marzocchi z4 bomber rebuild

[aclg]

so now that i received some extremely valuable insight into the M752 cranks,
I need to do some shopping. So the 2003XT only needs the allen to remove..this sounds great, and their quite solid to ride?

ok my next question is concerning forks...ive got the z4 bombers and they feel a little slow to react nowadays..i think they are around 2yrs or so. I was told they were easy to maintain when I bought them, but wanted to get the advice of the experts out there.... do these simply need to be oil filled, or is there rebuilding involved like Judys for example. I turn them over and each arm has a bolt or 'plug' just waiting to be pulled...what to do????? thanks guys, happy turkey day
aclg

[Rocky Mountain]

Check out Marzoochi's website for the manual if you do not have it already. This model specific manual will explain how to take it apart and provide an exploded assy. view. As far as how easy it is that depends on the person of course. I have always shipped it to them in CA for $65 factory rebuild which is probably higher priced now.

[Magic]

You will need new oil and dust seals after you change the oil. Plus you need the special tools to take out the seals and put them back in. I do my Z1's about twice a year in bad years. They are simple to work on if you have the tools and time.

[Standard]

They're feeling slow because the oil is contaminated with debris that has worked it's way in throughout 2 years. You'll want to tear them down and clean everything out. It's really not that hard at all.

Start out with a clean work area and a bucket to catch the oil in. I usually lay down rag or two on the workbench to place the parts on in the order I remove them.

I'm not entirely familiar with the Z4's, but most Zoke's are pretty similar. Start by removing the preload knobs, should be a 1.5mm allen on the side of them. You can then remove the top caps (24 or 26mm, can't remember) and pull out the springs and any spacers that are in there. Sometimes the springs are different lengths and the spacer setup is different in each leg, so remember to keep track.

From this point, you can turn the fork upside down and dump a good amount of oil out of it. You'll probably see that it's pretty much black. Seeing as this is the first time the fork has seen any service, you'll probably want to tear it all the way down. At this point, you'll want to undo the 2 nuts in the bottom of the leg, should be 15mm and you'll probably need a deep socket to get at them. Some more oil will probably spill out, so have a bucket underneath the fork. After those 2 nuts are off, you can pull the lowers off of the fork.

Now's the time to clean everything off with a handful of clean rags or paper towels. If you're really ambitous you can spray it all down with degreaser, then rinse thoroughly with water and let it sit overnight to dry out.

If you're replacing the dust seals, they can be pried out with a screwdriver if you're careful not to damage the sealing surfaces of the fork. The oil seals are held in by a large c-clip and are underneath the oil seals. To press them in, you can use a piece of PVC pipe that fits over the lip of the seal.

Now, as the saying goes, installation is the reverse of removal :D

You'll want some good quality synthetic 7.5 or 10wt shock oil. Just about any good motorcycle shop should have some. Golden Spectro is about the best if you can find it, Bel-Ray is good also. The only reason to go with heavier(10wt+) oil is if you felt it rebounded too fast, or are a bigger guy. Otherwise stick with the stock 7.5wt.

Bolt the lowers back to the uppers, and compress the fork fully. Marzocchi measures the oil lever as the height from the top of the stanchions. For the Z4, you'll want the oil level to be at least 45mm from the top. You can raise it to 40mm if you felt the fork bottomed out too easily.

Once you have that done, put the springs and spacers back in and bolt everything together.

Simple, eh?

Just let me know if you have any questions or if I missed anything.

[Standard]

I have always shipped it to them in CA for $65 factory rebuild which is probably higher priced now.

What exactly do they do in the factory rebuild? Does it include new seals or anything? I could possibly save you some money on that.

[aclg]

thankz mike, i finally got my frame now i will start in on the forks.
I appreciate your help with the rebuild notes ill let you know how it goes...probably have a lot of MN river sand in there too....yikes
aclg