Changing fork oil on my V50 111 . Manual gives air pressure as 3kg/sqcm. Converted that to more than 40 psi, which seems enough to blow the seals in my opinion. Have l done my sums wrong ? Any advice please. Cheers
I’ll say. Used to run my Imola II at 7 psi.
I could never tell the difference with my Monza, whatever pressure (or none) was in there.
The Imola II would object to less than 3 psi with a shake of the head. Think it shallowed the rake a tad.
Thanks guy’s l will start low and see how it goes. Trouble is once the instrument panel is back in place it’s a bugger to get to the valve. Have used car valve extensions before, but still aggro and not very accurate.
Hi Ray, I see you have tried “car type” valve extensions before, so I am assuming the valve is going to be “Schrader” type … Have you thought of addressing the access problem with a flexible tyre valve extension …? It is what is used on bus … wagon … trailer … or any application where twin wheels are used … They are tightened onto the inner wheel’s valve, and then poked through one of the many vent holes, in the outer wheel, allowing you to check the inner wheel tyre pressure from the same position as checking the outer wheel … Seven inches long, rubber pipe with a steel braid protecting it … all the flexibility you want … I’m sure any good commercial vehicle tyre fitter would give you a couple for free … Hope this helps, Tony
Thanks Tony. Im having new tyres and tubes fitted tomorrow so will ask while im there. Cheers.
Hi,
I make this 42psi as well. I heard that due to the low volume of air in the forks, when the adapter was removed from the valve the pressure was lost. I did read about an adapter that sealed the needle valve before the adaptor was completely removed. Hope that make sense! Has any one else come across this?
The manual does mention this and reccomends taking two readings to show what the loss is ,so you eventually arrive at the correct pressure. 42 psi still seems dangerous to me so will be going down the little but often route.
I have possibly been riding with no air at all since l got the bike and can’t say l have noticed anything bad.
Cheers.
Hi,
I am just coming to the end of a rebuild of my V50 3. Hopefully get the mot in a few weeks. I will be playing with the air pressures shortly and I will let you know how I get on.
SCM
Only with my bike on weekends . Will post what l find . Good luck with the mot. Hope you enjoy your V50 as much as l do mine.
Hi
I have an electric air pump, the type you put in the car cigarette socket in the car. That was useless. Today I bought a cheap (£18) bicycle suspension pump from Halfords. Comes with a gauge and an extension so you can get to the top of the forks. Works well. It’s max rating is 300psi so 42 is ok. The pump is good for the rear air shocks now on the market as well (Fournales)
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-maintenance/bike-pumps/bikehut-suspension-shock-pump
Steve
I had my first 750T back in the early Nineties, tried to pump up the forks the first time and blew the cap straight out the top of the forks. Never managed to get any air in them for the rest of the time I owned the bike. Definitely not high pressure.