My thoughts on the HI-5

  The hi-5 is a decent fork for the beginner.
It handles well and can be massaged into a
great fork for the money. I spent 2 years riding on this fork and as far as maintenance goes it's very easy to work on.  You can't go wrong if you consider USING THIS FORK FOR MODERATE dh'n.
Something's to keep in mind are you are limited to tires size and braking (pre `98).
Tires I've  used :
                                     IRC Kujo 2.25  ( The best)
                                     Kenda  2.35      ( OK, tight)
                                     velocraptor 2.1 ( easy fit)

brakes are another issue:
            v-brakes are good but get really
      hairy when you run anything bigger
      than the 2.25. when running the 2.35 i
      had about 1/8" clearance from tire to
      x-over cable.
            Maguras ( i haven't tried) might run
      into the same problem with the x-over
      tube.
           disk ( i haven't tried) your best bet..
 

  recalled
please call rst for recall info --->
                  rst phone#  1800-227-6778
they are replacing them with a hybrid
     delta hx-> half delta xl- half hi-5