hard forks

[franco6]

the front forks on my 97 tourer are very hard, compared to other hondas i ve ridden. is this normal? when it runs over road pot holes, bumps or anything not flat, it feels as if the front end was hit with a sledge hammer. i m worried about the wheel berings. now the guy who sold me the valk said they had been rebuilt two years prior. would newer spings be that hard? or did they put the wrong oil? i know, should take the whole thing apart,but i work slow and don t want to miss on riding time.  

[N8171S]

I have two 97's and notice the same thing.  Must be the nature of the beast.  I might try progressive springs on one so I can compare.

[Bagger John - #3785]

The harshness (or lack thereof) of a given fork setup can be attributed to four main factors:

- Spring rate

- Spring preload

- Damping fluid viscosity

- Flow capacity (as a measure of time) of the damper rod metering orifices

The easiest items to focus on are the first and third; especially the third. If the fork fluid is too heavy to effectively damp the fork's motions, the fork will "stutter". If too light it'll hobby-horse ("wallow") over bumps. An under-sprung fork will also hobby-horse and one with too heavy of a rate will feel very harsh over bumps.

(Fork stiction can also create a harsh feeling front end, but in an inverted design such as used on the Valkyrie this is less likely to be a causative factor.)

What I would do for starters is to get ahold of Larry at Progressive Suspension and describe to him exactly what your setup is (model of bike), your weight, riding style and so forth. Follow his recommendations with regards to a suitable spring rate, fork oil weight and (possibly) a preload spacer. Then rebuild your forks, following his guidelines. You should see improvement, and the damping action can be tuned to your preferences by adjusting the viscosity of the fluid up or down in 2.5wt increments.

[Robert]

It has been so long but as I remember I said the same thing about my bike until I put in Progressive springs. They are easy to do and you wont take long. You can also check the oil and change it if you want to what the book calls for. This should go along way to correcting your problem.

[Momz]

I have two Valks and both seemed a bit harsh before rebuilding the front suspensions. My I/S has the Progressive Suspension springs and my standard has the original Honda springs.

My experience suggests that when it comes time to rebuild the forks, thoroughly clean all the parts, check the tubes for straightness, replace the bushings and seals, and do not use a heavier weight fork oil than specified. There may be beter fork oils available than the Honda brand. I use Belray in every motorcycle I own (10 and counting). It contains additives that Belray advertises as "seal swell". After changing my fork oil on any of my bikes, they all seem to ride and handle better.

JMPO

Ride hard, ride safe, ride happy

[Steve K (IA)]

Another possibility.  When I picked up my '97 Std, I had the same thing going on.  Every little bump I hit, the front end just Hammered.  In my case, it was the rear shocks...they were completely Shot.  Because they weren't working properly, the front was taking it all.  Put Progressive 412's on and all is Ok.   
I'm not saying that it isn't the front forks, just something else to look at....good luck.

[Ricky-D]

Hell, that's a good bit of weight up front and I hope you are not expecting it to be like a Gazelle.  You may be going too slow and not allowing the suspension to do it's part like it is designed to.  Taking bumps at reasonable speed is a smoother ride. I see people slowing for rr tracks to a crawl, and they're doing this on US highways.  Get out of the way!

[franco6]

thanks for all that great info. installed a pair of progressive 416 air shocks a couple of months back they made a great improvement to the rear end of the bike. yeah, gonnave to terher down!