Progressive Spring in a Gold Wing

[buddy]

Peg & I took the 01 Wing out for a ride tonight and I have to say these Progressive Springs in the front are awful hard, and makes the ride very uncomfortable. I noticed the front end was hard when I test drove the Wing, it was rough and figured I get used to the stiff ride, But I have to say this is enough for me. I did the bounce test with the front brakes applied and I could hardly get the forks to move down any and I weight 230lbs, man these things are stiff. As for going down the road I can see them move some over rough roads but not much and the front end feels hard as a rock, you can feel every crack in the road. Also did a power brake they go down maybe 1 - 1 1/2" does this sound like their way to stiff? I never had progressives before and I'm going in the forks and see what I can do to get a smoother ride. I just may go back to stock set up I loved the ride the 08 put out.

I did notice that the 01 Wing with progressive springs handle the roads better in MO & AR than the 08 Wing did . But I rather have the smoother ride affect....

Has anyone did any changes to the Progressive Springs to get a smoother ride?

Buddy

[brscooter]

http://www.goldwingfacts.com/forums/

 

Buddy go to this site and ask them. I recently got a GW trike and am told this is the best site. I also joined GWRRA and thier discussion site is very informative as I have asked several questions and got reasonable answers. I am glad i joined GWRRA as I have met some great people in the 4 meeting I have gone to and have made several rides of 300 miles + and a few shorter ones. The group I am in is a lot like the guys I have met here and you can never get enough friends like these, well almost never.

[DragonRider]

Lyle, how are you liking the GW Trike. Sure hope to see you at Vogel this year. Do you miss the Venture at all, I had forgot you had move to a GW Trike.......this post just reminded me........Hope to see soon.

 

http://www.goldwingfacts.com/forums/

 

Buddy go to this site and ask them. I recently got a GW trike and am told this is the best site. I also joined GWRRA and thier discussion site is very informative as I have asked several questions and got reasonable answers. I am glad i joined GWRRA as I have met some great people in the 4 meeting I have gone to and have made several rides of 300 miles + and a few shorter ones. The group I am in is a lot like the guys I have met here and you can never get enough friends like these, well almost never.

[brscooter]

Lewis I love the trike and the GW except for the position of the legs which fold back except when you put your legs on the highway pegs. I am not sure about Vogel as my wife has 1 more year to work and it starts during that time. I may come alone if I have the chance I just dont know yet. We are planning on going to the Skid In on the trike with a stop first about an hour from the dragon, where my sister-in-law lives and then another stop in Kentucky where a brother-in-law lives. Then on to WV and will have to leave on Sunday so I can be back for a heart test on Wednesday. Are you going to WV? If so will at least see you there You can then meet my wife who is a coona**. Her maiden name is Aucoin and her mothers name was Gremillion. She has put up with me for 37 yrs +, so she has to be special. later Lyle

 

Oops I forgot you met her in Memphis at St Judes 2 years ago. My bad.

[Snarley Bill]

hey buddy.i have the racetech full front suspension set up in my wing, including the .95 springs, gold valve, and emulator. mine does'nt ride rough but the ride is firmer than oem. the original set up was terrible on rough roads. it could be your dampening does'nt match the springs. progressive springs should'nt be that stiff. the oem wing front suspension is the pitts. my antidive is deactivated. i did the whole race tech mod for a little over $300.00. and would never go back. the progressive rear shock is next to go in. when i get time. i got a new one here. mine handles like a sportbike and has 100% feed back on all road conditions. you could have to thick of fork oil. i am using belray10w with stiction additive. the oem dampening is not real good the tire bounced over bumps. now the tire stays on the ground like it is supposed to. like i said it does ride firmer. it ain't no cadillac. thats the price you pay when you make an already good handling bike into a super handling bike. mine also sits higher so things don't drag as much in the curves. basiclly i think your rebound dampening is not working with the spring rate. you may not like the way mine rides. although it is fairly smooth on the highway. hope you get it ironed out. bill

[Gearhead]

My experience (2 bikes) with Progressives is that they firm up the ride. In both cases firming was necessary as I had excessive bottoming. In the Virago I installed the recommended preload and it handles well and doesn't bottom but the ride is too stiff. I've never gotten around to reducing preload a little. In the Venture I think it went from too soft to just about right. Due to my Virago/Progressive experience, I installed slightly less (1/8 to 1/4" less) preload spacer than recommended. The Venture actually will still bottom occasionally, but that's on my dirt road when I don't avoid the potholes properly. It is an 800 lb streetbike, after all, and there's only so much you can do with 5" of wheel travel.

 

I've also found that sometimes ride harshness is caused by too heavy fork oil. I generally like to stick with stock weight oil, SAE10 in most cases.

 

Jeremy

[Skid]

I don't know if the Wings are like the Venture or not, but when I switched to the Progressive Springs it made the best ride possible. I made sure I put the proper oil back and did not add any air to the front and its ride prefect...

[FreezyRider]

Hey Buddy, make sure that not only the weight of the fork oil is correct, but that it does not have too much oil in the forks.

I got too much in mine when I first installed my progressives, and that's the way it rode. After I drained the excess off it rode great.

 

Joe

[Snarley Bill]

one other thing, if you drain the fork oil, it will not all just drain out of the cartridge side. the cartridge holds several ounces. the cartridge has to be pumped to get the old oil out and the new oil in. the best way is to measure the oil level is from the top. if i remember right you have to measure it under full compression with both fork caps out, and no springs. you really need a service manual. because the two fork legs are totally different. one has a cartrdge and one doesn't. only one side has antidive. they are a very complex design. who ever did the springs may have not got all the oil out of the cartridge side and overfilled it. if you can swing it i would just go with the race tech all the way. most bang for the buck. it will never ride as soft as a 2nd gen. honda set it up firm to give it the great handling it has in a 900 lb. bike. after the racetech job it feels more like a 600lb bike in the twisties. one other tip. if you disassemble the fork legs, do one at a time so you don't get things mixed up. another thing you need to check is if your antidive is deactivated. you can check this out by holding your foot on the brake and there should be no fork compression at all. also your antidive valve may be stuck. this is a very common problem due to corrosion and it will make the front end stiff. you do not need antidive with the progressive springs so get rid of it and check your fork oil level before you do anything. bill

[buddy]

Well I found the problem,

When they installed the Progressive Springs they did not bypass the anti dive unit. And in this case the anti dive plunger was sticking closed and causing the left fork to stay stiff all the time. I found the answer over in GWRRA.org tech forum.

By removing the plunger valve cap from the anti dive unit and installing a nickle this allow the right amount of clearance to free up, and by pass the anti dive unit.

Drill a hole in the center of a nickle and placing it between the plunger cap and anti dive unit this allowed the left fork to work freely again. So in all it only cost me 5 cents to fix my problem.

Buddy