[beanbag]

Hello people,

Just got my Reba SL U Turn today. Riding along, minding my own business when I noticed that the lockout stopped working. The fork also seems to bottom out with about 1.5 inches of travel left. So my guess is that something in the Motion Control unit broke off. Any ideas what it is before I try to open up the fork? I bought it mail order, so I'd rather try to fix it myself rather than send the fork back.

 

[RedRocker]

Nope, but that doesn't sound right. I usually get most/all of my travel. I only use the Motion Control when I get up and hammer and that definitely limits bob (I have a poplock).
One of the guys I ride with had a seal problem on his (we both bought them online) and he had a LBS handle the warranty. Maybe go that route, RS took care of it pretty quickly.

 

[JSQ]

I experienced a similar problem with my new Revelation fork (which is like Rebas big brother). Did you hear a metallic clunk noise before? I hit a bump and heard that metallic sound and afterwards the fork turned into a pogo stick with no damping whatsoever. I sent it back to the mail-order company in Belgium and it was a 5 week long wait before I got it back. Now it is working properly, though. If you thought Reba was good, wait until you try the Revelation. It's sooo much smoother!

 

[beanbag]

RedRocker: Do you know which seal failed?
JSQ: Do you know what broke in your fork? I'm not sure if my fork has any rebound damping or not. If I turn the knob all the way, there is still some rebound damping, but that might be from the air (instead of oil). Did you fork have a premature bottom out also?

I didn't notice any metallic noises from my fork coz I have lots of other things on my bike that rattle.

 

[JSQ]

I'm not completely sure, but I think it was the whole motion control damping rod that broke. It is plastic, you know. I din't experience any premature bottom out. Did hear a strange noise a few times before the "big bang". Might add that the fork broke on the fourth ride and I wasn't doing anything extreme at all.

 

[RedRocker]

Nope, sorry but I don't. All I know is that air from the + chamber somehow seemed to be making it into the - chamber. It sounds like a totally different problem than yours but I do remember turnaround being about a week. Also that RS won't work with you directly, they make you go through a dealer like a LBS. They even made me do that a few years ago when they were shipping me a new rebound knob for a rear shock I had. It was fast and free but they'd only ship to a shop.

 

[beanbag]

Update: A few guys have mentioned that it might be the piston seal at the bottom of the stanchion tube. If it fails, oil will leak from the stanchion into the lowers. Thus there won't be any oil for the Motion Control cartridge to work, and the excess oil at the bottom will "hydrolock" the fork. Anyway, I sent the fork back for warranty work. I figured that whatever the problem is, I shouldn't have to fix it myself.

 

[Severum]

Sounds like the C clip broke that holds the rebound dampener up into the upper leg.

Same exact thing happened to me. Big pop. no lockout. Fell into the travel.

 

[006_007]

Sounds like the C clip broke that holds the rebound dampener up into the upper leg.

Same exact thing happened to me. Big pop. no lockout. Fell into the travel.

Jeez, what were you searching for to dig up a 4 month old thread?

 

[Severum]

Jeez, what were you searching for to dig up a 4 month old thread?

Nothing like adding content. Lol.

Actually I was looking for tuning tips. Got excited to find another person that had a similar issue and posted before I thought about how old this was.

 

[006_007]

Nothing like adding content. Lol.

Actually I was looking for tuning tips. Got excited to find another person that had a similar issue and posted before I thought about how old this was.

LOL, not meaning to bust chops or nothing, Just curious how things get dug up. Kudos on using the search feature. If only some others could follow the example

 

[Severum]

LOL, not meaning to bust chops or nothing, Just curious how things get dug up. Kudos on using the search feature. If only some others could follow the example

I get enough slack just being me on my own local forum. No chance I am gonna take chances out here with these animals.

 

[beanbag]

Hey, it's me again

I sent it back to where I bought it from. They said they sent it to SRAM. The MORON there only refilled the oil in the stanchion and didn't bother to drain the oil in the lowers. Fork still didn't work as usual. Got pissed off and decided to fix it myself. Turns out the problem was that there was a flake of plastic that was in the piston head seal. This allowed oil to seep past the o-ring. Anyway, the fork works fine now.

 

[LyNx]

Good on you for fixing it. Personally I love my REBA for the fact that it's an easy fork to service/repair - just changed the oil in it for the 2nd time since I've had it, got about 3,300+ miles on it. Mix of road/off-road and you could definitely see how dirty the oil was compared to the new stuff - Motion Control oil specifically 'cause the rest is very little and all drains together.

I sent it back to where I bought it from. They said they sent it to SRAM. The MORON there only refilled the oil in the stanchion and didn't bother to drain the oil in the lowers. Fork still didn't work as usual. Got pissed off and decided to fix it myself. Turns out the problem was that there was a flake of plastic that was in the piston head seal. This allowed oil to seep past the o-ring. Anyway, the fork works fine now.

 

[Greg M]

I am having the exact same problem at the moment. There was no single time when it gave out, just noticed it one day. I have just over one inch of travel on my Reba Race. I'll take it apart and report back.

 

[drum714]

WOW!

I Left for a 4 day trip to Moab and stopped in friuta on the way out. I noticed the same exact thing on my 06 Boxxer Ride. I was hrshly bottoming with 2 inches of travel remaining. I didn't have any previous malfunctions that would have lead me to belive there was a problem. I tried everything I could think of to fix the problem including droping the lowers and cycling the damper rod to be sure that it had full motion. When I droped the lowers, I leaked out around 25-30ml of oil from the bottom of the damper leg. I just assumed that RS over filled the lower leg lubrication so I just put everything back together again. The next day I rode Porcupine rim from the top of Kokipeli , and noticed that my reboud dampening was inconsistant(sp). When I got back to camp I did a full oil change and when I drained out the remaining oil which was only around 75ml. Unfortunatly my trip got cut short, and I haven't been able to get another ride on the fork yet. I'm ridding tomorow and if my travel does the same thing again, I'll be sure to look more carefully at that seal at the bottom of the stanction.