Since the compression of the airspace is gradual, lessening the airspace will be felt by the rider from the middle of the fork’s stroke to the point of bottoming. Since air is compressible, a smaller airspace is harder to compress than a larger airspace, which results in a stiffer fork. What is the effect of changing oil height? Adding oil to your forks reduces the air volume. It should be noted that if all else fails, we have our favorite suspension shop’s phone number on speed dial. It works, it is free, and it doesn’t require taking the forks apart. Adjusting the fork-oil height is the trick that every suspension tuner keeps hidden up his sleeve. We click the clickers in every imaginable way, and when push comes to shove, we change the fork-oil height. We think we can find a fork fix without having to resort to spending hard-earned cash. It’s not that we don’t believe the suspension shops can improve the performance of the forks it’s just that we don’t want them to. The MXA wrecking crew does everything in its power to avoid sending the forks on our test bikes out to be revalved. KTM and Husqvarna, who have the best and simplest air forks, are the only brand sticking with air-but they can get away with it because their air forks work (and aren’t confusing to live with).

This helps the consumers, who was lost in a mish-mash of air valves and confusion, work with his forks. Now that the motorcycle manufacturers have come to their sense and are returning to coil spring forks, it’s time for some of the old tricks to resurface.

Mtb fork oil viscosity chart