Replacing Front Fork Springs...

[SDSurfRider]

Hello all,

I just bought some new Sonic Springs for my 2007 GS500F.  I looked up the install procedures here (replace springs and oil), and I'm concerned it might be out of my league.  My main concern is that this is my first bike, and I have never been through the process of calibrating/replacing anything on my suspension.

Granted, I'd like to save as much money as possible, but I also don't want to mess this up.  I already have a quote for $150 for 2 hours of labor to do this work.

Should I try myself, or just pay the $150 to have it done by experts?

[respite]

One of the main reasons i went with a gs500 is to learn about motorcycles. Try it yourself! Getting the haynes manual has step by step instructions, there is tons of info here as well as the wiki. You should be able to get them in.

Worst case scenario you cant get it right for some reason and pay the shop. 

[The Buddha]

2 hours ... I'll swap over to a Katana FE and have time for a nap in 2 hours. Springs ... 10 mins flat. F*(k the shops are turning into rip off artists ... no wonder when I was doing mechanic work I had a lot of people calling and I could literally choose my work. But yea there were a lot of peckerheads who wanted to fix their 1971 honda 360T slipping transmission and I would say it take me 10 hours, and its $30 per hour, and it be $300, they'd say ... maaaan ... I only paid $75 for the whole bike ... Yea, maybe there was a reason for that.
Anyway, open it and put it and dont bother draining and changing the oil, just syringe the right level. BTW if you cannot get it back on, you cannot take it to a shop ... maybe fit the stock one back ... and if you can press that in, you can get the aftermarket one in.
Cool.
Buddha.

[psyber_0ptix]

i just did mine today and it wasnt bad at all. a spring change is so straight forward, just be careful threading the caps back in. as for cutting spacers, i just dropped the whole pvc pipe in, marked flush with the upper tripple and cut (slightly 1/4" shorter than marked) sand and clean before installing. once the cap is installed it ~should~ preload it about the right amount. I am using .9 sonic springs, the spacer finally measured to about 5.4"

however the stock washer/shim that came on the stock springs wont fit in the inner diameter of the new springs. i flipped it upside down and it fit perfectly within the pvc pipe. the provided washers were much smaller in diameter for me to use comfortably.

BE CAREFUL THREADING THE CAPS TO THE ASSEMBLY

[the mole]

Do it yourself, its easy!
Put bike on centrestand, take off the handlebars (leave all the levers and switches and mirrors on them) and lay them on the tank (pad the tank with a towel, not your girlfriends white one!). Using a socket and ratchet handle or it won't be easy, undo one cap, keeping plenty of downward pressure on it as you get near the end. Replace that spring, reassemble, then do the other one. Do not remove both at the same time unless you have the front of the bike well supported!! When you re-fit the handlebars, make sure the clutch is on the left.

[SDSurfRider]

My main problem is that the oil must be replaced also to give me the right amount of rebound damping (per Sonic Springs).  I have no idea how to set preload on the front-forks, or to recalibrate the front suspension sag, etc once the new springs and oil are in place.

I read some "How To" guides and they are much more complex than described here.

By the way, which part is the "triple" or "triple clamp"?

Does anyone know of a guide that has photos to show where to measure?

[The Buddha]

<snip?
By the way, which part is the "triple" or "triple clamp"?
<snip>

OK you better start throwing dinner offers around for gstwinners to come over and help you. Dont have to get crazy, pizza and beer is a good start. Gstwinners are cheap, in fact some of them will be over just to get you off this post and point out what all the parts are called.
But ... you defo need help.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Asym]

First of all thanks to everyone here, I've been lurking for a few months learning how to wrench on my GS.

I got the sonics also and when I bought them I planned on doing the lazy method and not dropping the forks. Salesman at Sonic convinced me to buy the second bottle of oil and just do it right, don't think he was only interested in selling me a $7 bottle of fork oil.

Break loose the top caps, axle, and calipers before you remove the bars and loosen the pinch bolts holding the forks. Caps can be loosened with a open end box wrench, just loosen don't remove them. After they are removed just pump them while dumping the old oil out. Also note how high the forks are mounted for when you reinstall them.

My bike was less than a year old and the fork oil looked like snot not oil. Also might have to clean off the springs, mine had surface rust when I bought them new. You should be able to rub them down with penetrating oil (WD40) to clean off the rust. I've never done this type of work before and since I did it with the directions from here and the Wiki I've put on around 5k miles with no problems. This was the first thing I did to the bike after I got it.

[Poodle Head Mikey]

What problem were you trying to resolve?

PHM
-------

[SDSurfRider]

What problem were you trying to resolve?

PHM
-------

The soft and squishy front end that is rated for people 80lbs less than me and nose dives at even the slightest amount of braking.

[SDSurfRider]

By the way, I dropped the bike off yesterday to have them do it.  There was just too many unanswered questions and different approaches that I felt more comfortable leaving it to the experts.  Besides that, I wouldn't have been able to get to it until this weekend anyway, and now I'll be picking it up this weekend with the new suspension instead.

[The Buddha]

Oh yea ... the professional pecker heads will send it back to you with the cap cross threaded, tons of crap in the suspension fluid and if youre really unlucky ... with your stock spring in 1 and progressive in the other ... and dont laugh, I've seen very parallel errors on carbs. No telling what happens in one of those places.
Cool.
Buddha.

[SDSurfRider]

Well,

I picked the bike up last night.  What an amazing difference the Sonic Springs make!  This is by far the best bang for the buck that I have done to my GS so far.

The total bill at the mechanic was $153.  That included the install of the Sonic Springs (and oil).  While they had the bike, they took the liberty to tighten my chain, adjust my slightly mushy brakes, and take some much needed slack out of my clutch cable.  They also found the most irritating rattle the bike had and eliminated it.

My GS rides far better now than it did when I bought it.

Once I got it home, I installed my new Double Bubble windscreen and took it out for a spin.  I can't say enough good things about how bad ass my bike is now.

If anyone needs a hookup for a great bike shop in San Diego, hit me up.

Wooohoo!!