So, you have had your damper on your bike for a while now.  You have become so accustomed to it being there, you have almost forgotten you have one except for when you clip that tree pretty hard in third gear and don’t have to stop and clean your pants out!

Sound familiar???  It does to me, so after a couple of years of serious use on my Scotts I wondered… should I do more than just spray the mud and dirt off it when I get home from riding??  Well as you can see you below you definitely should!!!!

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I was amazed at how dirty it was, and was ashamed I had let it go that long. So I am believer in servicing your damper.  Scotts has a quick guide to servicing your damper which is pretty good, but there are a few small things they leave out.

·        Required tools are: 3mm and 2.5mm hexs.  The Scotts bullet tool is nice to have, but not necessary in my opinion.

Cleaning the damper body is pretty easy with contact/brake cleaner and a little pressurized air.  Just be sure to get all the cleaner out of the small orifices in the top cap.

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At this point, all you have to do is clean the oring, apply a little grease to the seal, and re-install the cap. (using the bullet tool if you have it)

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Now, the tougher part.... filling it with oil and bleeding it.  First, remove the two bleed screws. 

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Here is where the Scotts manual is lacking a little. Turn the damper on its side, move the arm all the way to the bottom bleed hole, and using a squeeze bottle with a tapered tip inserted in the bottom hole, force the oil into the damper until it runs out the top hole free of bubbles.  At this point hold constant pressure on the squeeze bottle and install the top screw.  You can now remove the bottle and install the bottom screw.  Turn the arm and feel for any large air bubbles.  Remove one screw and hold the damper so the air bubbles will rise to the open bleed hole.  Add oil as necessary, swapping bleeding holes, until the arm feels smooth across the entire sweep.  The goal is to only have one small bubble in the body for thermal expansion. 

Now you have a freshly serviced damper ready to roll!!!!

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