GStwin.com GS500 Message Forum

Looking to do my front suspension springs in the next few months. I saw a couple of other users who were also interested in what people have to say, just wondering if everyone could select what they use in a quick and easy poll so we can figure out what the most popular spring setup is.

If you want, post a review of springs you use, how long you've used them, riding style, rider weight, and your impressions. Thanks!

I use Sonic Springs .95 kg/mm and they were really stiff at first, and I had thought that I went too heavy for my weight (I weigh 230 with no gear) and type of riding (I commute 40 miles a day of back roads full of 25 MPH corners, usually at about 50 or 65 mph), however after a few rides it feels great. I have had them in my bike since January, and I absolutely love them, however I think it would be better to upgrade the rear as well at the same time.

Racetech .85 kg/mm all the way, great for street riding but still stiff enough for an occasional track day!

I'm using Progressives.  I can't compare them to stock, as I have never ridden stock springs.  I'm happy with them.  Most riding is commuting, couple of curves (not enough) but roads in this area are pretty boring for riding bikes.  I'm about 180 lb with gear.  (And the rear shock is GSXR)

I bought my bike 2 weeks ago brand new. Knowing that the front of the Gs was going to be soft. I rode it for 200 miles and decided to go with the Sonic Springs 0.95 Springs ( I weigh 250 with gear). I absolutely can not express how happy i am with the product, customer support, and shipping. I guess you can say they won me over with their professionalism.

Zac

Progressives and 15wt oil. Im about 160-165 with gear (plus or minus a meal or two). I dont know what the bike feels like w/o them but i like them. Im considering going to 20wt oil.... Any advice on that? Will it be slightly stiffer?

Spring weight is irrelevant without posting up your weight. I weigh 180 or so, and currently run .90s on my GS500 race bike. Previously ran .85s, but I had to do a lot of tweaking to keep the forks from bottoming out under braking. With that said, I run these in race conditions, and on some bumpy tracks. IMO, .85s are too stiff for my weight for street use.

Stock, 135lbs.  And, I ride in the rain a lot, which is also important, because you want the suspension to 'give' more than your tires.

Soft suspension also teaches you to be smooth on the brakes.

It's interesting to see how a majority of people are still tuning the stockers

The stock forks work fine for most users -- I put a season of racing on mine, with a few mods.

A lot of people don't like the sudden, unsettling dive of the front end when they jab on the front brakes, so they switch to the Progressives or Sonic springs for a more "solid" front end.

i switched out to the progressives as soon as i got the bike. the seals needed to be replaced so i just upgraded while i was in there.

never had a problem and they feel comfortable.

later i read that the progressives are not good for racing due to the final 1-2 inches of travel being too harsh. i dont track my bike so no bother to me. go for straight rates if your going to race.

stock front unfortuantly

even with big spacers i still feel like i can bottom it out by just pushing on the bars, and im only 200lbs

Quote from: skirecs on April 26, 2011, 09:53:31 AM
stock front unfortuantly

even with big spacers i still feel like i can bottom it out by just pushing on the bars, and im only 200lbs

In stock form, the bike is sprung correctly for a 45lb rider.

Let re reword my last post im using .85 racetech straight springs w/ 15w oil and i weigh 125-130 lbs their a little stiff but i feel more confident on a stiffer ride. i still find them to be compliant enough.

What about the oil level?

Do me a favor... Throw a zip-tie around a fork leg and let me know how far you push the tie up the leg. All my experience tells me that the front end is way too stiff for you, and I'm quite curious how much travel you're using.

As mentioned earlier, I raced on a similar setup, and I weigh 185.

Ill probably have the measurment for you in a couple days, lots of rain in ny. I ment to ask you burning1 how long did you cut your preload spacers?

Same length as stock.

My setup right now:

1. .85 springs
2. Stock preload (about 30mm, IIRC)
3. Emulators (factory preload, spring, and low speed bypass holes.)
4. 15 weight fork oil
5. Fork oil level set to 100mm

The fork oil level is set extremely high, in order to prevent the forks from bottoming out. It makes the spring rate quite progressive. I've found I cannot bottom out the forks by hand.

