Spacers for progressive springs...

[ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdea]

Well I finally got around to installing a '95 Katana 600 shock and progressive springs.  The bike feels like a whole different animal.  It rides so much better overall, I don't know why the bike wasn't built like this to begin with.  More solid in the turns, hands most bumps at city speeds (haven't been on the freeway yet), etc.  My question is what did other people use as a spacer size?  I cut 3/4" spacers from the stock one and put in 15W fork oil.  I am thinking about going back to 10W as the fork does not seem to compress quickly enough to handle some of the larger bumps in the area.   Would smaller spacers be a better idea?  Thanks in advance.

[Ed_in_Az]

Well I finally got around to installing a '95 Katana 600 shock and progressive springs.  The bike feels like a whole different animal.  It rides so much better overall, I don't know why the bike wasn't built like this to begin with.  More solid in the turns, hands most bumps at city speeds (haven't been on the freeway yet), etc.  My question is what did other people use as a spacer size?  I cut 3/4" spacers from the stock one and put in 15W fork oil.  I am thinking about going back to 10W as the fork does not seem to compress quickly enough to handle some of the larger bumps in the area.   Would smaller spacers be a better idea?  Thanks in advance.

I used as someone said a Schedule 1 PVC pipe end cap. It was about an inch and I cut it back to 3/4. I left the 10W oil in but reduced the amount as per the spring instructions. Did you measure your oil level with the forks empty(no springs) and compressed. Mine work great with the 10W. You could try shorter spacers, but if the oil level is too high that could be the problem. :dunno:

[stephan]

I just did the same mods.  Progressive springs with 15w oil and Kat 600 rear shock.

I did what you did - made 3/4" spacers from the 4 foot long stock ones.  

Okay, they're not that long, but anyway . . .

About the oil level, I used the recommended oil level that came with my spring directions which was 140mm.  This measurement is kind of decieving because it's actually the empty space level.  The amount of dead space from the surface of the oil to the top of the fork.  The stock configuration is 99mm I believe.  If I would've used that my forks would be super stiff, but with the 140mm level they're just right for me.

I put the oil in w/o the spring, pumped the fork to circulate the oil and get out any air, measured, then repeated the process until I got to the desired oil level.  This may or may not be the best way, but it made sense to me to get as much air out as possible to ensure the oil levels were the same in each fork tube.  It's also what was suggested on the GS500E Power website.

http://www.bikepower.net/gs500e-power/gs500e-power.htm

NOTE:  Others here have used the 99mm oil level with progressive springs and are very pleased with the result.  Just depends on how stiff you want your front end.

[Diderich]

when i replaced my springs...i didn't change anything about the oil...It was too stiff/not enough range of motion of the front end.  I developed a fork seal leak, so I replaced all of the oil with clean 10w to the right level.  That porridge was too soft/dives.  But it soaks up bumps well and doesn't rebound too much.  I'm going to try adding back a little bit of fork oil at a time and see if that reduces the dive, but I do so hate putting those fork caps back on...But, the riding season ends here soon, so maybe i'll actually get to it.

[glenn9171]

I just dropped the Progressives in with the same oil and without spacers.  The fork caps screw in a good bit and act as spacers themselves.  No problems with mine.