Replaced the stock fork springs today - they sure were Saggy!

[VanRiver]

I replaced the old worn out stock Fork springs today on my Dad's 1986 Venture Royale. Changed them out for a new set of Progressives from "Progressive Suspension" (Ebay purchase for $76 USD...not too shabby).

 

No wonder the old girl was riding pretty low in the front.....those stock springs are pretty thin for a 800+ scoot like the Venture compared to the new "heavy Duty" progressives. (Picture: Yamaha Stock OEM on the RIGHT.....New Progressive on the LEFT).

 

With new Springs, Seals, and Fork oil that should take some of the bumps out of our Canadian roads!

 

[cowpuc]

GOOD ON YA RIV!!! I clicked the "thanks" icon to send ya a message of thankfulness for taking such good care of your Dad brother!! I clicked the "like" icon cause I also like it when fellow gear heads come to the same conclusion about stuff that I do... First time I swapped out a set of OEM boingers for progressives I had EXACTLY the same thought as you put in print = "what in the wild wild world of torturing motorcycles is going on here,, somebody put ink pen springs in my forks!!"":big-grin-emoticon:... Just never made no sense to me why Mom Yam would produce an amazing scoot like the Venture that could easily point the front wheel toward the sky in 2nd gear only to land on those OEM springs and the fish oil they used back in the day for dampening:big-grin-emoticon:!! Your dad is in for a REALLY special treat with his bump eating, super cornering trike my friend!!!!

 

By the way,,, its said that a picture is worth a thousand words,,,, that of those springs pretty much prove that saying to be correct brother!!

[VanRiver]

Thanks @cowpuc! You are correct, I got the same spring in my clicky clicky pen! Maybe Mom Yam was in partnership with the Bic Pen Corporation back in 86?

 

[bongobobny]

Yah!! There is a big difference, isn't there?? Springs go bad with age when they are partially compressed such as with the weight of the bike anyway...

[BlueSky]

So, the "Progressive" springs aren't progressive at all.

[Patmac6075]

Interestingly....they are not, at least not how I expected....one end IS wound a tad bit tighter....but not nearly as "progressive" as I'd thought they would be.

[BlueSky]

Looks like you could put a fairly long spacer on top of the stock springs to stiffen things up a bit if you are a cheapskate like me? Just looking at those Progressive springs me thinks they might be too stiff.

[bongobobny]

Worn out springs are worn out springs period! You can "tune" the Progressive or any brand spring to be softer or stiffer by the thickness of the spacer. When the spring rate goes bad on any spring it looses it's spring action somewhat.

 

You state you think the Progressives might be too stiff, and you want to try spacers to make your worn out springs stiffer?? There are other brands of springs you could buy that may not be as stiff (to me effective is a better word)...

 

That being said, I guess the best answer is to try it and find out what happens!

[Flyinfool]

The progressives may look like they are to stiff, but there are many many of us that have put them in and I can not recall anyone saying they were to stiff.

The progressives are progressively wound. Progressive means that the coil spacing is tighter on one end than the other and the pitch changes progressively from one end to the other, as in no two coils have the same pitch.

The OEM springs are 2 stage, one end is wound tight then makes a sudden chance to a looser wind, so there are only 2 spring rates.

 

Back when our scoots were built, CNC winders to do progressive were just being invented.

[BlueSky]

From the photo, there is a huge difference in the two springs. Seems like there would be a huge difference in the spring rate too. Yeah, if I look closely, I can see that the "Progressive" spring is indeed a little progressive. I suppose Yamaha intended for the air compression to add to the overall spring rate and maybe make the ride a little more velvety feeling. The air pressure could also have the effect of reducing fork oil foaming. I'm just learning about these bikes and I appreciate all the rider knowledge that goes into all of the posts.

[Karaboo]

I only have about 200 or so miles on since I put the progressives in my '90, but they sure are as advertised. I only run 4 or 5 psi on the front and used 10 weight oil and disconnected the power to the anti-dive solenoids. It doesn't come close to bottoming and actually feels smoother over some of the roads that I ride on a regular basis. Cornering is also more what the 1st generation bikes should be like. Best bang for the buck so far.

[bongobobny]

Yup!! Some people run zero psi in the front but I myself run a couple psi to prevent foaming...

[KIC]

You can adjust the spring "firmness" by the length of the spacer you put in on top of the Progressives. Progressives made a huge difference on the handling of my 89.