Front suspension is rough

[nogrey]

Looking for some experienced advice here. Front suspension on the '97 is pretty rough feeling when riding (Idaho not known for it's super smooth roads, some have suggested changing license plate monicker from "Famous Potatoes" to "Famous Potholes"  ). Fluid is about 3 years old. Will a fluid change remedy this or is there something more sinister at work in the old girl?

[Bone]

Do you know what the fluid is in there now guys used to substitute ?

[mark81]

Is this a new problem or has it been like that since last fork oil change?  You could put lighter weight oil in or try to remove some oil for morr air cusion

[Grandpot]

The problem with suspensions is they wear so slowly, you don't notice it for a long time.  When I finally noticed mine was getting rough, I did a rebuild with new Progressive springs, bushings, and seals.  Works better than new.

Be very careful not to over fill the forks with oil.  They get very stiff.

[Jess from VA]

When you say pretty rough, do you mean too stiff, or too cushy/bouncy?

[DarkSideR]

Oil level and weight is key. You also didn't address if the springs were stock or Progressive. Point being.. If you have the stiff progressive springs, you add heavier weight oil, and too much of it, Yeah Your Ride Will Be Harsh!

My suggestion. Baseline it. Put in factory weight oil, and the exact amount. Judge the ride. At that point it's somewhat easy to adjust by adding or taking away small amounts of oil.

FYI - I'm speaking from experience. Last summer I rebuilt my forks and upgraded to Progressive Springs to stop front end dive. I feared to harsh a ride on the long hauls so I went with.. you guessed it, factory weight oil, and made adjustments with the oil level.

Hope this helps,

DarkSider

[hubcapsc]

You have so many Valkyries, you know what "regular" front
suspension should feel like.

If this bike has a fork issue, it will almost certainly be made better
if you take them apart, clean them, fix any problems you see
inside and put them back together again with new seals and
fluid.

-Mike

[98valk]

inverted forks tend to build up air pressure which can stiffen the ride. loosen caps then tighten see if it makes a difference. u might hear air escaping.
My next mod is bleeder valves in the caps, excessive air pressure is known to cause fluid to leak past seals.
most if not all motorcycles with inverted forks from the factory have some type of air bleed in the top of the forks. The valkyrie (cost cutting by honda) does not as we all know.

[Hook#3287]

inverted forks tend to build up air pressure which can stiffen the ride. loosen caps then tighten see if it makes a difference. u might hear air escaping.
My next mod is bleeder valves in the caps, excessive air pressure is known to cause fluid to leak past seals.
most if not all motorcycles with inverted forks from the factory have some type of air bleed in the top of the forks. The valkyrie (cost cutting by honda) does not as we all know.

Thats interesting, in the many forks I've worked on, I've never heard air escape, but I wasn't listening for it either.

What are you thinking, tapping a screw hole in the top of the cap and then what? 

[The emperor has no clothes]

inverted forks tend to build up air pressure which can stiffen the ride. loosen caps then tighten see if it makes a difference. u might hear air escaping.
My next mod is bleeder valves in the caps, excessive air pressure is known to cause fluid to leak past seals.
most if not all motorcycles with inverted forks from the factory have some type of air bleed in the top of the forks. The valkyrie (cost cutting by honda) does not as we all know.

Thats interesting, in the many forks I've worked on, I've never heard air escape, but I wasn't listening for it either.

What are you thinking, tapping a screw hole in the top of the cap and then what? 

Bill, back in the day with MX bikes we would put one of those tire valves on our fork caps. You could fine tune your suspension. It's been many years but I think the most we added was 3 or 4 lbs. I don't know if I would be doing that with our bikes, but it would give you a way to relieve pressure if you felt it was needed.

[Gryphon Rider]

I can understand how air pressure could be an issue.  Increased temperature causes air pressure, and thus spring rate, to increase.  My experience is that the colder the temperature, the stiffer the forks, due to the oil being more viscous.  It's really noticeable when temperatures get close to or below freezing.  If I were to equalize the air pressure, I would want to do it with the forks extended.

