So I've just taken my Pikes apart for the first time and have a couple of questions. Hopefully the first one is easy: what is this?
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/77680117@N04/6970422844/ ]Weird rubber thing[/url]
It was stuck halfway down one of the lower legs when I pulled the uppers out. Is it meant to attach to anything or does it just sit over the damping rod?
Second question: part of the left stanchion has worn down, so the coating has come off around 1/3rd of the circumference around the area that sees the most action. This happened after a bunch of wet and muddy rides in Wales. Having taken the forks apart I can see the bushing for that leg has similar wear. Both the bushing and the stanchion are slightly rougher in the worn area than elsewhere. My thinking is that some dirt has got in and caused the wear, but is it possible that it's actually the bushing that is knackered and needs replacing? In other words, if I clean everything out is the problem likely to stop getting worse, or should I be looking at replacing the bushings too?
1)It's some bumper that's that meant to be in the bottom of the lowers.
2) Put it all back together and if there is play you will send it off for servicing .