front shocks too soft??

[greenbarn]

That's cool.  I've found there are a lot of special tools that are nice to have if you are doing the job a dozen times, that you can get by without if you're doing one.

Thanks for the heads up on the spring - come to think about it, I have a customer who only has one eye - he says it was from a fork spring...

[chief]

No I've always done mine without the special tools... though they are nice and make the work a lot easier. Make sure you read up on it though... know what you have to do before you get in there... watch those springs.

[greenbarn]

Gee I was kind of referring to the forks to "be" the shocks.  Isnt' that what that damping oil is for?

Anyway, Chief, much thanks for the suggestion.  Do you know if you really have to have all the special tools listed in the manual, in order to do that, or can my common car mechanic stuff suffice?  I saw they had quite a list of special tools - like a special "oil level gauge" - I wondered if just a flashlight and ruler might work to measure the oil level?  Several other "special tools" listed as well.  I've never had a bike fork apart so thought I'd better ask.

[chief]

There is no "front shock"... you have springs in oil inside the front forks. You should check the fork oil level and springs.

[greenbarn]

I have a 2003  800 with 16000 miles.  To me, the front shock seems pretty soft.  I put on a fork tool bag on the front and immediately I started getting scuff marks on my front fender where the fender comes up and hits the bag.  There is approx 4-5" clearance from the fender to the bag.  When I sit on the bike I can very easily push down the front end to make the bag hit the fender - this seems awfully soft to me.

I thought maybe I was low on air pressure, but I looked up in the manual how to adjust the front shock - and found no way to adjust air or otherwise.  Evidently it's just not adjustable.

So here's my questions:  should the shocks be this soft?  Should I consider changing the oil, or maybe changing out the springs, or what???   If so, is this something I can tackle without a bunch of specialty tools?  I think I can handle it mechanically, and have an auto repair shop, so basic tools are not a problem - I just see in the manual they call for several "special tools" and I didn't know if these are mandatory, or if other basic tools can improvise???

THANKS in advance for any help.