Suspension Maintenance

When was the last time you thought about the oil in your suspension? How about the gas charge in your shock? It's easy to forget about maintaining your suspension, but a little maintenance can save lots of money, not to mention improve handling. 

Over time the oil in both your forks and shocks starts to break down, losing viscosity and gets fouled with debris as the piston slides wear. In addition, believe it or not, you can get rust forming inside from condensation. Your shock is filled with high pressure nitrogen that will slowly leak out over time. All of these things add up to a decrease in performance and can lead to expensive repairs if not addressed. 

How often should you have your suspension serviced? It really depends on your riding habits and your budget.  In a perfect world you would have your suspension serviced annually. But, like many things that is not a hard and fast rule. The real question is has it ever been done? If so, do you remember who was the president at the time? If not, or if it's been a while it's time to get your machine into the shop. 

The next big question that comes to mind is the cost. Most of us don't have buckets of money stashed around the house. The simple, and very un-helpful answer is--it depends. Cost often depends on how much you can do yourself. Your least expensive route, if you plan to have a professional do the suspension work, is to pull the forks and/or shock yourself and bring them into the shop. But if you don't have the tools, place or skills then you will need to take the entire machine to your favorite mechanic to have the work completed. It also largely depends on what your machine actually needs, and the quality of the parts used. Having said all that, here is a very rough idea of what you can expect to pay. Assuming you can pull your forks and/or shock, labor on a set of forks is probably going to run you somewhere between $100-$150 depending on your forks and how much your mechanic charges. Most forks will require a little over a quart of oil (for both) so that means you get to buy 2 quarts, so you can figure around $30 for oil. Again, keep in mind the type oil you use can vary in price considerably. A set of seals will run you somewhere around $40. Now before you start thinking about buying a cheap set of seals for $20, remember you get what you pay for and if the cheap seals fail (and they do) it will not only cost you for another set of seals but the oil and labor as well. My personal preference when it comes to seals; OEM is your friend. But, that a discussion for another post! So for a service on a set of forks you are going to be somewhere around $200.00  assuming you don't need parts replaced besides seals. Your rear shock will probably be about half that since there is only one. This seems like allot at first blush, but like all things mechanical if you let it go too long it will cost much more later.

Another thing to consider when it comes to having any work done is timing. Many shops offer discounts in the off-season when business is slow. So the best time to get your work done is when you really want to go ride, but the weather is terrible. If you wait until the season starts you will most likely pay more and have to wait, sometimes quite a while, before the work is completed. You don't want to be the guy that is watching Youtube videos of riding when everyone else is actually out riding. Finally, resist the temptation to have the neighbor kid do it since he is always "tinkering". Suspensions are actually quite delicate when it comes foreign material (aka dirt) and parts left over. You should only have a qualified mechanic touch your suspension. It could mean the difference between a great day of riding or ending up in crumpled pile on the side of the trail.