping the initial travel soft and ride height just right makes me more comfortable with the modern forks.

MY '83 has the valve stems on the fork caps and I haven't broken them yet!
 
Yep, I'm hoping Parma Dave can figure out what's up. It's one leg that has the stiction going on and it just started doing it after the riding season started last year. Hard to believe that I'd have bent an upper or lower tube as I didn't have any get offs that would have bent a fork tube. Pushing down on the one leg, the stiction/binding can be felt, after I put it on the bike it's much more noticeable...pretty much unridable in my opinion.
 
Is it possible you over tightened the pinch bolts or got a small dent or ding on the outer fork tube? Would not take much to cause the sticky issue if an outer tube became distorted. I know this doesn't really help, just thinking out loud. Hope the Parma guy fixes it. Just Wondering if it is possible the seals or dust covers from last were mixed up some how from another set? Just a few MM smaller or something? Please post the results when you find the answer?
 
Since my last post in this thread, Parma Dave found the tweak in the upper tube. But the tweak is only about 6 inches from the bottom of the upper tube so that wouldn't have been caused by screwing up with the triple clamp pinch bolts.

Even though I'm aware of the proper sequence/process to install and tighten down the front axle and feel that I always do it the right way...at some point, I might have done something hokey with an axle installation ??? Dunno.

Kudos to Parma Dave...he's a good guy!
 
I was setting here wandering if the issue of front axle tightening was gonna come up.
I was not aware of the proper setup and install of the front axle and pinch bolts until a year or so ago. Read it in MX-action magazine, article about fork service and preventing stiction.

I've rebuilt the forks a couple times on my bikes now, and many times have pressure bled my forks while at the track. But as mentioned earlier I really don't get enough seat time, regularly enough to know if I can sense it or not either.

Questions I have had in my mind on this though are:
1st) Is the pressure build up going to significantly hamper performance in a race? And if so how much pressure would have to build up? When I bleed them it's not a lot of air that comes out unless it's a really hot day.

2nd) Air pressure in the fork tube is a result of heat build up. You then bleed and relieve the build up pressure and ride some more. At some point your riding is done. Once the fork and oil cool down, the pressure drops off and could even go into a slight vacuum. Moisture laden air will then be drawn in past the seals and sliders. If you draw in this air after every hard ride as a result of bleeding will it cause moisture build up in the fork oil sooner than if you didn't bleed, requiring fork oil changes more often?
 
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