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Hi all. Had a bit of an interesting experience flying blind last weekend trying (well, succeeding eventually) to change the fork oil in my late Marzocchi forks. I have a 2004 v11 LeMans and at 23,000 km it was due for a fork oil change. I also intended to lighten up the fork oil as Steve Gurry recommended (and did to good effect) on my brother in law's 2001 V11 Sport, to reduce the harshness of compression impacts and fix the spooky handling issues I've been chasing at bigger lean angles on my bike. These had to be the oddest set of forks I've ever worked on. The top caps would not come off when loosened, but were affixed firmly to the top of the cartridges, which in the usual manner were and are bolted in to the lowers. Removing the fork caps to change the fork oil required disassembling the front wheel and fender and removing the cartridge bolts, which double as oil drains. The whole of the cartridge and the fork cap then comes out as a unit. No simple process of popping the fork cap off to suck out most of the oil and then remove the springs to reset the oil level with compressed fork..... it's not even possible to take the springs out while leaving the cartridges in to check oil level! I ended up thoroughly draining (and cleaning) the cartridges and lowers and then going with a volume measurement. That would be a first for me, filling without measuring the actual level. Odd, but there appears to be no way to take a conventional measurement. In any event, my question (yes I have one and I'll get to it) is that I need to add a bit more preload to the fork springs, and I can't figure out how I would disassemble them to do it. The spring rate appears fine, I just have too much of both static and rider sag and need to add to the captured plastic spacers (new longer ones actually) that are captive with the springs between the cartridges and the fork caps. The manual I have (2003) is of no assistance as it does not show enough detail, and the detailed manual I have is earlier and consistent with my brother in law's Early marzocchi's with the compression in one leg and rebound in the other. I have rebound damping adjustments on both legs, no compression adjustability (just an unused adjuster boss on the fork lower to frustrate me) and from conversation to date with the local suspension guru apparently the swaged fork cartridges that can't be disassembled. There must, however, be a way to change springs and preload spacers. By the way, I have changed to a lighter (7w blend) Amsoil synthetic fork oils from the original fill in the forks, which incidentally appeared much, MUCH heavier than the 10w that the manual calls for. The change has been fantastic and with a bit more preload I hope I'll have her dialed in. I did see a reference to sticking a small allen key in to a set hole on the cartridge, walking the spring down and undoing a nut under the fork cap. Tried this, and the nut just seemed to spin (or perhaps the preload nut on top I was holding did) and all I got from it in the end was a buggered allen key. There must be a more robust and reliable way to do this. I realize that the later V11 bikes are a pretty small subset of the population and most I've seen posted about have been the later Ohlins forks. I'm not that fortunate, but would be happy with the performance of mine (with the new fluid) if I could just figure out how to get the preload correct. Anyone help?