Southern California Message Boards

I ride on average about twice a week, and try to change the oil in my fork about every two months. When I keep to that schedule, the fork oil is still pretty dirty. If I wait longer, it turns a really dark gray, and you can see all of the shiny bits of metal in it.

My two month schedule may be a bit more than is really necessary, but I see it as preventive maintenance. The fork oil is pretty cheap (assuming you do the work yourself), but replacing the seals and bushings isn't (which requires special tools). You can buy the fork oil at a motorcycle shop really cheap compared to what a bike shop will charge you. The best oil to get is Golden Spectro 125/150 Fork Oil. The 125/150 translates to 7.5 weight oil. That is the stock oil that Marzocchi puts in the forks from the factory, and the same oil that they sell under their brand name.

I'm sure that other 7.5 weight fork oils will work well also, but I used to use Golden Spectro products when I rode motorcycles, and always had good luck with them.

Also, if you want to play with the action of your fork, you can try heavier (10w) or lighter (5w) weight oils. You can even mix different grades to make your own custom weight.

Changing the oil yourself is really easy, and is well described in Marzocchi tech manuals, but it really only amounts to taking the fork legs out of the crown, taking the top caps off, the springs out, and dumping out the old oil. I like to dump out the old oil, and then dump in some fresh, cycle the damping rods a bit, and then dump that out as well. It depends how anal you are, as to how clean you want to get the fork, and how long you want to spend working on it. Start to finish, it can be as quick as a 20 minute job, or as long as an hour, if you really want to get it clean before refilling it.

You can also play with the height of the oil to make it stiffer, softer, and more progressive.