Any info on Marzocchi bomber Z2's ?

[dyna-ti]

On my GTs Im running the following

98 z2
99 z3
99 junior T

Sod OEM judys that dont work and score their stanchions, these bad boys will outlive me!

Right on brother

 

[perry]

my old z1 seems to be progressive . i normally have forks hard as im rigid at heart but these are soft for about an inch to the point where lightly touching the bars moves them but ive never bottomed them out and ive tried

most forks ive used are either soft and slosh around or hard and pointless

the z1 is just right . shame i prefer the feeling of the dirt under the tyre that only rigid can give

 

[fingers]

You can alter the progression slightly - I use 7.5 wt oil slightly more than spec to ramp the travel up a bit.

 

[dyna-ti]

Its the progressivly wound springs.on the Z's as standard

i think its now a spring you have to pay extra for
progress eh?

 

[fingers]

The coils look constant on mine. thats why I raise oil height slightly to increase progession.

 

[perry]

ah , didnt know that , makes sense . ive never had them apart since getting them . theres a sticker on the leg for a proprietary cartridge too

they could do with being slightly harder but they are due seals as they leak slightly . i guess over time enough oil has gone to make them a bit softer than they should be

i also have some z1 dropoff that are a lot firmer so if push comes to shove i guess i can swap springs over

biggest problem i have is im a constant fettler . ill forever adjust something to find the point im most happiest with so forks with any kind of adjustment and im always adding or removing a turn on the compression or rebound

 

[jimihendrix]

On the verge of buying some Z1 MZs which have got slightly worn main bushings. I presume their replacement is a workshop job, but has anyone any idea of difficulty / cost / where I might get it done in Bristol or Merseyside areas?

Thanks,

Dr. Matt...

Bit of a late reply here but if you can fit new seals you can fit new bushes, they just pop out when the stanctions etc are out, had the bushes out of mine when i stripped them but they looked fine so i popped them back in, FWIW like most old skool forks i think the old Bombers will have a bit of fore and aft movement, should'nt be excessive though.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Ah crap, all this talk about Z2 Bombers is pushing the price of them up

Just as I think I may be coming in to needing some ('97 Kona) :evil:

 

[amedias]

I've got two pairs of Z2 Atom 80s (lighter than the old bam brace ones but almost identical internals) and they really are great, most reliable forks ever, more so than Z1s probably just because the shorter length means less fore/aft flex so seals and bushes last longer.

basically, tip the oil out twice a decade and replace. If the seals or bushes do eventually give up then its a 30-45 min job to replace them.

They ride great too, nice and plush, but ramp up at the end, never bottom out properly, huge rebound adjustment range, and you can fine tune with oil heights and weights. They really feel like a fork with more travel than they have.

...can you tell I'm a fan? the only short travel forks I rate higher for performance and reliability are Pace RC36s

 

[DoctorRad]

Bit of a late reply here but if you can fit new seals you can fit new bushes, they just pop out when the stanctions etc are out, had the bushes out of mine when i stripped them but they looked fine so i popped them back in, FWIW like most old skool forks i think the old Bombers will have a bit of fore and aft movement, should'nt be excessive though.

Is there any other bushing other than the 'guide bushing' in Z1s and Z2s? I presume there must be, as the service manual refers to 'main bushings' which should be replaced if fore-aft movement gets to much. It was these - if they're different from the pilot bushings - that I was assuming would be a bike shop replacement job.