Okay, it is obviously a never ending circle of upgrades now. 06 500F: jets, lunchbox, can. Now that I have more power and I guess I have grown more comfortable with the bike, I don't like the suspension. It seems a little soft to me now when I brake going into corners.  The problem I have is that I am scared to death of messing with the suspension on a bike-- two wheels on the ground and very few suspension components: screw up on any one of them, and your screwed.

I switched out my front end in my carport in about 2 hours.  No catastrophic failure yet!!!!!   Probably put about 1200 miles on the new front end.  Of course I bought a setup coming from a parted out race bike so it was already modified to fit the GS   I just had to rip all the old shaZam! off and deal with a slightly too long throttle cable ( may god bless the man who invented zip ties )  I love how the new suspension feels!!!  And the dual disc braking is a massive improvement too

the forks are very simple. If you screw them up you won't be screwed. The bike will still drive and  you'll still be rubber side down but all those road pot-holes are going to feel alot worse

The stock suspension is very good for learning because it is soft and upsets easily.  Practice smooth and progressive braking combined with proper shifting technique to avoid upsetting the front end. 

Once you think you have it down, change out the springs to a set of straight-rates calibrated for your weight.  See www.race-tech.com or www.sonicsprings.com.  Sonics are less expensive and just as good.  Quick to ship too!

Sonic .80 springs and the stock springs, guess which is which:



Most people preload their springs with 3/4 trade size plastic conduit.  If you would prefer aluminum spacers like this, let me know:

www.peterverdonedesigns.com/introduction.htm

I'm in the same boat as Forrest000.  The information in Peter Verdone's site is priceless. Thanks!

If you do decide to upgrade the stock springs yourself, check out Sanjay's Wiki: http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/FrontSprings

Also, AlphaFire did a great writeup on installing a set of RaceTech springs; found here: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=25706.0

Cheers,
JG

Wow, the information you guys gave is priceless.  I am going to spend some time doing my homework with this one and see where it leads me. Thanks.

Quote from: GeeP on April 09, 2007, 12:31:55 PM
The stock suspension is very good for learning because it is soft and upsets easily.  Practice smooth and progressive braking combined with proper shifting technique to avoid upsetting the front end. 

Once you think you have it down, change out the springs to a set of straight-rates calibrated for your weight.  See www.race-tech.com or www.sonicsprings.com.  Sonics are less expensive and just as good.  Quick to ship too!

Sonic .80 springs and the stock springs, guess which is which:



Most people preload their springs with 3/4 trade size plastic conduit.  If you would prefer aluminum spacers like this, let me know:

What size spacers would you recomend for the Progressives?

I'm not sure, Average.  My understanding is the progressive springs are even longer than the sonics.

To determine the correct spacer length, first insert the spring into the fully extended fork tube until it bottoms.  Then measure the distance from the top of the tube to the top of the spring.  Subtract .9" and add the required preload.  For most springs that's .75".

For sonic springs preloaded .75" the spacer length is 5.05"

I would like to change my fork oil sometime soon, and maybe put in some new springs; but there is something oddly intimidating about fork maintenance -- I know there shouldn't be, it just seems like there is an overwhelming amount of stuff to take into consideration as far as measurements, preloads, rates, bla bla bla... I felt the same way about bleeding my brakes until I actually did it...  Argh.