Fork disassembly help

[James England]

I put progressive springs in my forks. That's why I took the caps off. I used the actual Progressive brand and these are made in the USA. I found a pair here in the UK, listed on eBay with only a code number and no idea as to what bike they were for. I checked on Progressive's website and found that the code was for the XS1100. I didn't need any adapters or spacers or anything (some other Japanese bikes do but not the XS1100E and F).

The bike was instantly higher at the front end (because the OEM springs had compressed) and it immediately looked different. The ride seems less bumpy on certain types of bumps and generally an improvement. The bike is also sitting higher, of course.

I think if you are going to the trouble of replacing the springs, you may as well put progressive ones in as they are a more modern concept than the OEM ones.......

[James England]

Looking at the Haynes manual for the XS1100, the spring lengths on the US air fork bikes are:

SF 24.10"
G 20.31"
SG 24.10"


The US (and the UK) E and F models did not have air suspension at all.

By the way, someone commented on teh good drawing you posted. A good sourec of exploded diagrams is available on:

www.cmsnl.com

[XSive_speed]

Looking at the Haynes manual for the XS1100, the spring lengths on the US air fork bikes are:

SF 24.10"
G 20.31"
SG 24.10"

James - Thanks for the information. Would you mind taking just a few minutes to double check those numbers, particularly that for a G with an air fork the length should be 20.31" minimum?

The reason that I'm asking is that the "other" manual - retrieved from CatatonicBug's web site (not sure the original source of this scan) lists that for all models, the air fork springs should be replaced if less than 24.10", and non-air fork springs at 19.82".

Thanks.

[James England]

James - Thanks for the information. Would you mind taking just a few minutes to double check those numbers, particularly that for a G with an air fork the length should be 20.31" minimum?

The reason that I'm asking is that the "other" manual - retrieved from CatatonicBug's web site (not sure the original source of this scan) lists that for all models, the air fork springs should be replaced if less than 24.10", and non-air fork springs at 19.82".

Thanks.

You're welcome. In the Haynes manual, the air assisted G spring should be 20.31". It's the SG model that should be 24.10"

I'll post scan of the page in a minute....

[James England]

Here's a scan of the page from my Haynes manual:

[XSive_speed]

That's great news. I was wondering how to fit four more inches of spring into those fork tubes. Additionally, I now get to take the money for new springs and put in back in my pocket (or divert it to another XS related fix)

Now I can reassemble my front end, and get the XS out of traction.



Thanks

[cywelchjr]

That's great news. I was wondering how to fit four more inches of spring into those fork tubes. Additionally, I now get to take the money for new springs and put in back in my pocket (or divert it to another XS related fix)

Yeah, the air forks and non-air forks for the standards are the same length in both cases, the difference in length is actually between standard and special AFAIK. The standard air forks also don't have the bushings in the lower (or is it the upper) fork tubes, and while I've heard of someone swapping in either special upper tubes into standard lower tubes (or the other way around) it's normally a swap that is likely to cause the forks to bind. The specials have the bushings because part of the installation process with the brakes is to actually move the forks in and out in relation to each other to center the disks in the calipers, and the calipers as I understand it don't move on the special like the standard ones do.

[petejw]

james,
thanx for posting that,
interesting how they state 10/30 weight oil for the uk models
and 10 weight/atf for the us bikes.

[James England]

I stripped my forks last night in order to put some NOS sliders on. One of the allen bolts that hold the damper assemblies to the slider very obligingly came undone straight away. The one one just spun round and round with the damper assembly inside the slider. I ransacked my drawer of nuts and bolts and couldn't find one of the right size to hold the damper assembly as per previous posts. So I took a broom handle and used a wood chisel to cut a few very inaccurate bevels on the end of it, pushed it onto the damper assembly and it worked straight away... teh allane bolt came undone. I gripped the slider firmly and just leaned on the broom handle whilst turning the allen key..........

[James England]

james,
thanx for posting that,
interesting how they state 10/30 weight oil for the uk models
and 10 weight/atf for the us bikes.

Yes, I've always wondered about that. Your forks are all air-assisted though, I believe? ATF is pretty thin stuff, so I wonder if it would damp effectively in the UK non-air-assisted forks?

[natemoen]

Yes, I've always wondered about that. Your forks are all air-assisted though, I believe? ATF is pretty thin stuff, so I wonder if it would damp effectively in the UK non-air-assisted forks?

lots of people seem to use atf. I have it in my non air forks and it seems to be fine.

[James England]

lots of people seem to use atf. I have it in my non air forks and it seems to be fine.

Thanks for mentioning that. I think I'll use it mine this time and see how it feels..... it's a lighter substance than 10/30 which is pretty thick in cold weather..........

[natemoen]

And even if ya don't like, its not terribly difficult to drain it and put something else in.

[XSive_speed]

ATF would certainly be less expensive than the $20.00 that the local MC shop charged me for a quart of 10W fork oil.

I agree - next time it will be ATF in my forks. Most of the ATF that I've seen has been around 10W, but that's just a guess. I seem to recall that they don't often list it very clearly on the bottle.