what the fork?

[jhicok]

just took my 82 gs1100ez for it's first spin since it's been mine. the front suspension bottomed out when i pulled back in my driveway. i thought the 82 gs1100ez had air assisted forks.. and i went to check the pressure and add air... but this one doesn't seem to have any valves for air up top where the haynes manual shows them to be. the left fork even has the factory sticker on it from suzuki stating the recomended pressure on it. when i took the plastic caps off the top the metal tube caps looked pretty rounded off... so someone's messed with it in the past for sure. what do ya'll make of it? and how can i get some dampening back into these forks?

 

[dr_fosg8]

Lots of folks around this site like to change out the factory springs for some progressives or sonics. Both of these can be run in the forks without the air, these springs use spacers to create the preload. This may be what was done to yours already and the PO just removed the air valves from the fork caps? Could be that you still have weak factory springs and the PO just removed the airvalves because they were leaking? If it were me, since you have a manual I would rebuild the forks and install some new seals and springs. I would at minimum take them apart and clean them out and refill with new fork oil.

 

[koolaid_kid]

If your forks bottomed out your springs are shot. Air is only an assist, think of it as fine tuning the springs.
Like most here, I use the Progressive springs. You can even find them on fleabay for a slightly lower price.

 

[Truth]

I put in progressives and got rid of the air. MUCH better. I followed the tutorial on Cliff's site, asked a few questions here, and all went pretty well.

 

[jhicok]

thanks guys that makes sense.. i was afraid maybe it'd been in a wreck and they were forks from some other year or model. ne springs are on the way