[Fazer]

Rough front suspension is a question I have posed on the forum.  I think my front suspension is very harsh.  Have not tackled the fork oil yet as removing or changing the oil seems very intimidating.  I do think I can loosen the cap bolts to see if their is any air pressure built up.  First I have seen this suggestion.  I do not know if I have original springs but am guessing I do.  Bike has 26000 on it and I doubt if the oil has ever been changed.  Sure seems like a lot of work to get the forks off and disassembled to remove the oil.  My previous bike, a Shadow 1100, had fork drain bolts making changing the oil a 10 minute job.

[98valk]

best price I've found. decent price on OEM parts also. $75 and over free shipping, only $7 if under.
https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/1049/33926/Motion-Pro-Micro-Fork-Bleeder?term=bleed+valve+suspension

much written on dirt bike sites whereas the modern bikes use inverted forks.

[flash2002]

Your best bet is, to take the forks off and do the job right if you don't want to have problems. I would install progressive springs unless that's what in there now and check the guides and sliders for wear , a good time to change the seals . For the fork oil I guess it depends on how soft or hard you like the ride.

[Hook#3287]

best price I've found. decent price on OEM parts also. $75 and over free shipping, only $7 if under.
https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/1049/33926/Motion-Pro-Micro-Fork-Bleeder?term=bleed+valve+suspension

much written on dirt bike sites whereas the modern bikes use inverted forks.

this is an interesting mod, just can't get my head around how you mount this on a OEM cap.  The caps are specific to the Valk and some VTX models and do two jobs, sealing the fork and holding the damper rod, so locating and changing to a different cap would be difficult.  I don't see where this valve could be installed on the cap. 

Maybe on the fork tube?

[Harryc]

My take on this idea is if you are going to bother drilling and tapping anything into the forks it should be for a drain bolt at the bottom.

[98valk]

best price I've found. decent price on OEM parts also. $75 and over free shipping, only $7 if under.
https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/1049/33926/Motion-Pro-Micro-Fork-Bleeder?term=bleed+valve+suspension

much written on dirt bike sites whereas the modern bikes use inverted forks.

this is an interesting mod, just can't get my head around how you mount this on a OEM cap.  The caps are specific to the Valk and some VTX models and do two jobs, sealing the fork and holding the damper rod, so locating and changing to a different cap would be difficult.  I don't see where this valve could be installed on the cap. 

Maybe on the fork tube?

will find out if it can be done next month, when I pull the front end apart, steering head bearings, fork seals, polishing - wheel, tubes, and maybe I/S triple trees on my Std/Tourer.

[nogrey]

Wow! I asked this question a few days ago and thought no one had answered because I always (used to) get emails when my posts are responded to. Didn't this time. Guess I'll check my notification settings. Anyway, I'm really very appreciative of all the excellent advice here. Just for the record, I don't own all of the valks in the photo. At the time, 2.5 of them were mine. I've since sold 1.5 and now only have the red/white and a Triumph Rocket III roadster. I need to drain the oil from my forks, that is a certainty. Sure wish they had a drain on them. Removing them is not a big deal, just time consuming and I'm in the middle of other projects. I'm going to get some Honda oil in the specified weight (10 if memory serves) and very carefully add the specified amount. The front suspension just jars me when I go down the road. Compared to my Rocket, which feels more like a luxury car when I ride it. Good stuff that I had not considered here: 1)Air pressure, 2)Higher viscosity when cold (it was 40 degrees last ride), 3) Spring type. Pretty sure they are factory, not progressive. 4) I didn't know there was a difference between the I/S tripple tree and the standard.
Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

[98valk]

4) I didn't know there was a difference between the I/S tripple tree and the standard.
Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

I'm will not know for sure until I pull my std apart. Manual lists a different frame rake for the std/tourer 32.2 vs the I/S 32.33 but lists the same Trail 5.984 for all models. To maintain the same Trail the I/S Triple trees either have to have a different offset or rake to them.  Another way would be the fork length, however I've found so far that there is no difference except for different valving.