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I currently have my mountain bike disassembled, I broke a tire and needed some space in my room. The frame is resting upside down on the saddle and handlebar.
The fork itself is a Rock Shox SID Dual Air (pretty old model, I guess 2001). As this fork relies - to my best knowledge - only on air, storing it upside down shouldn't be a problem. Am I correct, what about other types of suspension forks?
Most bike shops hang a substantial portion of their inventory and repairs upside down to save space. I'm not aware of a fork that cannot be stored upside down. As pointed out by DWGKNZ, forks with degraded seals and wipers may be more prone to leaking since the oil is up against them and gravity + capillary action are at work.
Some forks with fancy valving may take a little while to get back to normal, for instance some of the Specialized Brain shocks take a while for the platform to behave properly again after being stored inverted.
You will not damage a suspension fork by hanging it upside down. Although the fork is air sprung it also uses oil for dampening in one of the legs. Oil may leak if your seals are degraded. The seals in suspension forks are made to ensure they don't react with the suspension oil. The oil will actually help lubricate the seals.
This is the same for coil (spring based) forks.
Once you refit your fork it will take time to settle back to its original state.
Rock Shox Dual Airs do actually have a small amount of oil in them. You have to keep the fork upside down for a minute or so before adding air to the lower leg. If you don't do this, some oil will spray out of the valve and make a mess when you attach the pump.
