Marzocchi Strada (rebuild)

Graham, depends on you really.

If it is a concours restoration then a set of original shocks would be a necessity.

If it is to be used and abused (hopefully) then I would put that money towards more modern stuff.

Up to you.
 
I would say YES - to store them properly on the shelve until the date you sell your bike and the buyer wants original look...

They will go worn within 20.000Km of usage and are - compared to modern shocks like YSS, Maxton, Wilbers etc. - crap.
 
There is a short photo type guide in the current Classic Bike mag...you need to have/make a peg spanner for one thing. Anyone know how much oil and what type to put in...would heavier oil provide better (some?!) damping. I have a kit with which i plan to use on a set of Stradas now that my luverly Wilburs have taken over...
Nick7
 
Hi Nick, from when I briefly used Strada's in the past, I don't think the problem was of too little damping, rather, too much. This, combined with high internal friction (leads to extra damping) and high spring rates led to the 'solidity' of the whole unit. This is only a seat of the pants analysis though.

Which weight of oil? If you are familiar with the performance of the old shocks > test the oil that comes out of them. You can do this easily....

get a container and put a tiny hole in the bottom. Time how long the 'old' oil takes to run out of the container, through the hole. Then put in some new oil and time that. If you want to go for heavier damping, find an oil that takes a little longer to run out, and vice-versa. It will not give you an SAE figure, just give you a direction.

Make sure old and new oils are at the same temp (the warmer the better). Leave em both on a central heater boiler overnight or something.

HTH

Hag.
 
Thanks for that Paul ...guess  was assuming that they lack damping because they are invariably referred to as oversprung. S'funny, but I remember them being considered the bees-knees back in the day. In the event that the damping rod is less than perfect, presumably they can be re-chromed (no doubt at a cost!) .How much oil...maybe this is in the manual which I think I have in a drawer somewhere ::)
nick7
 
Workshop manual on Ebay for Stradas item 250 731 862 028
Shaun
 
lemonjelly said:
Workshop manual on Ebay for Stradas item 250 731 862 028
Shaun
Click to expand...

Thanks Shaun

its available as a pdf download from the iLOC site

www.iloc.co.uk/gallery/albums/.../Marzocchi_Rear_Shocks_Manual.pdf

I'll be rebuilding them and to keep its original spec, until Keith comes up with an alternative, then shelving until the bike is sold (one day maybe)

Thanks every one

Graham
 
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