Re springing the front end?

[WylieGibbs]

I got the new Avon's on the bike along with the stems someone  suggested.

The mechanic I used to put the tires on was trying to talk me into letting him tune up the front end. Says the wt of the Valk it needs the springs beefed up on the front end. Improve handling and ride were his two main points. Cost about $300.

Any of you guys done this? Worth it? Don't bother?

WG

[Jess from VA]

Here are the Progressive fork springs.  They are an upgrade from OE, especially 10year old OE springs... so long as too much fork oil is not added (one oz over is too much). 

Now if your bike is not high miles and rides fine for you, I'd hold off for a year or two.  You will eventually develop a fork leak, and that is the optimal time to add the springs.  IMHO

http://www.hondadirectlineofshadyside.com/stores/product.asp?pid=554&str=2&ID=501826301

$70 for the springs is one of the cheaper upgrades, the fork tear down and rebuild (labor) is the spendy part at most dealers... and actually $300 is not a bad quote, esp if it includes the springs.

However, if you add these, I'd go ahead and add the standard seals and sliders and other rebuild parts at the time the springs are added (another $125 in HDL parts).  The parts list for this job is around somewhere.

[tank_post142]

honda sells those springs cheaper than ebay

[fordmano]

Just a reference, I have an open discount from my local Honda Dealer from a different forum membership. I dropped off my forks at the dealership and picked them back up in about a little over a week fully custom built with Race Tech and Gold Valves all new everything and I gave over $700.

So I think $300 with full stock rebuild and progressive springs is a very reasonable price.   especially if they are pulling and re-installing the forks and all for you.

[olddog1946]

I have noticed that the price of the progressive springs have actually gone down on ebay..most are listed at 69.?? So either directline or ebay are decent sources...

the local stealer here quoted $200 +parts for a fork seal change, so I'd think 3 bills is a fair price..my seals were leaking too bad to wait for new springs, so next time I'll be putting them in...

[WylieGibbs]

Thanks again for the advice. No leaks yet. I think I will wait until that happens then have him do the upgrades. My opinion the bike rides fine as is.

WG

[hubcapsc]

Thanks again for the advice. No leaks yet. I think I will wait until that happens then have him do the upgrades. My opinion the bike rides fine as is.

WG

I predict you'll wish you'd had them put in the progressives before you picked your bike up when you
bought it in the first place, after you feel how much better they are... the pogo effect from the awesome
power of the Valkyrie when you crank on it will be gone... the dive when you hit the brakes for a corner
will be gone...

That Race-Tech Gold Valve bidness seems pretty interesting... hmmm...



http://www.amazon.com/Race-Tech-Gold-Valve-FMGVS2042C/dp/B001P4JYJ8

-Mike

[3fan4life]

Here are the Progressive fork springs.  They are an upgrade from OE, especially 10year old OE springs... so long as too much fork oil is not added (one oz over is too much). 

Now if your bike is not high miles and rides fine for you, I'd hold off for a year or two.  You will eventually develop a fork leak, and that is the optimal time to add the springs.  IMHO

http://www.hondadirectlineofshadyside.com/stores/product.asp?pid=554&str=2&ID=501826301

$70 for the springs is one of the cheaper upgrades, the fork tear down and rebuild (labor) is the spendy part at most dealers... and actually $300 is not a bad quote, esp if it includes the springs.

However, if you add these, I'd go ahead and add the standard seals and sliders and other rebuild parts at the time the springs are added (another $125 in HDL parts).  The parts list for this job is around somewhere.

I just bought new seals and progressive springs from my local Honda shop (they agreed to match HDL's price, w/o shipping).

Total cost for springs and seals was $ 128.00 w/ tax.

My local mechanic say's that he will do the rebuild for 2 hrs labor if I remove the fork tubes and bring them to him.

That will bring the total repair cost to about $300.00 

[Jess from VA]

Yep... I blew the forks out of my supervalk a while back (first one, then the other)(60K).  It had the PS springs in it when I bought it (for years), but I doubt the rebuild parts were added at the time.  I got my rebuild parts, and if I pull the forks off and deliver to my tech, he'll rebuild them for a Franklin.

Good thing I have two bikes.  

[JC]

I put Progressive's 440HD's on the rear last weekend, but just got around to putting the springs in the forks last night, and to quote a post I saw somewhere else on the board " Why did I wait so long?!?". Major improvement over stock, but you've probably heard that before. Guess I had to find out for myself. Got 35K on her now and the shock bushings had obviously been toast for some time. I do most of my own wrenching but was intimidated by the forks for some reason, but these destructions for the VTX http://tech.bareasschoppers.com/suspension/fork-spring-replacement-vtx-1800/ made the job a breeze. Seals are good so I chose just to do the springs for now.

The kicker was that my local stealer actually let me borrow the 'special tool' for the left side (Thank You! to America's Motor Sports in Nashville  ). When I was told "We don't loan tools" I offered  a deposit greater that the price of the tool and the manager walked me back to the shop, we found the tool, he said he wasn't expecting he would need it for the next couple of days, and then loaned it without a deposit. I am a frequent visitor/customer, so I guess he figured that would keep a faithful customer coming back, it worked.