Front suspension

[CDNRatMan]

just wondering what tires are you running on your ride?

[mbk]

TIRE PRESSURES:

Amazing but true - how can 2 psi down to spec make things so much better?  My front tire was at 30 and I took it down to 28 and it actually performs better.  Is it my imagination or does 2 psi make that much of a difference?  Anyway, loving the bike - just loving it.  Rides like a dram and that engine is so dang strong!  I easily get to 60 in third and never seem to run out of a good gear to cruise in. 

[mbk]

have them in both my Drifter and W-650.

The W-650 - another fine tribute bike.  Then my alltime favorite all 'rounder is the KLR 650 (2008-up).  Kawasaki makes some good stuff! 

[greenbarn]

This whole time I thought "progressive" was describing, generically, the "type" of springs.  Didn't know they'd tagged it for the company name...

THANKS, again.

[Troll]

Progressive suspension makes a kit. Good quality stuff. Had them in my E-Glide for over 200,000 miles and no sag, put them in my TourGlide and they were just fine after 130,000 when I sold it, have them in both my Drifter and W-650.
http://www.progressivesuspension.com/

[greenbarn]

Pop off the 2 chrome plastic caps and you will see the fork top plugs. They are retained by an earless snap ring. You need to compress them slightly to remove the ring. You need to have the front end of the bike either off the ground completely or the wheel just touching the ground, and the legs fully extended, then the plugs come out VERY easily. Not much preload from the factory...

This is something I really need to do.  From the sounds of things - I think I should buy a progressive spring set.  Although this is my first bike, and I don't really have anything to compare it to, by bike rides crappy.  On the smooth highway it's fine, but in town where there is a lot of "rough pavement" every bump is bone-jarring.  In addition, I had to take off my fork bag b/c the bag was constantly hitting the fender, leaving marks on it.  It has about 4" of clearance (unloaded), but even small rough bumps, I believe, make it hit the fender.

So what's the leading opinion on brands/source for progressive fork springs?

[greenbarn]

Just remember, Gadget's page is primarily aimed at Nomads.  There is a bunch of good stuff that we can adapt to the Drifter.  But there are subtle differences in some of these things that can bite you if you aren't careful. We have a few links to more drifter specific stuff on out site, and we have some of the same sources for others.

The preload on the front forks is adjusted by using heavy walled pvc piping cut to various lengths. The longer, the more pre-load.

Gotcha ditto..

This is why I subscribe to this forum - you guys seem to always have the answers.

[greenbarn]

The factory preload spacer is a piece of exhaust tubing, cut to length. Progressive usually packs a pair of PVC pipes in the kit for you to cut to length...standard operating procedure

Gotcha. 

[Troll]

Pop off the 2 chrome plastic caps and you will see the fork top plugs. They are retained by an earless snap ring. You need to compress them slightly to remove the ring. You need to have the front end of the bike either off the ground completely or the wheel just touching the ground, and the legs fully extended, then the plugs come out VERY easily. Not much preload from the factory...

[mbk]

The preload on the front forks is adjusted by using heavy walled pvc piping cut to various lengths. The longer, the more pre-load.

I've been riding for over thiry years but have never been much of a mechanic - can you access this from the top of the tree, or do you have to disassemble the fork tubes to add spacers?  Mike

[chief]

Just remember, Gadget's page is primarily aimed at Nomads.  There is a bunch of good stuff that we can adapt to the Drifter.  But there are subtle differences in some of these things that can bite you if you aren't careful. We have a few links to more drifter specific stuff on out site, and we have some of the same sources for others.

The preload on the front forks is adjusted by using heavy walled pvc piping cut to various lengths. The longer, the more pre-load.

[Troll]

http://www.gadgetjq.com/steering_stem_adjust.htm

[Troll]

The factory preload spacer is a piece of exhaust tubing, cut to length. Progressive usually packs a pair of PVC pipes in the kit for you to cut to length...standard operating procedure

[greenbarn]

Go here first and check out how to check and adjust preload.
http://www.gadgetjq.com/gadgetsfixitpage.htm

That's a great link - I spent a bunch of time reading a lot of different articles - but I can't find the one you mentioned on adjusting preload...  What's the title?  I searched for "preload", "pre-load" , "load", and can't find anything....

And, Troll, what do you think of the sugestion in the article in afore-mentioned gadgetsfixitpage, that talks about adding a 4" piece of PVC on top of each shock spring, in order to increase the preload??   (article "install progressive springs...") http://www.gadgetjq.com/installprogressivesprings.htm

[Troll]

There are a few things to do first, like adjusting the bearing preload. The neck bearings should be repacked every 10,000 miles, but it's an easy, but time consuming job. Replacing them is about $40 in parts and labor...
Go here first and check out how to check and adjust preload.
http://www.gadgetjq.com/gadgetsfixitpage.htm

[chief]

TIRE PRESSURES:

See Mods/Tips... for this topic.
http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/forum/index.php?topic=17347.0

[mbk]

Thanks so much - if it's the worst-case scenario like that with the bearings, is that an expensive fix?  Sounds like it.

[Troll]

The front end is a critical part of any motorcycle. I would suggest that you raise the front wheel off the ground and check for any looseness in the steering head bearings. My 1500 now has 71,000 miles on it and when I got it, the small, sharp edged bumps really transmitted up to the bars. The dealer told me that it was worn slider bushings...I kind of doubted that, since I had never had to replace slider bushings in anything I owned for the last 50 years, so that Winter I disassembled the fork, replaced the springs with progressive wound ones, adjusted the preload to my liking, and replaced the fork oil with Dexron 3 synthetic ATF...problem solved. You might also check the front tire pressures...for some odd reason, people have been running way too high a pressure in tires lately.. My 1500 manual calls for 28 psi cold in the front, and that's just fine...

[mbk]

I posted elsewhere about getting my "new-to-me" 2004 Drifter 800, but I wanted to ask specifically about the front suspension issue I mentioned in that post.  When I hit some bumps in the asphalt on my back-roads ride home -- the bumps were kind of like little mini speed bumps but not nearly as high-more like some faults in the rode where the asphalt kind of rippled upwards like folds in a sheet -- I noticed that I could really feel that front fork not just compress, but could feel slight slop/movement in the fork tube.  The bike is in excellent shape otherwise and only has 4,000 miles on it (a 2004) so is this just a real soft front suspension or something I should be concerned with?  Mike