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Progressive fork springs

rustybronco

rustybronco

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If you have ever been contemplated purchasing a set, all I can say is just do it. No need for air in the forks, no twitching out of the front end because of uneven air pressure from a slightly leaking seal, improved ride quality and handling.

Just do it... :D
 
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Ditto. If you search long enough you can find them cheap. Mine were 60 bucks on amazon. Took me 3 months to find them though. Which is half of a VT winter :)
 
Silly question: When you say "progressive", does that refer to the type of spring, or a company that makes fork springs? (Or... both?)

And would you guys be willing to post some links to where you got yours? :)

Thanks!
 
I put a set of these in my 850 20 years ago and they have been great ever since. The stock springs were sacked out and these were a big improvement and not having to mess with the air was a plus.

Pat
 
Did both, Progressive shocks and springs on my G and the improvement was nothing shot of phenomenal. you can set it up by playing with the pre-load to be either plush or sporty. If your planning on riding yours versus having a garage queen they are worth the investment.

Cheers
 
Dittos. It's really amazing how much difference the correct fork springs make -- best bang for the buck you'll find.

One caveat -- if you're larger and/or faster than average, you'll get even more benefit from straight rate springs in the correct spring rate.

The progressive springs from Progressive are sort of an "all-purpose" spring -- great if you're close to "average" weight and velocity. Being on the high end on both counts, I had to preload my Progressive springs very heavily to get sag in the ballpark, and the spring rate was still far too soft for me.

The most immediately apparent difference once I had the correct springs in my GS was a big reduction in brake dive. The front end also works much better when proceeding rapidly.

For straight-rate springs, I've been very happy with Sonic springs ( http://sonicsprings.com ) -- they're in all of my bikes. Use the spring calculator to determine the correct spring rate for your weight, riding style, and bike.

If you have any questions, just send an email or a message to the site owner, Rich Desmond -- he's a member of the GSR and will respond to you very quickly.
 
I have not yet "sprung" for new fork springs on my personal GS, but we just put Progressives in my son's "Rat Bagger".
Yes, there is quite a difference, and I agree with Brian on his observations.
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After seeing just how closely-wound the one end is on the Progressive springs, I can only wonder just how much of that is consumed with the little bit of preload that we added when we put them together. :-k

In my case ("Junior"), Brian has a little more ... let's say gravitational attraction than I do, and his velocities are a bit higher, as well, but my bike has more weight up front in the form of a frame-mounted fairing. I think that would pretty much eat up any advantage of the closely-wound, progressive part of a spring, so I will be getting some straight-rate Sonics as well. Their calculator says I will be using the highest rate of 1.1, which is the same as the GK1100 (also has a front fairing), so it should be good. :D

.
 
My calculations (me= 170lbs geared up, 500 lb wet weight, aggressive street riding) have me at 0.95 right between Sonic's 0.9 and 1.0 rating. Should one go stiffer in this case?

Or is it a case of getting the softer spring and adding some preload?
 
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