Hey guys (and gals)!
My wife's GS is slowly being fixed by me. You can usually find my usual rambling posts about problems and issues I've been having on here.
I now have a new one. I replaced the fork seals on her '02 last winter. It rode fine all summer until we took a 2 hour ride last weekend. Now I noticed the left side is leaking pretty good. I cleaned it all up but would say there was about a quarter size puddle on the ground and as much on the fork body.
Any idea what it could be? Just a bad install or bad product? Or maybe the fork isn't completely straight (I replaced them because one was leaking and one was dry rotted but can't remember which side was leaking anymore)?
The way the bike was riding, and the roads we took....I was thinking the fork was bottoming out. Is that possible to cause a leak? She's a light rider (130lbs geared up) but her brother and father have ridden it as well as I (when diagnosing other issues), and it seems like the forks bottom out or look like they do. Could that cause a leak? I pulled the boot off and everything looks ok (some small pieces of dirt it looks like) but the seals are straight, the clips are on and seated in the grooves, and nothing looks cracked/sliced/off on the actual rubber seal.
Do I replace it and hope it was a fluke event or does someone think there's a legitimate issue?
Which leads to my second question. While it's off I'd like to replace the springs for her so it doesn't have so much dive/dip even with her on it. For a 130lb geared rider, is progressives or linear springs recommended? I was thinking .70 but wasn't sure if that would be too stiff for her?
Also, is there a good post/site to replacing the springs (and focusing mainly on setting the preload and cutting the spacers)? I remember one good post detailing the steps involved and how to do it and gave some rough lengths to cut the spacers. If anyone can link that that'd be great too!
Thanks for the help in advance!
Could you have bought faulty fork seals? Maybe try replacing both seals and oil at the same time and also check for any pitting around the seal area. I had an issue with my '94 with weak fork springs and decided to go with Progressives after reading up about them. I'm about the same weight as your wife and ride over New York City potholes all the time. It was too annoying to be bottoming out over every little bump and I upgraded. Now it handles like a dream over terrible roads and also out in the mountains on those twisties. Here is what I got in there now...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OPNA92/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Suspension-11-1128-19-75-Spring/dp/B000GTVJIM/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1378181678&sr=1-1&keywords=Progressive+Suspension+11-1128
These came with tips and instructions that made it easy to figure out the spacers and oil levels (and the spacers came in the box for you to cut to size) Also, I made the "special fork tool" to help make it easier... but I can't remember if your '02 will need that. Here are some links I bookmarked when going through the upgrade...
http://beergarage.com/GSForkSeals.aspx
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=25706.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=23643.msg241266#msg241266
Also, you will notice there is no drain so you have to tip the forks over to empty the oil, or suck it out somehow. I found that annoying and had a friend with a drill press make a drain hole for future fork oil changes. Very handy if you plan on hanging on to the bike. I now have no fork issues and the handling is fantastic.
Hope that helps,
Erika
Thanks.. Anyone else with linear vs progressive opinions?
Linear vs progressive is really an age old debate in the motorcycle world...
What I have come to conclude (and solely my observation)... In general, the racing world supports linear... and the cruiser world supports progressive. The general population of riders probably couldn't tell the difference.
I personally chose linear springs for a rate suggested for my weight, and I would recommend it for others. I have not ridden with progressives, but have friends that do, and they recommend those for others... but they haven't ridden linear springs either :dunno_black:
Either way is such a tremendous improvement over stock, it is difficult to go wrong in choosing one over the other.
- Bboy
Quote from: 1990dtgl98 on September 04, 2013, 06:22:36 AM
Thanks.. Anyone else with linear vs progressive opinions?
My answer? MEH!
Our forks are already progressive: the air trapped in there compresses as the forks compress thus increasing the resistance.
That's theory. Now the real world:
I can't remember which of my GS500's has progressive. Truth. Unless you are a skilled racer, you won't notice the difference for street and highway riding. "Progressive" is a cool buzz word. That's all it is. Get either. You won't know the difference.
.....and when forks are still leaking after changing seals:
1. See if they are bent.
2. *** When putting back on, remember the order to tighten things up or you WILL stress the forks and they will leak:
a) triple bolts
b) axle - but insure the right fork floating spacer is really floating and can move
c) Now that the forks are where they want to be, tighten the bolt for the right fork floating spacer
d) now tighten the fork brace to hold things in place
3. If still leaking, replace at a minimum the top bushing as that is just below the seal. If it is worn, the tube wobbles around letting oil leak out
*** If the lower right floating spacer is not floating, the bottom of the forks can be forced in or out. It floats until you get things together. Then it floats to where the forks are alighted and only then tightened down to lock things in place. Fork brace last as it is a brace to hold things once they are where they want to be.
I come from the racing world. I will say that many manufacturers ship their bikes with mildly progressive springs - much less progressive than what you get on a set of progressive forks.
Personally, I don't like progressive springs. They make a lot of tuning very challenging. Also remember that most progressives aren't progressive; they are dual rate springs. They just get firmer at the bottom of travel.
Setting the oil height correctly on your forks is progressive, and has a significant impact on bottoming resistance. That and pre-load are two very easy adjustments you can make to the stock forks.
Great find on those Amazon springs, Erika. I was about to spend more money on some Sonic Springs in a few weeks. Good to know I can have some good springs for $70 and at my door in 2 days!
Quote from: AlexT on September 04, 2013, 08:00:02 PM
Great find on those Amazon springs, Erika. I was about to spend more money on some Sonic Springs in a few weeks. Good to know I can have some good springs for $70 and at my door in 2 days!
They're really great... I have had no issues in getting the tuning right. The included booklet walks you through it all. Granted, I am not racing the bike... unless you count dodging taxis and racing to avoid angry traffic. They take the potholes nicely and handle a lot better than stock.