air valve on fork is leaking

I'm sure this has been asked before but I searched the forum and didn't find an answer.

I am switching out my handlebars so I figured I would check the pressure in the air valves of my forks. One side was so low that it wouldn't register on my guage. I put about 15 psi in it and could instantly hear slight high pitched hissing. I tried to tighten the valve core but that didn't help. Can the valve stem be replaced or do I more than likely have a bigger problem?

 

The valve stem is the same as a car or bike tire stem. Dab some soapy water on it to see if is thevalve core. Might be the cap o-ring .

 

I don't have air forks but isn't 15psi a tad high? Shouldn't it be around like, 0-6psi? Hate to see you pop a seal...

 

I don't know how you put air in but you don't want to use a high pressure air compressor or you can damage the seals. Use a hand pump only! 15 pounds isn't to high, 17 is the maximum. Also, each time you measure you loose about 1.5 lbs of pressure.

 

my book recomends 5-12 and lists 25 as max. I put in 18-20 then gas it down with the gage until it reads 15 when the gage is tightly sealed and not leaking any then sharply snap the gage away from the stem. I can't say I've ever tried 12 EXACTLY but I did quite a bit of test riding with 5, 8, 10 psi and found them all to be too soft for my taste. I went to 15 and really liked it.
I'm about 180 lbs and carry another 15lbs of tools in my tank bag. I figure the tools and what-not in the saddle bags don't matter much to the front so I won't mention them.

 

That's interesting, I've settled at about 13-14 myself under similar circumstances.

 

I used a bike pump and 15 psi to see if it would hold. I switched the valve stems left to right and now they both seem to be holding. I will check it tomorrow and see if it held.

Is it bad if the valve stems had a bit of oil on them? I'm not really sure how to know if the forks are in good condition.

 

probably helps the rubber seats seal

my guess is that whatever piece of crud got in there to prevent it from sealing was cleaned off in the swapping process. *fingers crossed*

Do you have little chromey covers on 'em? if not that would be a buck and a half well spent.