p 2 the oil 50 has a viscosity as shown in fig2 for which a surface 52 thereof is higher than the damping device 40 for a predetermined distance and an air chamber 60 is formed between the surface 52 and the nozzle 22 a high pressure gas is issued into the air chamber 60 via the nozzle 22 to make the front fork 100 having a pressure in the air chamber 60 greater than that of outside the pressure in the air chamber 60 can be adjusted to meet a riders 39 requirements as the fork compresses oil flows through the damping devise 40 into the cavity of the upper fork tube 20 reducing the volume available for the pressurize gas 60 as this gas further compresses the force acting on the surface of the oil 52 increases exponentially this rise in pressure also effects the damping characteristic of the spool valve 44 to increase the damping coefficient of the system as the pressure rises the relative volume allowed for the pressurized gas 60 with respect to the intended fork stroke sets the progressive feel of the fork for the rider this feel can be easily changed and tailored to a given rider by adding or removing small amounts of oil and by increasing or decreasing the initial pressure of the gas 60 as shown in fig4 when a smaller impact is exerted on the front fork 100 some oil 50 will flow through the orifice 422 which has a smaller flow area but the spool valve or piston 44 is not moved because of the pressure in the air chamber 60 and the spring 46 under this condition the.