GStwin.com GS500 Message Forum

I really want to install them tonight or sometime this week after work, but I don't have a light in the garage. I will have to work by way of flashlight in my mouth.  :o I might also put on one of those emergency lights that hooks up to the car's lighter.

How fast of a job is it without experience? I will be working with limited light. Is it even worth it, should I just wait until the weekend?

Also I don't have any special tools, just a wrench set. What can I use to cut down the PVC pipe that came with the springs? And I notice that they also included two washers. Are they for the tops of the spacers? That's my guess.  I didn't see anything mentioned on Pablo's website. http://pantablo500.tripod.com/id2.html


thanks.

they go between the springs and the spacers.  just use a hacksaw to cut them.  without experience, the fast way. takes a hour.

Cool thanks. I totally assumed the washer would have gone between the spacer and where it gets screwed down. I'm glad I asked. But now, I can see why it would be that way.

So I need a hacksaw and about an hour. So that can easily turn into 2 for me, since I'm like that. It only took me about 15 minutes to adjust my spring preload and it usually 1/2 hour plus to tighten the chain.  :roll:

Slow is careful IMO.

Quote from: leoIt only took me about 15 minutes to adjust my spring preload and it usually 1/2 hour plus to tighten the chain.  :roll:

You got me beat by a lot...

Rear shock preload took me about an hour and a half.   :oops:
Chain tension...  No comment.   :(

It took me 7 days to put my progressive springs in.  But that was becuase when I removed my fork cap to take the old spring out it was stripped out and had to wait for a new cap to come in.  :(

Quote from: RVertigo

Quote from: leoIt only took me about 15 minutes to adjust my spring preload and it usually 1/2 hour plus to tighten the chain.  :roll:

You got me beat by a lot...

Rear shock preload took me about an hour and a half.   :oops:
Chain tension...  No comment.   :(

LOL!! You feel my pain then. I almost have to take a shower after tightening the chain and I have taken out every tool I own. That's assuming I don't break anything.

I installed gauges on my car and it took me three weeks. The main thing was that I broke the oil cooler and then the next time I put it all together I had used the wrong gasket. Out goes all the oil and coolant fluid again. I hated that job so much.  :roll:

Quote from: leoLOL!! You feel my pain then.

Uh... Yeah... I really do.   :(

Time: it depends on how good job you want to do.

I spent a whole afternoon (5 or 6 hours) with mu Progressive Springs
replacement.

Spacer build: I had a spare teflon piece from what I built two 1" spacers.
You can use the PVC piece that came with the Progressives, and cut
them either at 1" or 0.75". Materials required: a saw to cut the tube,
some sandpaper to polish the pieces and correct if some biasing occured
during sawing.

Oil change. My bike is a '91 GS500. Oil was replaced 5 years ago when
I got it, and I felt like it was time to replace again. I had to remove
forks from the bike. Anyway, If you do not do it, you need to remove
some oil from the fork. You'll need a rubber hose so suck it out and
some kind of tool to make a dipstick (a wire, or something like) to
measure the oil height in the fork. Follow the instructions: 140mm before inserting the spring, with the damper compressed.
Not difficult: simply use something as a dipstick.

Advice on the fork caps. I think that this is the most difficult part:
I disassembled the forks, so I managed to put the caps with my
fingers, pressing the tube with the hands so I could feel the threads,
and if there was something not working fine, turn back without
disaster. If I used a wrench, I could make a mess with the threads.

Hope you get your progressive springs working soon!

Whatever you do becareful not to cross thread the cap.  It's aluminum and the tubes are steel.  If you turn em wrong the steel tube will cut right through the aluminum threads.

obvious but I'll say in anywars, do one fork at a time.
Carefull not to cross thread when putting back on (aluminum...)

Use a 1/2inch ratchet withouth a socket to open forks....if you don't want to buy the tool....worked perfectly for me.

good luck.

Thanks for the tips. Especially about not cross threading, I will keep that in mind.

I think taking my time during the weekend is in order here. I would rush through it at night and then screw something up.

I'm doing this right now and I have a quick question. I think my oil level is too low. Without the spring installed, I could go down 10 inches from the top before I hit oil, which is way more than the 5.5"(140mm).

So I'm off to buy some fork oil. I figure since I just need some oil, I might throw in 15 weight instead. I'll buy both and hopefully someone will chime in.

Thanks. :)  :cheers:

that's 5.5 inches with the fork fully compressed.

Quote from: daviputhat's 5.5 inches with the fork fully compressed.

umm i have no idea. the bike is on the centerstand and that's it. only one fork is disconnected also.  :dunno:

well not one fork disconnect, i mean just the top bolt off.

when you have the fork off, with the cap off push the inner tube right to the bottom of the fork boot. with no spring installed measure the fork oil.
fork must be compressed fully. very important.
i installed my prog fork springs on thursday night. took about 2 1\2 hours.

just take your time and be patient.


very important. if you undid the pinchbolt on the front axle make sure this is lined up properly when re-installing otherwise you can put your caliper bolts right into your disc brake. i have seen the aftermath of this.
NOT GOOD !!!

Thanks spirit, but I didn't take the forks off. I just took off the top fork bolt and swapped springs that way. I did them per Pablo's site.  Even with that, it still took me a while. The biggest hassle was making both PVC spacer exactly the same. I did a lot of sanding to get them as close as possible.

I also just left the same amount of oil that was in there. But I just took it for a quick cruise and they feel great. I can't believe no more bottoming out. As everybody had said, it's the first thing that should be done.

Thanks people for the help.

:cheers:

just a quick question, since I just figured my springs are no good I am thinking of getting progressive from MAW ($49.95). Now, I am not sure what oil is in my forks, how old it is and how much is there. So I was thinking of changing oil the lazy way without removing the forks. The question is where do I get fork oil? I assume they don't sell in in auto stores, so do I have to order it from MAW as well? If so, should I get w10 or w15? I am about 135-140lbs. How much should I get? Looks like that's all I'll need, please correct me if I am wrong.

also los angeles people, any advises on what's the best local place to get this syringe thing to suck oil out?

also on Pablo's page it says do one fork at a time, but if I'll want to change oil I should be checking the level with fork fully compressed, what do I do in this case?

Thanks!

true, it is a lot easier to replace fork springs without removing forks it is better to do proplerly and remove forks entirely.
As you mentioned to measure fork oil height forks need to be fully compressed.
I took both forks out cleaned them and replaced with new 15w oil.
Took about 2 hours. Its really quite a simple,straight foward job.
Be patient, take your time.
Also your fork oil requirement totally changes with these new forks.

Not sure what year your bike is but in manual it doesn't show or talk about spacer that is in right bottom fork. Held in with pinch nuts. Do not remove this. You can remove axle without removing this. If you do remove it, check all gaps etc on front rim. If this spacer is set a few mm off, it can end up with your brake caliper bolt rubbing on your disc. Have seen after math, very messy.

I have read threads where other users just swapped the springs and spacers and did not remove any fork oil with no problem and a smooth feeling ride.  :?

This is  what I plan to do in the next couple weeks. I have an 04F with a little over 2K (i know, i know)  Should there really be an issue if I dont remove any fork oil? (well any MORE fork oil since a small amount comes out when removing the old components)
I would hate to have to do it twice! i fear the one time where my luck I will have severe issues with the caps.

I don't know, I've been down twice so I am taking no chances :)