For what it's worth... I found that setup which was tuned to my weight and riding style, worked better than the suspension on my 04 GSX-R. IMO, having your suspension properly tuned and sprung is more important than having some high end parts on there. I just happened to score with my new GSX-R front end, in that it came with .9 springs and reasonable valving from the factory. It looks like the only thing I may have to do is raise the oil level a little.

i run stock just cuz i'm a newb rider and don't know any better, plus i don't race. i just do some spirited riding here and there through the hills and mostly ride city and freeway.

I would at least do the springs and oil. $150 isn't much, especially since your safety is on the line. Also, a properly tuned suspension tends to make the tires last longer.

Quote from: burning1 on April 27, 2011, 11:07:04 AM
Same length as stock.

My setup right now:

1. .85 springs
2. Stock preload (about 30mm, IIRC)
3. Emulators (factory preload, spring, and low speed bypass holes.)
4. 15 weight fork oil
5. Fork oil level set to 100mm

The fork oil level is set extremely high, in order to prevent the forks from bottoming out. It makes the spring rate quite progressive. I've found I cannot bottom out the forks by hand.

Dang, that's a lot of preload. What are your sag numbers?
A more normal setup for your weight would be 0.90 (or maybe even 0.95) springs, 15mm of preload and an oil level in the 115-125mm range.

The forks are no longer on the bike, so I can't measure. Sag is about spot on. Actually, I think I had to add about 2mm more pre-load than stock.

I started at 120mm of fork oil, which worked fine at my old pace at button-willow, but it wasn't enough to keep the forks from bottoming out at a faster pace. I found that 100mm was absolutely the highest I could go with Racetech springs, without bottoming out.

The GS now has GSX-R forks with .90s and fresh fluid at the stock level. I'm still bottoming out, so we'll probably have to raise the level by 10-20mm.

I'm getting the impression that the progressives are for commuters/touring/spirited weekend riding and the straight rate springs (race techs/sonics) can do the same, but are more speed focused. The only difference between stock and progressives is that the progressives will prevent you from bottoming out?

Quote from: jfoley on April 27, 2011, 07:35:52 PM
I'm getting the impression that the progressives are for commuters/touring/spirited weekend riding and the straight rate springs (race techs/sonics) can do the same, but are more speed focused. The only difference between stock and progressives is that the progressives will prevent you from bottoming out?

All forks are progressive. That the primary compression spring is actually 2 springs; a coil spring and a pneumatic spring. The pneumatic spring is created by setting the oil to create a fixed volume of air, and sealing the fork. The higher the oil level, the stronger the 'air spring' becomes. This setting has a huge impact on bottoming resistance, but really only affects the spring at the end of travel.

A progressive spring is one that's dual wound. There are two main problems with a progressive spring though... First, it completely changes the rules of sag and pre-load... Static sag that's correct for a straight rate spring is likely to be completely wrong for a progressive spring.

Second, if the two spring rates aren't properly engineered, it can result in some very wonky behavior from the front end. With a progressive spring, the softer, more tightly wound spring is only functional part way through the suspension travel. When the progressive part of the spring is compressed completely, it reaches a state called coil binding, where it becomes a solid mass. When the progressive spring binds, any further compression will be controlled by the stiffer, less tightly wound part of the spring, causing the spring rate to increase dramatically.

Actually, as pointed out with a little research, a 'progressive spring' isn't actually progressive; it's dual rate. The initial rate is the combination of the softer and the firmer spring together. The second rate is created when the softer coils bind, and all of the spring action is handled by the heavier primary spring. So, in essence you're creating a suspension that has dramatically different behavior depending on where it is in the stroke, and a fairly abrupt change.

Since damping rates are generally tuned to match the rate of spring, this is going to create all kinds of problems for your suspension person.

Heyy burning srry it took a bit but i finally got a chance to throw a zip tie around a leg, i measured 3.4" with my weight on it. that sounds about right, i tend to ride it pretty hard. im 130 lbs without gear. Just to reitterate im running .85 kg/mm racetechs w/ 15w bel ray synthetic and 22mm of preload (the green stuff) Hope it helps =]

That's actually not too surprising. 3.4 inches works out to 86mm, which is a little short of the full suspension travel of the GS. But, if it's comfy to you and the tire wear is good, no problem. :)

FWIW, I've been going by Racetech's recommendations, which seem to be far on the soft side of things.