Around 2 1/4 years after I took delivery of my Interceptor, the rear shock aborbers lost their damping - no visible leaks & the units cycled smoothly, they just didn't feel any different under compression & rebound and the rear of the bike felt lower than usual. The units were replaced under warranty and normal service was resumed.

This summer we had a couple of days away and, for a change, I took the Interceptor - it hadn't had much use so far this year. The rear felt lower than usual, the ride harsh and, on my return home, there didn't seem to be any difference betweeen compression & rebound. So after another 2 1/2 years or so the same situation as previously.

Looking around for more information, all that comes up WRT RE Interceptor rear shocks is how to replace them with something else - cost between £100-ish for budget NJBs via £3-400-ish Hagons / budget YSS to £600+ for posh YSS/ Wilbers etc.

But I did come across a YT vdeo from someone who had hacked apart a standard RE rear shock & I concluded that the problem maybe just a loss of pressure in the remote reservoir. More hunting around & I found how to recharge them - not obvious to a suspension novice, as there is no valve fitted like the remote Marzocchis I fitted to various bikes in the '80s. Seems other manufactures (Ohlins & Fox for 2) also don't use a valve but instead use a hypodermic needle on an adapter pushed through a rubber plug that seals off the bottom of the remote reservoir cylinder.

A quick look around Ebay found the tool required :



Basically a tee fitting with a gauge one side, a Schraeder valve at the bottom & a Luer hyperdemic needle adapter at the other + 2 needles. At £18 delivered it seemd worth a punt. The "correct" gas to use seems to be 100% nitrogen, but I don't have access to that so elected to use 78% nitrogen instead (ambient air !). Pressure was a "best guess" - seen various values varying from 120 to 350 psi, but initially used a bicycle track pump to put in around 120-150 psi to see what difference (if any) this made.

Hooked up the tool to the pump hose, pushed the needle though a hole in the steel closing plate at the bottom of the shock reservoir and continued through the resistance of the rubber plug behind it, a couple of pumps on the pump hande to build up pressure & pulled out the needle. Repeat for the other side and - lo and behold - the rear of the bike has come up and normal compression and reboud function has been restored. A subsequent 220 mile run out showed that the ride quality and handling has returned to pre-problem condition.

So while I don't know if the pressure I have put in is "factory correct" and the gas filling is probably "contaminated", the shocks appear to be working as before so I will take this as a win.

Nigel B.