pocket aces
Member
Posts: 630
2001 Standard / Well not so Standard anymore.
Tampa, Fl
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« on: January 19, 2026, 10:41:29 AM » |
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I had my front forks completely rebuilt and installed Progressive springs. It still rides very stiff and to firm. Looking to soften the ride. Would less oil or a different weight of oil help me?
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98valk
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« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2026, 12:07:15 PM » |
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std or I/S? I/S forks have bad stiff/jarring valving, like the '97-'98 shocks bad valving. what fluid was used?, since they are all different https://www.peterverdone.com/suspension-fluids/ |
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« Last Edit: January 19, 2026, 02:38:40 PM by 98valk »
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1998 Std/Tourer, 2007 DR200SE, 1981 CB900C 10speed
1973 Duster 340 4-speed rare A/C, 2001 F250 4x4 7.3L, 6sp
"Our Constitution was made only for a Moral and Religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the goverment of any other."
John Adams 10/11/1798
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Jess from VA
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« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2026, 01:16:42 PM » |
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I paid that job done on my IS with spec fluid and spec volumes (and Progressives same as you).
And it was too stiff for me too... for about 20K miles; then it loosened up to reasonable.
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« Last Edit: January 19, 2026, 01:21:47 PM by Jess from VA »
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Joe333x
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« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2026, 03:10:14 PM » |
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I had my front forks completely rebuilt and installed Progressive springs. It still rides very stiff and to firm. Looking to soften the ride. Would less oil or a different weight of oil help me?
I did the same as you, rebuilt with progressive springs and did the amount the service manual said to and it was was to hard of a ride, I removed I think an ounce from each tube and it softened up. |
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Challenger
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« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2026, 04:49:05 PM » |
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I had progressive springs installed on my I/S because of the severe front end dive under hard braking. The cycle shop that rebuilt the forks for me said they use a lighter oil than stock because of the complaints of stiff ride. Very happy with the ride, handling and braking since.
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pocket aces
Member
Posts: 630
2001 Standard / Well not so Standard anymore.
Tampa, Fl
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« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2026, 05:26:03 AM » |
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It is a standard. I had a well known trusted Valkyrie mechanic do the work for me. I'll ask him about amount and type of fluid he used.
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Joe333x
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« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2026, 07:36:03 AM » |
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It is a standard. I had a well known trusted Valkyrie mechanic do the work for me. I'll ask him about amount and type of fluid he used.
I’d ask him to take a little fluid out of each tube, it’s relatively easy to do, I just took each tube off and dumped a little out of each one and it made a difference. |
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WintrSol
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« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2026, 09:47:11 AM » |
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A question no one else has asked: what tire pressures are you using?
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98 Honda Valkyrie GL1500CT Tourer
Photo of my FIL Jack, in honor of his WWII service
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pocket aces
Member
Posts: 630
2001 Standard / Well not so Standard anymore.
Tampa, Fl
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« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2026, 11:43:42 AM » |
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front tire about 38 psi.
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hubcapsc
Member
Posts: 16813
upstate
South Carolina
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« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2026, 12:19:37 PM » |
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I had my front forks completely rebuilt and installed Progressive springs. It still rides very stiff and to firm. Looking to soften the ride. Would less oil or a different weight of oil help me?
I've rebuilt numerous Valkyrie forks, they're terrific. Almost everyone I talk to has "a trick" or some other reason not to do it as the manual says. Almost nobody burps the cartridge... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tikm2dBQ56I-Mike |
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Joe333x
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« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2026, 05:02:08 PM » |
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I had my front forks completely rebuilt and installed Progressive springs. It still rides very stiff and to firm. Looking to soften the ride. Would less oil or a different weight of oil help me?
