06/07 Marzocchi forks better internally than 05?

[Bandit9]

My suspension tuner has my stuff right now and he called me and told me to expect to need to change the fork fluid very often. In his opinion, which I respect a great deal, he said that the aluminum rods in this particular 05 Marzocchi 45mm Shiver, are not very high grade aluminium and that is the cause for the fluid to get dirty very fast. Matter of fact, I put about 100 single track miles on the bike since the last fluid change and he said it was very gray already. That is pretty often and not a realistic thing with my maintenance schedule. I prefer the twice a year schedule at the most.

So my question is does the newer 06' and 07' Marzocchi forks have better quality of aluminium rods? I was thinking that instead of having these coated for $150 or so, I would just buy some new 07' stuff if they were indeed better. Are the 06' and 07' just as bad with the frequent fork fluid changes or are they better?

Any opinions from the asylum?

Glenn or Les?

Thanks,
Blanco

[GMP]

I have no experience with the pre '07 GG Zokes, just my '07s and brothers 2 sets of Husky Zokes ('02 WR250 and '05 TE450).

I have 20 hours of rock pounding on my forks now. Been apart at 10 hrs and about 18 hours. Oil was LIKE NEW both times. Nothing odd about my damper rods, they look like raw aluminum but I'm sure they are clear anodized. One point though, I never rode the bike with the lower triple clamp torqued past 10 -11 Nm. I like to clean these surfaces well and tighten less to avoid tube compression and possible binding, which could cause wear. How did the upper tubes look?

I currently have the '02 Husky WR250 Zokes apart on the bench. Oil was VERY dirty. Bro neglected to change it this spring. I also suspect his lower clamp is much tighter than 11 Nm. Now, the Husky damper rods have a much nicer looking anodizing, gold, so you can clearly see any wear. They look flawless. Cartridge looks raw/clear anodized just like the GG Zokes and also looks good along with the rebound piston ring(teflon coating intact). I have not yet inspected the inside of the upper tubes but it wouldn't surprise me if this is what fouled the oil.

My gut feeling is to torque the clamp lighter, just enough The GG clamp has a lot of area and 11 Nm has been fine on mine. I would anodize what you have and go ride.

[Bandit9]

Ok, good info.

I didn't notice any wear on the upper tube. Now, that doesn't mean there isn't any. LOL.

Thanks for your insight.

Blanco

[Boomhauer]

Chris not doubting your suspension guy by any means but my fluid has gotten dirty quick. The forks have a special coating that will slowly wear off. It will wear off quicker if you are running seal savers.

That has been my experiance and just another idea for you to kick around.

[GMP]

That doesn't make the oil dirty, its very thin and wears off very gradually.

Worked on both Husky and GG Zokes tonight. It appears that the Husky forks have some anodizing wear on the inside upper tubes, where the lower clamp mounts. You can see bare aluminum through the gold. No doubt they were torqued down good (bad).

GG Zokes damper rods look somewhat polished in spots. These are small parts and reanodizing should be cheap if desired. If my oil starts do get dirty, this is the first thing I'll do.

[iancp5]

I have an 03 with Marzzochis. My oil goes gray quickly. Not sure why though, suspected my uprated springs which only just fit and bind a little - seems not to effect fork action though.

[Bandit9]

Robby, I am not worried about the lower outer tube coatings. On this 05', it is all practically gone anyway. We are talking about the inside of the upper tube. I suspect a possible mis-aligned fork or that the 14-16nm torque spec was too tight.

Oh, I don't believe in Seal Savers. IMO, they cause more problems than they are worth.

When I was picking up my bike yesterday, he had some Showa's laying on the bench. Man, the rods the Showa's use look to be far superior in quality and coating.

I am just going to have mine coated next time I change the fluid.