[jh_on_the_cape]

I have a REBA 29er fork, circa 2008. Matte black. Stored hanging by the front wheel over the winter... went to pull it down this weekend for the spring an found a puddle of oil under the bike. It leaked from where the remote poplock doodle is on top of the fork leg.

I have always stored it like that, and only had the leakage when hung up with the fork locked out. Well it was not locked out...

looking for guidance: (I have never even changed the oil in the fork)

0. Just ride it as is.
1. Tackle this myself... any link on how to do this???
2. Send it to PUSH.$159 plus shipping! yikes. I have another bike to ride...
3. Sell the thing (looks like I could get $200ish), leave it for someone with the time/skills to deal with and mount that painted to match by custom frame rigid fork that I never have even put on... waltworks. I could ride the rigid turgid throbbing fork while the REBA gets it.
4. Skip riding and post pics of my neighbors cat with a toothbrush up its butt on MTBR. With minty toothpaste. Aquafresh. With fluoride. Then get into an e-discussion about how flouridated water is great for enemas.

How do I fix my fork????

 

[meltingfeather]

something tells me you haven't maintained this fork?
you don't have the "LBS service with factory (SRAM) parts" option, which is likely to be ~$50-$60.
you definitely need to do something about it.
I personally go for option 2.
replacing the seals and oil is cake.
go to the SRAM website and under the "service" tab watch the SRAMtech videos.
you need to watch: lower leg removal, motion control service, dual air service, and lower leg install
got to a moto shop for oil (it's way cheaper) and just get the same weight (you'll need 5W and 15W).

 

[slip20]

Are you f---ing kidding me?

I have a REBA 29er fork, circa 2008. Matte black. Stored hanging by the front wheel over the winter... went to pull it down this weekend for the spring an found a puddle of oil under the bike. It leaked from where the remote poplock doodle is on top of the fork leg.

I have always stored it like that, and only had the leakage when hung up with the fork locked out. Well it was not locked out...

looking for guidance: (I have never even changed the oil in the fork)

0. Just ride it as is.
1. Tackle this myself... any link on how to do this???
2. Send it to PUSH.$159 plus shipping! yikes. I have another bike to ride...
3. Sell the thing (looks like I could get $200ish), leave it for someone with the time/skills to deal with and mount that painted to match by custom frame rigid fork that I never have even put on... waltworks. I could ride the rigid turgid throbbing fork while the REBA gets it.
4. Skip riding and post pics of my neighbors cat with a toothbrush up its butt on MTBR. With minty toothpaste. Aquafresh. With fluoride. Then get into an e-discussion about how flouridated water is great for enemas.

How do I fix my fork????

#4, please!

 

[pimpbot]

Common issue

I have a REBA 29er fork, circa 2008. Matte black. Stored hanging by the front wheel over the winter... went to pull it down this weekend for the spring an found a puddle of oil under the bike. It leaked from where the remote poplock doodle is on top of the fork leg.

I have always stored it like that, and only had the leakage when hung up with the fork locked out. Well it was not locked out...

looking for guidance: (I have never even changed the oil in the fork)

0. Just ride it as is.
1. Tackle this myself... any link on how to do this???
2. Send it to PUSH.$159 plus shipping! yikes. I have another bike to ride...
3. Sell the thing (looks like I could get $200ish), leave it for someone with the time/skills to deal with and mount that painted to match by custom frame rigid fork that I never have even put on... waltworks. I could ride the rigid turgid throbbing fork while the REBA gets it.
4. Skip riding and post pics of my neighbors cat with a toothbrush up its butt on MTBR. With minty toothpaste. Aquafresh. With fluoride. Then get into an e-discussion about how flouridated water is great for enemas.

How do I fix my fork????

Pay the LBS to service it (mine charged $60). My LBS warrantied the damping cartridge and replaced it with a Blackbox damper, courtesy of SRAM.

There was a batch of damping cartridges going around where the seal around the Motion Control adjusment knob failed on just about all of them. It's not user serviceable, except for replacing the whole damper cartridge, which is like $100, IIRC. Replacing the damper is easy peasy. Screw in, screw out. Empty the old damper oil out, fill it up with fresh oil in between the two other steps.

 

[syl3]

Those o-rings are notoriously bad. Just pull the motion control out and refill with oil, it's a 5 minute job.

And if you can't find a replcement o-ring stop storing the bike upside down, problem solved.

 

[B.S.]

Those o-rings are notoriously bad. Just pull the motion control out and refill with oil, it's a 5 minute job.

And if you can't find a replcement o-ring stop storing the bike upside down, problem solved.

+1 on all that. Rebas don't like to be stored upside down -- even with brand new o-rings.

I'd take the top off, drain the rest of the fluid, measure, and refill. After a couple years, it's a good idea anyway. Assuming you have the "older" style Reba, here's the instructions that will tell you how much fluid to use and what you will see when you pull the cap off.. (2006 service guide)

http://www.sram.com/en/service/rockshox/view.php?catID=1&subcatID=8

 

[jh_on_the_cape]

+1 on all that. Rebas don't like to be stored upside down -- even with brand new o-rings.

