Hi all, So, a few weeks back I posted on here as my mazzochi forks had blown the rebound bladder, which made the bike quite frankly, terrifying to ride hard. This seems to be a common theme on these forks from what I've read but my local Ducati dealership are adamant it's not an issue ducati recognise, and quoting 'only had one blown bladder in our workshop since the Pani first came out 8 years ago' Anyway, moan over, I decided to see if there was a more economical way of fixing the rebound, without the expense of complete internals, and I have! Now whilst I know a full set of upgraded internals will improve the already good forks, I personally didnt have the budget for it, and whilst I'm not a bad fast rider....Guy Martin I am not! So an upgrade like that would likely be lost on me Back on track.....I found that you can buy just an upgraded rebound valve from a company called Andreani which I managed to get for £100 after shopping round, and I thought it would be worth a go. So they arrived from Italy in only a few days and on reading the instructions, I quickly realise this is a job for a man who knows suspension! I removed the forks and took them to Paul at Race Labs in Dorset who agreed to fit the new valves in conjunction with a full fork service. Paul has previously set my suspension up and commented at the time he wasnt happy with the rebound damping. Once the forks were done, I dashed to pick them up and had a good chat with Paul and the a few things he said about the install were: The bladder needs to be cut off as it has pressed rings holding it in place and the piston in each fork leg needs to be machined down to accommodate the upgraded rebound valves. The upgraded valve also has a lot more shims than the standard allowing for more adjustment than the standard valve Paul took pictures of the install which I'll put up soon as he gets them to me. So, bottom line: is it any good? Yes! I took the bike out yesterday for the first time and after a bit of a play with the rebound adjustment all seems very good, and feels a vast improvement on the front end since I've had the bike, though I do think the rebound has been on it's way out since I bought the bike a few months ago. What was the final cost? Andreani Upgraded Rebound Valves £100 (free p&p ) Race Labs install of valves and service, including new seals, ohlins oil, machining work, labour etc £250 £350 all in, and considerably cheaper than every other option I looked at. Hope this is of some interest and a big thanks to Paul at Race Labs who comes highly recommended!
Great Post, thanks. Much cheaper than the options I was aware of 1: new Ohlins R & T, maybe £2500 approx? 2: various cartridge kits, £800 to £1200, same external Marzocchi fork, and little chance of recouping money spent. 3: Repair stock forks, only to have them fail soon after as one forum member has had 3 times! Or 4: buy R model Ohlins, with top triple clamp to match. This is what I went for in the end, number 4, although they were very harsh on the road, and needed MCT to do their magic to make it ride properly, (base 1299). At least I may get some cash back when I sell separately to bike sale. My Ducati dealer in Buckinghamshire also refused to acknowledge a fault in forks!
I did try and talk my ducati dealer into fixing it gratis, as it seems to be a common theme on these forks, but as you've confirmed, Ducati are adamant this isn't an issue! I do wonder if anyone has taken this up with Mazzochi themselves? Tbh, if I could have found some R forks for an affordable price I probably would have gone that route. I did locate an Ohlins forks dealer in Italy who can supply FL9560 Ohlins forks for £1699. Still a lot, but cheapest I could find! Ebay item 223681660073 for anyone interested I may at some point upgrade to ohlins, should a set become available and affordable, but for now I'm very pleased with my upgraded rebound valve fix!
Thanks for the review and sharing your experience with us. I have an 1199 with marzocchi forks and have been considering an up grade but need to keep it a reasonable price. This way of upgrading does seem to cure the one questionable area of design on these forks. I have read that Darren at MCT is no fan of the bladder design either. I will have to see what he thinks. I would still consider using your recommened suspension guy, but I can hand deliver my forks to MCT
The Mazzochi forks aren't bad tbh, and this was the most economical way I could find to fix the reliability issue and also upgrade the rebound valve. I think you'll find it a worth while modification!
Have previously seen Darren at MCT to set up my 848’s forks - lighter spring and set up - amazing difference, just had him replace the cartridges also, will never go anywhere else
Very interesting... the standard Marzocchi fork has dual chambers. The pumping element provides compression and rebound dampening and is completely isolated from the fork reservoir which holds fluid for fork lubrication. The photos you've shown, aside from changes to the pistons/valving, show the bladder removed and the upper cap on the pumping element no longer containing a relief for an "O" ring. It looks like it's been transformed into an open chamber style fork. would that be correct to say?
Another question... the pumping element on a standard Marzocchi fork contains roughly 120 ml of oil fully bled. The reservoir should be filled with an additional 140 ml of oil (according to the shop manual) which yields an air gap in the neighborhood of 140 mm. So a typical Marzocchi fork will hold a total of ~260 ml of oil. With the changes you've made, how much oil should be introduced into the fork? What's the recommended air gap for this set up?
As I understand it, with the bladder effectively removed it now operates like a set of conventional forks. I'd have to have a look at the spec sheet, but from memory the air gap was much the same. What I do know is the front end is much improved over standard and is now a permanent fix for what does seem to be an issue on the standard forks
My advice, bin the Marzocchi’s. The only good thing they have going for them is they are light. The upgrade paths are all expensive and you’re unlikely to recoup any of that investment later on. Look to swap the forks out for something else. In my case, I fitted a set of Showa BPFs from a V4 and swapped out the top yoke and clipons from a 959. Transformed the front end straight away and any upgrade / cartridge system replacement will be more attractive come sale time as the BPFs fit a whole range of bikes, not just all Pani’s. (Incidentally I’ll be selling my set up imminently as I’ve a new bike on the way ).
This is great I've had issues with my forks for years I've bought one used from Ebay twice I've had the set in the shop, I'm even thinking if buying an 899 front end to put on my bike. But I'll try this first.
