I got the Progressive spring that I ordered a little while ago and installed it last night. The removal of the shock/spring from the bike was pretty straight forward. I took off the pivot mechanism underneath the bike. There were 3 bolts for that. I then removed the two bolts that hold on the damper. I then moved on to the top bolt. I removed the stuff I needed to to lift up the back of the tank. I could have removed the tank, but I just filled it and I didn't want to try to move it around. I thought that I may have had to remove the tool box to get at the top nut, but then I decided to use a large straight screwdriver and jam it between the side of the bolt and the side of the wall. The bolt is countersunk. I used a 10mm Allen socket on an extension to loosen the bolt. The shock came right out through the bottom.
I made my own tool to change the spring and it worked perfect. Putting the new spring on and putting back the clip was another thing. The clip fits into a sleeve that slides on the shock. The damn thing kept siding down and I finally had to jam a homemade tool against it, so that it wouldn't move when I put the top piece back on. After some cursing I finally got everything put back together.
Putting back on the bike was pretty uneventful.
I decided then to take the bike for a ride. The spring worked pretty good. Nothing earth shockingly awesome, but the jarring that I had before was pretty much gone. I put the damper on the second click. I will have to give this an 8 out of 10 for satisfaction. It is definitely worth the time and money for me to do this. Makes the bike a little more enjoyable to ride. The spring only cost me $88, so it was a cheap investment with good return.
If you don't know what a progressive spring is, it is like our spring on our bike, but the last three coils are closer together to give you a little more plush ride when you are riding alone. The one I got is made for the F6B or full wing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Progressive-Suspension-01-1179B-Rear-Springs-Kit-D-Honda-Goldwing-GL1800-/172195352069?epid=1011869115&hash=item2817a48e05:g:2gMAAOSwMgdX03GL&vxp=mtr
