Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods No springs but 20 wt

So due to an issue with the stock fluid being useless in the front forks by well before the 11000 miles that I have on my speedy, I wanted to get rid of the front end dive etc that I have been having before I head to Mexico next week on her. Well, didnt have the time or money to get the progressive springs, so I just went with silkolene 20 wt fork oil and she is like a whole new bike.... There is none of the scary front end dive when you hit the front brakes like she used to have... and the front end stays planted around every corner I have encountered since the service.... I was going to get the progressive springs, but now I think I will just save up for the progressive rear shocks....
Mark

You might also want to throw in some longer spacers like Staffo did. PVC is cheap & easy.

Thanks for the info! Think I'll give it a try too.

Jack, the pvc spacer mod was the simplist, cheapest and one of the most effective mods I've done and btw, the front forks performed even beyond my expectations during the 1400k's I did last week.

You know, now that I have my Hagon Nitros and progessive front springs with correct spacers properly sorted, I can honestly now say the place I've been yearning for on the road has finally been experienced, albeit after much time ie 25000k's and just a little bit of money.

Now tomorrow I'll be able to go back to that happy place as I re-trace my steps and go home to Canberra

I mentioned this thread to our machinest today, and he said the use of heavier weight fork oil is a very common thing among folks trying to stiffen the front end. He also said that in his experience, nearly every brand of street bike comes from the factory with oil that's too thin.

Back to the spacers, I'm interested in this, but there's one side effect: reduced fork travel. Does anyone know the fork travel with the stock spacer?

You'd have to make a really, really long spacer to compromise the fork travel and by then the preload would be way out of whack. Fork travel with the stock springs is listed at 120 mm in the service manual; that's a little less than 4 3/4 inches.

Heavy fork oil alone is not The Way to suspension enlightenment. A reasonable-length spacer isn't going to reduce effective travel.