I've rebuilt numerous Valkyrie forks, they're terrific. Almost everyone I talk to has "a trick" or some other reason not to do it as the manual says. Almost nobody burps the cartridge... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tikm2dBQ56I-Mike I think how you feel about the forks rebuilt by the manual using progressive springs is relative to the roads you ride on. The roads around me are awful with lots of bumps, if you have nice roads I can see it not being a problem but when I first rebuilt mine I hit a bump that threw my phone out of the RAM mount I have, thankfully it was attached with a charger cable. I haven’t had the problem since, and I also changed the rear to YSS shocks from progressive and I have a much smoother ride. |
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WintrSol
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« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2026, 06:49:24 PM » |
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front tire about 38 psi.
That's rather hard. Honda wants 33 psi in front for OEM tires; some tires handle better with 2 or 3 psi more, but that's a lot more. |
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98 Honda Valkyrie GL1500CT Tourer
Photo of my FIL Jack, in honor of his WWII service
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h13man
Member
Posts: 1885
To everything there is an exception.
Indiana NW Central Flatlands
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« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2026, 07:24:48 AM » |
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I used Progressives on the VT1100C Spirit. Loved the instant quality of ride especially two up. 33,000 mi. later they started getting softer but I became a Valk person and sold it. On the Valk I went with a set of Racetech #80 (smallest rate at the time) I bought from a fellow member here. They were a bit firm at 1st. as the reason I got them from the member. Broke in over the next 500 mi. or so. Been 40,000 mi. and still the same. I don't like the feel of a #800 bike doing a "dive" feeling per OEM springs. The Progressives on the VT had a tad softness but on a #625 lb. bike it felt very good. The RT's are a single wound coil in comparison to Progressives/OEM. I run 36 psi./41 psi. https://racetech.com/product-search/#20 |
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Avanti
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« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2026, 06:30:42 PM » |
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I had my front forks completely rebuilt and installed Progressive springs. It still rides very stiff and to firm. Looking to soften the ride. Would less oil or a different weight of oil help me?
I've rebuilt numerous Valkyrie forks, they're terrific. Almost everyone I talk to has "a trick" or some other reason not to do it as the manual says. Almost nobody burps the cartridge... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tikm2dBQ56I-Mike If I remember correctly you had your own Valkyrie front forks rebuilt by Traxxion at some point. How much better is the Traxxion than the others you have rebuilt? |
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hubcapsc
Member
Posts: 16813
upstate
South Carolina
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« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2026, 07:21:31 PM » |
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>>AVANTI:
>>If I remember correctly you had your own Valkyrie front forks rebuilt by Traxxion at
>>some point. How much better is the Traxxion than the others you have rebuilt?
That was my 1800 Valkyrie... I didn't know exactly what to think at first. It was
really obvious that it wasn't so "sagged out" sitting there. Not long after, though,
me and Smokin' Joe and Punisher and rnfwp took off on the backroads to
Inzane in Billings. After a couple of days I realized the pig trails I'd picked
through Mississippi and stuff were jarring their teeth out, but I hadn't been
suffering. The Traxxion forks each have their machined cartridges in them
instead of just one kind of stamped out cartridge on one side. They're
pretty dang nice.
Anywho... not long ago I bought a set of perfect looking 1500 forks for $75!
They're at Traxxion right now. When they send them back, they'll be sending
along a set of YSS rear shocks to replace my very old Progressive 440s...
I put Progressive springs in my 1500 forks and have refurbished
them via the "measure from the top" method in the manual
twice over the years. I really like them compared to how they were when I
got the bike. I'll have some impressions to share here after I've had
the Traxxion forks a while and have ridden it some...
I know I don't want squishy suspension that wallows through the turns,
maybe the "stiff firm ride" others don't like is what I'm after... ?
-Mike
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Avanti
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« Reply #15 on: January 24, 2026, 06:24:27 PM » |
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>>AVANTI:
>>If I remember correctly you had your own Valkyrie front forks rebuilt by Traxxion at
>>some point. How much better is the Traxxion than the others you have rebuilt?
