Put my Progressive springs in and I......

[Venturous Randy]

...am going to have to get used to it.

I was having a problem with my front struts bottoming out after I put in new seals. One reason was it had lost all air. In the 13 years I have had this bike, the shocks have always held good air and I usually kept about 10psi in the front.

So, since I got a brand new, still in the box, set off ebay for about $63, I thought I would just put them in. I removed the grills around the steering and in no time I had them apart. I filled the fluid level to 5.5 inches with the struts compressed as directed. After extending the struts, I then slid the spring in and it was about 3/4 inch below the top of the strut, so that gave me no preload.

I expected to get some lift on the front of the bike, but it gave me a lot. I went from being almost flat footed to being up on my tip toes on flat ground. I am also having to get used to the ride being on the edge of being harsh. Hitting some off ramps that were a little bumpy before are now down right rough.

I took a ride at lunch after lowering my rear shock pressure from about 60psi to about 25psi and that definately helped on the footing. I will probably need to add some air back with a passenger.

I have even thought about looking at the possibility of sliding my front tubes up some in the tripple tree. The problem with that is if I slid them up a half inch, that would only make about a quarter inch difference on my footing.

RandyA

[sgn]

Randy might you have gotten the wrong springs - buying off Ebay?

 

From Progressive website:

 

 

Front Suspension

Product Type	Fork Spring
Fork Spring	11-1112 [url="http://javascript:GotoDlrSearch()"]http://www.progressivesuspension.com/images/dlrpurchase.jpg[/url]

 

 

additonal info : #11-1112 springs with 20.75 " Length and which are 1.19" OD with 45/70 Lbs/In. variable compression rate

Edited August 7, 2009 by sgn

[FreezyRider]

What weight is the fork oil? You may need to go to a lighter weight and see if that helps. It did on my Gold Wing when I added progressives.

 

Joe

[Marcarl]

Make sure you have NO air pressure in the front. Sometimes it slips in there unnoticed, so it pays to check.

[mbrood]

Don't know about your inseam but I had the same results... my biggest worry was the heavy LEAN when on the sidestand. I ended up taking OUT the spacer as a preload and STILL had to fight to get the cap bolts down to start them... but she sits up with a "regular" lean and I can ALMOST flat foot both feet... 29" inseam... The ride is infinitely better and no more clunk when I go over the drivewy lip!

[Snaggletooth]

That harshness will go away after some breaking in. Mine have over 5,000 miles on them now and they did soften up a bit. Pretty stiff when they were new. I'm 285 lbs and 6'2" so the Progressives were a huge help. I'm running 10 wt oil and thought maybe now that they have relaxed a bit I might try 15 wt.