Shock absorber

A shock absorber, comprising:

• a shock absorber main body including
• a vehicle-body side tube, and
• a pair of upper and lower bearings, the lower bearing being mounted on an inner periphery of the vehicle-body side tube,
• a wheel side tube slidably inserted into the vehicle-body side tube via the pair of upper and lower bearings, the upper bearing being mounted on an outer periphery of the wheel side tube,
• a lubrication clearance being formed between the pair of upper and lower bearings;
• a damper including
• a cylinder which stands in an axial center part of the wheel side tube and stores a working fluid,
• a piston slidable along an inner periphery of the cylinder, the piston partitioning an interior of the cylinder into two working chambers, and
• a rod which intrudes into and exits from the cylinder via the piston;
• a reservoir chamber formed between the shock absorber main body and the damper, the reservoir chamber being composed of an air chamber and a working fluid chamber and configured to compensate for the working fluid when the working fluid becomes excessive and insufficient in the damper;
• a partition wall member partitioning the working fluid chamber into an upper working fluid chamber and a lower working fluid chamber;
• a flow path formed in the partition wall member and allowing for communication between the upper working fluid chamber and the lower working fluid chamber;
• a check valve in the flow path to permit only a movement of the working fluid from the upper working fluid chamber to the lower working fluid chamber;
• and
• a communication path allowing communication between the lower working fluid chamber and the lubrication clearance,
• wherein a cross-sectional area of the lubrication clearance and that of the rod are different.