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air valve broke on front shocks

mrhedges

mrhedges

Forum Mentor
Past Site Supporter
Air valve broke, I think it was already broke before its, kinda of embarrassing but I never checked the shock air in the years I've owned it. The question is where to get a replacement?
 

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NLA on partshark.com. That usually means no NOS OEM bits are available at any of the online retailers but I have been proven wrong before. Check your local dealer. I know mine surprises me sometime with what they must happen to have floating around. Check the other sites: Babbitt’s, Partzilla, etc. Check eBay. Might get lucky and find a cap or whole fork leg with intact air valve. Many models in the early 80s had these. Mine does.

I believe I’ve read of folks replacing the air cap with a solid cap from another model and putting a pvc pipe spacer and washers above the spring, under the cap, and never minding about the air. Someone else will have to guide you on that, or search the archives. My air caps were intact and holding the few psi required when I rebuilt my forks a few years ago, so I put them back the way they were.
 
I looked at parts fish and put the part number in ebay and nothing. Ebay suggested this looks kinda like it might work. I had the fork seals done when I first got the bike at this "shop" run by a friend of a friend and I sorta of imagine that he might have broken it and just kinda shrugged and filled it with oil. I probably would never have even notice except the bike got stolen and rode hard, probably crashed and wheeleed and now the forks leak so so very bad. without air should I switch to a heavier oil? I'm also thinking of upgrading to progressive springs, is their a big advantage?
 
If the fork is not leaking oil out of the broken air valve and you can screw the chrome cap back on so it at least “looks” like it’s not broken, you could go with progressives but Sonic straight rate seems to be the more popular choice lately, and a spacer to give you the preload you need. What spring and what spacer is for the experts. Look up member RichDesmond he’s the former owner of Sonic and can give you spring and spacer and oil recommendations based on your bike, weight, riding style, etc.

Ah, who am I kidding, I wouldn’t be able to live with knowing there was a broken valve under the chrome cap. I’d have to fix or replace it, even if I wasn’t using it to hold air.
 
Yes, your best bet is to go with straight-rate springs, like Sonic. On their site is a calculator that will give you a selection of rates, which are based on your bike's weight, your weight and riding style. If there is more than one rate available (or suggested), go with the heavier rate. Not sure what their recommendation is for oil viscosity, but I have always used 10w with very good results.
 
Does the valve still hold air pressure? That's important, the trapped air volume in the fork a component of the overall spring rate. If it doesn't you'll need to fix it.
If it does, then just get a set of good springs in the right rate. Sonic, Race-Tech, Eibach, Traxxion...any of them will be fine. Ping me if you want help with rate selection and/or setup info.
 
Race Tech is another brand of straight rate fork springs. And if you're like most of us, you're gaining, not loosing weight. So better to err on the heavy side - you'll grow into them.
 
That's what I was wondering, isn't is just a Schrader valve? Maybe it goes into an adapter. If you drill out the center, and use a reverse thread extractor, you could remove any adapter and screw the Schrader valve into it. If it's all one piece, you'll have the piece in hand, and can have a machinist make a set up where the Schrader valve is replaceable. :)
 
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