Marzocchi setup help - 08' EC250

[nick790]

Two tight woodland events has left me wanting a little more comfort from my EC's suspension, the bike handles great and goes wherever I point it, but it's a little harsh over small woops/rutted woodland, and also the front is quite unstable over bumps at speed. Looking for the first 2-3" to be a little softer before I get into the harder part on the fork? Could this be achieved by increesing the air gap or will that move the problem somewhere else?

I go about 200lb in full gear, the rear sag is correct. I asume the springs are standard. The back seams fine, but after alot of adjustmens at the weekend, I think I've run out of adjustment?

[nick790]

Anyone? .

[stay_upright]

I would recommend 130 or 140mm oil height it's an easy change to make as well.

Let us know how you get on with that.

[stay_upright]

woops sorry that's for the 05 marzocchi's.

I would still look at increasing air gap but the 130-140mm height may not be correct for your (sachs?) forks. You could look what it is now and increase it though as long as the sachs are an open oil bath type fork - not sealed cartrige like the Kayaba's.

For referance the original oil height was 90mm on the marzocchi's and a move to 130-140mm gives a plusher ride.

[iancp5]

I think 130 - 140mm is too much for the Zokes. I'm running 110mm with 0.46 springs and I previously ran 120mm with 0.48. But there is a lot of personal preference involved. However as stay_upright may have springs that are too heavy for him that may be why he can run a big air gap.

[hasslbri]

As posted on another thread.

The factory guys told me to leave the preload alone. What they told me is to remove the bottom shim stack from each fork. Take the nut off and remove ONE of the three large shims from the stack. Keep the shim handy because you might want to put it back in once the forks have broken in. They claim it takes 20 to 30 hours before the forks fully break in (Sacks). Also you need to take out the top space an mill 4mm off of it and mill a little out of the shoulder of the cap. This gets the fork to settle down into its stroke alitte bit. To turn the preload adjuster (if you must) Just find a nut that is the correct size. I would contact Mark at GoFasters. They should have a video of all of this.

Brian

[Zeal]

I would suggest two things to try.

1) Get some air cells, these tend to take the harshness out of the fork. (Also, make sure you bleed your forks before every ride)

2) You may want to decrease your rebound dampening. You may be feeling a hashness because your suspension does not reset between bumps. You will be able to tell by paying close attention to when you feel the harshness. Try lining up 3 closely spaced small bumps or roots. If you feel 2 jolts, your suspension is not resetting quickly enough. If you feel 3 jolts, rebound is not your issue.

I would not recommend big changes to the air column. Go with the stock height. Break in your fork and put in new oil before trying any big changes.

Good luck,

Zeal

[nick790]

Right here goes, since my last posts I have made some good progress.

I did a harsh Xc race and the thing tried to mug me, seriously I thought I been sparing with a Brazilian Ju-Jitzue black belt, my arms felt like I been doing press ups with a fat bird on my back. It was a hot day, and I felt worse than normal, but I had guys passing me that I knew I was faster than.

Consiquently,on my 5th lap I lost the bike and hit a tree, bending th LH rad back on it's self, race over .

After trying and failing to repair the rad, I spent £135 on a new one.
I spoke to a suspension guy, who recomended some springs to try, 0.46 were what he said but Marzocchi UK only supply 0.45 (close enough) so I odered and fitted them the morning before leaving for the next event, I also raised the oil hight to about 110mm and centred the clickers.

The next event was a 12 hour 4 man team race. The first guy in our team fell and broke his coller bone after 3 laps, wich ment more time on the bike for me. First off the bike felt allot better, I could tell what the front end was doing even if it felt not quite right. we did one hour stints, so Icould ride, come in and think about what the bike was doing and make adjustment, so I soon got the front end somewhere near where I want it. After 5 hours of riding I can say it's not plush, but not unconfertable. positive feeling I could call it, which is great because it gave me the confidence to push far harder than I have ever done before on this bike. We all know confidence in your bikes suspension is worth hell of alot of time on the track and I sure I will fine tune it now to be near perfect.

I also started on the rear suspension, the rebound I got what seemed ok, the were some small kicker jumps, which the rear was pingin up off of, a bit more rebound got that sorted, I also made it more stable down hill and braking.

Now my next question is the rear compression damping. How where and when do you guys set the fast or slow damping? I have a Sachs shock with the outer knob and inner screw. Is the a easy way to do it, or trial and error?

I'm getting there, must keep the faith.

[nick790]

Can anyone help with my rear damping question?

[Radbuster]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the good race info, let's keep this thread going.

Rear compression (low speed) I try to set so it is balanced with the front by checking landing from jumps, so that it moves about the same.

Big difference if there are slow, deep whoops or g-outs. There it is very noticeable.Too little and the rear just collapses and wallows deep in the stroke. Just crank it in untill it stays up enough.

The high speed has 6 clicks per turn and I have it on 6 clicks out. When riding it decides how high the rear of the bike rides. It is very noticeable. Try it cranked in and way out. Way out it feels like a chopper, way in it feels like you're falling over the bars. You'll immediately feel where it feels about right. I adjusted the high-speed and sag to just barely get rid of under-steering that was noticeable when going straight over something slippery and twitching the bars. Front tire skids = understeering, turning = good.

Good luck!