Manitou Minute Service Manual Sucks...

So my Manitou Minute fork has not really behaved since last year when I rebuilt the fork. The main reason I rebuilt the fork last year was because of my girth - I needed a stiffer spring in it. Since then it hasn't been plush like it was when it was new. It was always a little rough over the smaller bumps, but apparently this is common on 2004 SPV forks and has been addressed with the 2005-2006 models. Lucky me. So I get out the crappy Manitou service manual and start again trying to decypher what the hell they want me to do. I relieve the air chamber from the SPV valve and I notice that I have the damn SPV pressure cap on the wrong side of the fork. A quick check of the manual, and sure enough they show it in one picture with the damn thing on the wrong side. Well what does this mean? It means I have been running 50 PSI in the compression chamber and 125 in the SPV chamber. This does not make for a smooth riding fork. The port that makes the bike not bob when I pedal had almost three times too much pressure and the wrong volume, and the chamber tha adds to the spring for compression was way too low. So the high pressure wouldn't let the fork compress, and when it did it would almost immediately bottom out. Makes for a great handling bike. I go to release the pressure from the SPV valve and instead of air I get sprayed in the face with oil. That is not a good sign. Remove the upper pressure caps and they look OK other than the ammount of oil in the SPV chamber. I am thinking that since I had the wrong pressure this was the cause of the excess oil (not enough pressure). So I remove the knobs from the bottom of the fork and remove the nut holding the compression side. I go to twist the SPV valve side into the fork le to remove it and I notice that the hex in it is all cracked and broken to the point that the part that holds the bottom of my fork to the top is completely broken. So what does this mean to me? I don't get to ride this weekend. So I start putting the parts of the fork back together that I can and I get to the part where you add the dampening oil. This is where I realized the Manitou factory manual sucks. It tells you to, "fill the leg about _ full." What the hell is _ full? It also refers to an oil part number that does not exist. Later in another section it refers to filling this with 5wt oil, and an email from Manitou has confirmed this. So after I filled the oil _ full I stroke the piston up and down several times. Then I am to fill the leg to the specified level. What specified level? Later in the torque values it lists said level. Nice that they tell you where to find the level. The damping oil level specification calls for 3.9", 75mm, 120cc. First off 3.9" is not 75mm, it is 99mm. Then after measuring off exaclty 120cc of 5wt oil I decided to measure the oil. It was 6" of oil! So what the hell is it, 120cc, 3.9", 99mm, or 75mm? This manual is retarded. I read the manual for the 5th time to be sure that there isn't some obscure reference to the correct way to measure the oil be it the cc or the height in the tube and find nothing. I go to the web and look at the 2005 fork manual to see if it is similar or perhaps better. Well I do find that "_ full" was supposed to be "1/4 full". Wow that helps, but again the specification calls out 84mm, 3.3", 120cc. Well at least this time they have the inch to mm conversion correct (well at least close, it is really 83.82). Still no reference as to how you can put 120cc of oil into this and somehow it makes 3.3", is that from the top or the bottom? Well in either case it is WAY off, 6" deep and 5" from the top. Since I wasn't going to be able to finish the job due to the broken part anyway I decide to go browse the net to see if anyone has the part I need and if I can find a better description on how to properly measure the damping oil. I found a beautiful thing, a manual for a Manitou Minute fork that is step by step, clear, concise, and shows how to measure the ammount of fork oil to put in! The funny thing is that it is a web site for replacement fork seals, and to replace the seals you don't have to take the fork apart to the level that you would need to replace the damping oil, they do it because if you have to dig into the fork you might as well do the full job. Bravo for creating a GREAT manual. If you are interested I will have the links to the two manuals so you can compare them and see what a huge difference. I didn't need to replace my fork seals, but since they had such a great manual that makes what should be an easy job even easier I bought a set of seals and a fork oil syringe. Support the ones you love. The 120cc of oil is to over fill, and then using a piece of tubing cut to 84mm on the end of the syringe you pull the remaining oil out leaving you at the perfect level. THANK YOU Endoro Fork Seals for such a well thought out manual. It isn't even the manual specifically for my fork (Minute 1:00 vs 3:00) but it is close enough and detailed enough that the rest is a breeze.

I am still in trouble though. The place I ordered parts for my fork from last year no longer carries the part I need and I cannot find it anywhere on the web. Going to make a phone call to Manitou and hope they can get it to me fast, I want to o ride...

Manitou Manual

Enduro Fork's Manual