Noticed whilst out riding last night, that when I pull up (relatively firmly) on the handlebars, the suspension forks (Recon Race) make a sort of “hissing” noise. its not something Ive noticed before – is this normal/common fault/easily fixed? It almost sounds like a release of suction noise?
Any help would be appreciated!

Oil moving through gates / valves as the forks extend?
Knackered seals drawing air into the fork when it extends?

No idea really, just throwing a couple of ideas into the pot.

Grasssnake caught in your spokes?

both my pikes and my rebas (also motion control) make that noise when I am riding them ‘properly’ as opposed to slowly and gently. I think its just oil in the damping swishing around. I quite like it.

Thats the sound of the oil in them doing its job of slowing the fork rebound down…

Thats reassuring to know then. It did only make a noise when I pulled up sharply, so the rebound idea woul dmake sense. Now I’ve just got to address the creaking handlebar-stem join. Im assuming a thin layer or grease is the usual path…….

creaking handlebar-stem join

Hmm, probably not tight enough or unevenly tight. I wouldn’t use grease – after all, you don’t want the bits to move.

Proper procedure is as follows. Remove bars. Go over the clamp area with a bit of emery cloth removing any burrs or sharp edges on the clamp and stem. Clean both the bars and the stem very thoroughly. You can assemble them dry but if you want to, use some assembly paste – it’s either a sticky grease or grease with grit in it. Then tighten up to the specified torque, or as close as you can get it. Don’t overtighten, but also don’t undertighten. Just firm with an allen key should do it – don’t lean on the thing.

Cheers molgrips – will have to give it some attention tonight!!thanks again.