That was my 1800 Valkyrie... I didn't know exactly what to think at first. It was
really obvious that it wasn't so "sagged out" sitting there. Not long after, though,
me and Smokin' Joe and Punisher and rnfwp took off on the backroads to
Inzane in Billings. After a couple of days I realized the pig trails I'd picked
through Mississippi and stuff were jarring their teeth out, but I hadn't been
suffering. The Traxxion forks each have their machined cartridges in them
instead of just one kind of stamped out cartridge on one side. They're
pretty dang nice.
Anywho... not long ago I bought a set of perfect looking 1500 forks for $75!
They're at Traxxion right now. When they send them back, they'll be sending
along a set of YSS rear shocks to replace my very old Progressive 440s...
I put Progressive springs in my 1500 forks and have refurbished
them via the "measure from the top" method in the manual
twice over the years. I really like them compared to how they were when I
got the bike. I'll have some impressions to share here after I've had
the Traxxion forks a while and have ridden it some...
I know I don't want squishy suspension that wallows through the turns,
maybe the "stiff firm ride" others don't like is what I'm after... ?
-Mike
Thank you, I look forward to hearing about your new suspension on your 1500. |
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Gondul
Member
Posts: 265
VRCC #408
Central Florida
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« Reply #16 on: January 25, 2026, 02:32:55 PM » |
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That's rather hard. Honda wants 33 psi in front for OEM tires; some tires handle better with 2 or 3 psi more, but that's a lot more.
That psi was for the crap-tastic OEM Dumb-flops that came on the bike. And if you look through those threads, that was a horrible choice to make. IMNSO you should follow the tire manufacturer recommendations for psi... I run 40/42 on my Avons (which is what they recommend) and it is perfect... |
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« Last Edit: January 25, 2026, 02:36:25 PM by Gondul »
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As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion....
John Adams - 1797
Because Thou lovest the Burning-ground,
I have made a Burning-ground of my heart
That Thou, Dark One, hunter of the Burning-ground,
Mayest dance Thy eternal dance.
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Gondul
Member
Posts: 265
VRCC #408
Central Florida
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« Reply #17 on: January 25, 2026, 02:35:02 PM » |
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.... and I also changed the rear to YSS shocks from progressive and I have a much smoother ride.
I really enjoy the YSS shocks I put on mine... very pleased with the suggestions from Traxxion. |
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As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion....
John Adams - 1797
Because Thou lovest the Burning-ground,
I have made a Burning-ground of my heart
That Thou, Dark One, hunter of the Burning-ground,
Mayest dance Thy eternal dance.
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WintrSol
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« Reply #18 on: January 25, 2026, 08:28:07 PM » |
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That's rather hard. Honda wants 33 psi in front for OEM tires; some tires handle better with 2 or 3 psi more, but that's a lot more.
That psi was for the crap-tastic OEM Dumb-flops that came on the bike. And if you look through those threads, that was a horrible choice to make. IMNSO you should follow the tire manufacturer recommendations for psi... I run 40/42 on my Avons (which is what they recommend) and it is perfect... Overall, tire makers no longer recommend a pressure other than what it says on the bike placard. Unless they've started again since I last searched for other recommended pressures. Probably on advice of lawyers. Two or three above, I find, is best overall for any of the tires I've used. While five or more psi above that value makes a bike turn in more quickly, it also makes for a harsher ride and reduces grip, both for cornering and braking. Everything is a trade, so you do you, but you came here complaining about a harsh ride, and tire pressure is part of that. |
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98 Honda Valkyrie GL1500CT Tourer
Photo of my FIL Jack, in honor of his WWII service
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hubcapsc
Member
Posts: 16813
upstate
South Carolina
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« Reply #19 on: January 26, 2026, 01:34:23 PM » |
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.... and I also changed the rear to YSS shocks from progressive and I have a much smoother ride.
I really enjoy the YSS shocks I put on mine... very pleased with the suggestions from Traxxion. I guess they send along bushings that are correct for a Valkyrie? I'm glad to hear other VRCC folks that have them and like them  ... -Mike |
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