AER48 Oil Level

[JG2]

Have any of you guys lowered the oil level in your AER48 forks and if so, would you call it a success? How much did you take out?

[dirtyboy]

I find the AER 48 very sensitive to oil height change.

Stock is 200ml and I'm happy with 195ml running air pressure lower than stock.

[JG2]

Dirtyboy, so you drained 5ml of oil out of each tube? Or did you drain it out of the air bleed hole by compressing the fork?

I'm getting conflicting info here; MXA says flip the dampening fork leg (RHS) over and compress fork with air bleed screw removed to drain oil but I've read elsewhere to drain oil from both legs via the top fork caps. I'm not sure which is correct?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[dirtyboy]

Just filled with 195ml instead of 200ml. I thought the air bleed holes were for air.

I disassemble and also clean and inspect the fork seals before refilling. Otherwise, my experience is that it leaks the week after because of dirt in the seal.

[JG2]

In case any one with AER48's is wondering I had success taking 20ml oil out of each fork leg.

I am pretty big (235lbs w/o gear) and probably pretty slow compared to many on this site and found my AER48 forks harsh so I took MXA's advice and used a zip tie on one fork leg and kept lowering the air pressure aiming for 1-1/2" from bottoming (this was at the track - still need to play with air pressure at MacLean, but this gives me a starting point at least).

I still don't have it 1-1/2" from bottoming yet but I am at 115psi and the forks are feeling much better at the track; I will keep dropping pressure until it's at 1-1/2" from bottoming and start playing with clickers at that point.

Just an FYI.

[dirtyboy]

Wow, those numbers are very odd. 115psi and 180ml oil in there? FYI I'm 165lbs and run 128-131lbs and 195ml oil and my forks are very soft but I don't bottom.....often.

Are you sure that the forks are not binding? (The adjustment where you clamp the forks to the axle). I do find that the bottom of the fork needs to be pushed inwards a bit from resting to make the tubes parallel.

[bikingagain]

I run about 133psi and 200ml. I’m around 180lbs
Those numbers seem low to me.

[trailguy]

Something is wrong, I'm 150 lbs. and run 125 -127psi and my forks are soft but very rarely bottom.

[JG2]

Forks aren't bottoming, but as mentioned, the zip tie is 1-1/2 to 2" from bottoming. I know it's quite a low air pressure and the tuner who revalved them also says it's too low (minimum in manual is 102ps howeveri) and I need to try them at MacLean but they feel good at the track. I can finally feel the damn things compressing through the rollers.

I am pretty sure the forks aren't binding as I am careful to spin the axle in and then compress them, spin the wheel and slam the brake on a few times prior to torquing each axle holder. I've had them off a few times and it wasn't as if the forks were suddenly very harsh, or unrideable by any means, I'm just trying to make them better.

The zip tie bit is from MXA, the low air pressure must mean I'm even slower than I thought.

[AJRJ]

The air pressure in the air fork also fills the balance chamber; higher pressures also have a counteracting higher balancing pressure. The Fork doesn't behave like the one on an older bike. Higher pressures are not necessarily harsher, and lower pressures still resist the bottoming that can be so detrimental to a forks performance. Obviously the key to a smooth fork is that air pressures must be checked and adjusted on a stand, with zero weight at all on the front end. Otherwise the balance chamber doesn't get the correct pressure, causing a harsher ride.

IMO I would take the pressures back into a normal range, and really try to ride the bike without any "ideas" about how it's acting. the AER fork is pretty awesome out of the box, but the range of tuning can be a bit overwhelming.

[JG2]

I always bleed forks cold on stand with front wheel off ground and do the same for my air pressure. I will keep playing but am making progress, at the track at least.

They are working much better than my re-valved cartridge forks on my 2013 300, just not perfect yet. I will bump up the air and try again!

[JG2]

Update on this - I had Ken @ Blackfoot Direct revalve these with a "Hard Enduro" setting he has been working on and the forks are very, very good now.

They were great at the MX track Saturday and with a few clicks less compression they were excellent at MacLean Creek yesterday.

I will still play with the air pressure a bit (I had 130psi in them) to totally dial them in but as of right now they are great.