I'd take the top off, drain the rest of the fluid, measure, and refill. After a couple years, it's a good idea anyway. Assuming you have the "older" style Reba, here's the instructions that will tell you how much fluid to use and what you will see when you pull the cap off.. (2006 service guide)

http://www.sram.com/en/service/rockshox/view.php?catID=1&subcatID=8

Thanks. That seems doable for me. So do I have to pull the lowers to do that? Or can I just pull off the top 24mm thing (after removing air) where the oil leaked, drain any remaining and refill?

One more question: I have an old bottle of rockshox oil. it's been on the shelf a long time, never used. does that stuff go bad? I know gasoline 'goes bad', but not sure about oil.

Thanks!

 

[BruceBrown]

I have a REBA 29er fork, circa 2008. Matte black. Stored hanging by the front wheel over the winter... went to pull it down this weekend for the spring an found a puddle of oil under the bike. It leaked from where the remote poplock doodle is on top of the fork leg.

I have always stored it like that, and only had the leakage when hung up with the fork locked out. Well it was not locked out...

looking for guidance: (I have never even changed the oil in the fork)

0. Just ride it as is.
1. Tackle this myself... any link on how to do this???
2. Send it to PUSH.$159 plus shipping! yikes. I have another bike to ride...
3. Sell the thing (looks like I could get $200ish), leave it for someone with the time/skills to deal with and mount that painted to match by custom frame rigid fork that I never have even put on... waltworks. I could ride the rigid turgid throbbing fork while the REBA gets it.
4. Skip riding and post pics of my neighbors cat with a toothbrush up its butt on MTBR. With minty toothpaste. Aquafresh. With fluoride. Then get into an e-discussion about how flouridated water is great for enemas.

How do I fix my fork????

Big no-no to store those older REBA forks upside down. Lots of threads over the years on the issue, but here's one in particular...

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=6688408

And a quote from a REBA owner who had the same issue you experienced....


Called a rockshox rep. Internal o-ring issue on the older moco cartridges. Your options are; don't turn your fork upside down, replace the moco cartridge.
______________

I would go with your option #1 - just clean up the oil spill on the fork using isopropyl alcohol, follow the directions on the linked video and add oil back into your fork (you can use the old oil you've had in storage, it'll be fine) - air up and ride it. Store it upright from now on and don't worry about it. Just do annual service on it and things should be fine.

Your other option is to buy a new motion control unit and install that which will be a permanent fix, but cost a few more $$.

 

[B.S.]

Thanks. That seems doable for me. So do I have to pull the lowers to do that? Or can I just pull off the top 24mm thing (after removing air) where the oil leaked, drain any remaining and refill?

One more question: I have an old bottle of rockshox oil. it's been on the shelf a long time, never used. does that stuff go bad? I know gasoline 'goes bad', but not sure about oil.

Thanks!

It should be a no-brainer. You do not have to take the lowers off. (If I remember correctly) Just unscrew the cap and turn it upside down. You'll get a plastic thing that's part of the damping/blowout, but the rest of everything will stay in place. The SRAM service manual has pictures.

I don't know about using old oil, but am interested in the answer. For oil weight/amount, check the end of the service manual.

 

[B.S.]

I forgot to mention. When you have it upside down, give the forks a couple squishes to get rid of trapped oil. You may have to let some air out to get it to squish, but no need to take that side apart. You should be able to do it all without even taking the fork off of your bike.

Note: If you let air out of the valve, keep the valve upright while it is open or you'll have more mess.

 

[customfab]

I would either do it yourself if you feel you are mechanically inclined or pay your LBS to do, if you hand them just a fork some shops will do it for a little less. Have you been doing the maintince on the fork? If you have you could get away with just pulling the damper, topping off the oil and replacing the O ring. If you haven't ever touched it then you should give it a full overhaul. Think of suspension like changing the oil in your car, do it before there is a problem. I've been storing my reba team 09 in the same manor as you without a problem, fwiw.

Push is overrated and grossly overpriced IMHO

 

[DFYFZX]

#4 sounds intriguing. Flouride is bad!

 

[pimpbot]

I just get my fork oil at the local sports motorcycle shop. It's like $10 a quart for high grade kinda stuff, and it's the same exact stuff as the little bottles from RS or FinishLine.

A quart will last you something like 4 or 5 oil changes.

 

[GpzGuy]

+1 on all that. Rebas don't like to be stored upside down -- even with brand new o-rings.

Evidence? I've been storing my '08 Reba Race like this since day 1 and not a lick of problem. After I take it down I let it settle for a couple of minutes, then excercise the forks a couple of times, check for leaks, check the sag, then go riding.

I keep the upper fork tubes remorsesly clean and lubed with teflon fork lube, and I've found that they retain their air spring pressure better when left upside down.