trouble with sherman fork, wont spring back

safreek

*******
hi guys, I got myself a manitou Sherman that I have never used, there appears to be water in the internals as some comes past the seals or wipers, whatever
the top one is. if I compress the forks down they don't spring back after they travel an inch or so, photos coming. what could be causing this, oil or rooted travel adjuster. thanks for any help
IMG_20160726_083211.jpgIMG_20160726_083121.jpg
 
Last edited:

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
I still ride my Sherman fireflys great forks stiff ,reliable . Way ahead of their time.
If it is stuck down basically obviously pull them apart remove water doh, could be lack of oil/lube esp if seal stuffed on right leg after all these years , spring in L leg buggered,IMO when travel adjuster doesnt work it just doesnt stay down at 110 mm or whatever.
 

stirk

Burner
Moorey's full of hot air, I suspect your fork isn't.

Time for a full service if there's water in there.
 

shmity

Likes Bikes and Dirt
https://www.manitoumtb.com/support/

Two full service guides for shermans here, from what i can see they aren't a hard fork to pull down and have a look at. Dougle on MTBR is also the service guru at shockcraft in NZ who are the service agents for manitou over there and I believe he was still running a sherman not long ago, so he would be able to give you plenty of assistance on rebuilds and any parts you might need.
 

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
Yeah Moorey you need a translator with your comments cos they are just too cryptic and go over my head whoooosh!!!!!
 

moorey

call me Mia
Yeah Moorey you need a translator with your comments cos they are just too cryptic and go over my head whoooosh!!!!!
I love manitous, but they've had some dark times with poor quality control and reliability at times. I had 3 sets of Nixons from the same period. No issues with mine, but others weren't so lucky.
 

safreek

*******
https://www.manitoumtb.com/support/

Two full service guides for shermans here, from what i can see they aren't a hard fork to pull down and have a look at. Dougle on MTBR is also the service guru at shockcraft in NZ who are the service agents for manitou over there and I believe he was still running a sherman not long ago, so he would be able to give you plenty of assistance on rebuilds and any parts you might need.
cheers mate, the words wont download on the manual but I will persist, seems what I need.
 

SummitFever

Eats Squid
The Manitous can be notoriously difficult to get the lowers off if you undo the bottom nuts the wrong way. Get some sort of ratchet strap/tie down or super fat mate to compress the fork before you undo the nuts at the bottom of the lowers. If you undo them in a half-arse fashion it is possible to have them spin and then become impossible to undo. This is particularly relevant where the fork has had poor or improper maintenance and things might be seized up.
 

safreek

*******
thanks mate, perfect. the words download and all

shall be the first thing I check, the manual seems to explain the whole show pretty well
spring seems fine, shall have a crack at the oil side today. what oil would be the best

The Manitous can be notoriously difficult to get the lowers off if you undo the bottom nuts the wrong way. Get some sort of ratchet strap/tie down or super fat mate to compress the fork before you undo the nuts at the bottom of the lowers. If you undo them in a half-arse fashion it is possible to have them spin and then become impossible to undo. This is particularly relevant where the fork has had poor or improper maintenance and things might be seized up.
cheers mate, compress all the way. i assume that you release them for the oil change andputting back together
 

shmity

Likes Bikes and Dirt
spring seems fine, shall have a crack at the oil side today. what oil would be the best


cheers mate, compress all the way. i assume that you release them for the oil change andputting back together
Manitou have used a few different oils over the years, but all have been of a similar cSt (around 16@40 degrees). Recommended is Maxima 5wt performance fork oil or Motorex 2.5wt racing fork oil, either of those should be easy to find in a Moto shop. If they have a splash bath oil, the factory is using Maxima 50w40, I would recommend using that, as their forks seem to be fairly picky when it comes to bushing lubrication.
 

safreek

*******
Mr safreek I am eager to know the outcome of this please can you tell us when you know ?
shall do mate, going to do the non spring side probably tomorrow as work and booting tenants have taken all my time and mental energy. shall post photo of spring shortly but it seems fine
20160726_215828.jpg
 
Last edited:

safreek

*******
also does any one know if the non spring side has anything to do with the springiness of the fork, hydrolic pushing of any kind or something like that
 

safreek

*******
ok, pulled the whole show apart and can see no noticeable damage. not much oil in the lowers but I guess 16cc aint much. oil in the top of the leg was clean as. can anyone see any probs in the photo ( apart from they Manitou ) does the oil side actually provide any springback at all and is their any sort of hole or port that may get blocked. cheers for the help so far :wave: photos very soon
 

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
I am still following this one with interest.
I never realized how long the spring is ?
The right side just functions to dampen ie slow down the spring .
as I said earlier unless it is so dry that the friction wont allow it ?
If the port was completely blocked it would nt move far?
 
Top