Progressive fork springs

[scratch]

I installed Progressives yesterday and for those of you interested I measured the amount of fork oil used: 350ml (or cc's; isn't the metric system great) Stock is 377ml. Or, 382ml, depending on the manual, or weather or not you want to blow out your new fork seals just after you installed them, like me. :x  This information is useful in figuring out how much fork oil you need to buy.

I installed them without spacers, as I'm only 130lbs, but I did use the original washers and am going to add a couple to four washers to see if I can get any increased feel. So far so good, they feel a little bit better. A little smoother, er...it smoothes out some bumps and definitely doesn't have the same fork dive when braking.

And having an air compressor sure is nice, as I also replaced the seals. I will have to replace both copper washers on both retaining bolts, on the bottom of the forks, next time. And one of the retaining rings (on top of the seal) is rusted and will be replaced. New dust caps, too.

Something to note is when inspecting the fork bearings the smaller bearing has the Teflon coating on the inside, and should be black on the inside.

[richard]

From the (admitedly somewhat limited) reading on the subject that I've done, it sounds like it's always a good idea to preload the springs a little bit with a spacer...  regardless of your weight.  Contrary to what many people think (including me until recently when "my eyes were opened  :mrgreen: ) the main function of the suspension is traction... to keep your tires in contact with the pavement.  I can't remember the reasoning, but it seems like preloading a little bit tends to help with this goal.

Maybe I'm just out in left field?  I'm sure someone else in the forum knows a good deal more about it than me.