Progressive fork springs

[MartyA]

drags, that is WAY cool. Get a close up though, I had to look twice at the photo.
OK, gotta have one of them. Wonder if that's legal in PA?

I got my springs from MAW on line, $58 or so and around $20 for shipping. They are still list some limited parts for the XS, including exhaust stuff.

http://www.accwhse.com/

I am probably going to order 13 1/2" shocks from them. Those new JC Whipme ones I bought to get me through the fall last year are too short.

Tkat sells his fork braces occsasionally. He gets the urge and the time, announces to all they are being make, and then takes orders. I believe he gets $85. You will have to go to the other XS site on Yahoo, that's where he hangs out, and I believe he is taking orders now. They are made for the XS, they are not a universal thing. One for the standard and one for the special. Very nice work, and they work very nice. Ever notice the wandering in a curve when you are getting on it a little? This brace takes a lot of that out. Some have posted here that the F/B improved their straight line tracking, although I did not see any change there.

pgg is it possible you have another problem? Fork oil too heavy? Something else? Last spring I was having a tough time with the forks, some bumps would jar the heck out of you, the wheel acted like it was out of round sometimes, and the biggest problem was the dive when I hit the brakes, even at very slow speed. Clymers says the springs are worn out at 19.82 (503.4mm)inches, mine were 19.65-ish (500-ish mm). I forgot to measure the new ones, but they stuck out of the top of the forks about 2 inches before I screwed the caps on, where the old ones I had to reach down into the tube to remove.

Major difference in ride. Smoothed out everything, made the ride much more enjoyable. Sweepers were much more controllable. BTW I use 15 wt fork oil. Clymers says 10 wt is good, some here have posted they use higher values.

[dragxs11]

I've taken several pics of the tail, but the light is so intense that it messes up the pic. None of them have turned out very well, but you can get the idea. the XS11 is masked out when I hit a brake, so the whole rectangle is lit up. It is much brighter than stock in either condition, so no one has hassled me yet about it. It's not DOT approved, so if they wanted to get nasty with me they could, but here in Reno it's all about fancy lighting. They are pretty liberal here about stuff like this. A lot of bikes coming out of the factory now come stock with LED's so I don't see a problem.

[MartyA]

So you have it set up for running with the XS11 lit, then when you hit the brakes the whole thing lights? Cooler still! Beyond my electrical ability.

Yeah, I don't think the LED conversion is illegal anywhere. And I suppose if you can add those templates that outline a ram, for instance, on the back of Dodge pickups, why not letters in LED?

TopCat has the instructions to change over to LED, I never thought about wiring some to make letters. Don't think I have seen that anywhere, have you? You ought to patent it. Vanity lights to go with vanity plates.

[Hobbit]

PA

Marty, your earlier post asked if it was legal in PA. I don't think that anything creative is legal in PA!
I used to teach a state inspection class for PA. The rules are written so that they can harass you about anything that is not original if they want to.

[MartyA]

I have seen some crazy stuff here in PA, not as crazy as, say, CA. I think everyone takes a legal vehicle to the inspection shop, then after getting the sticker changes it all back again. Buddy of mine builds his own trikes, takes the beer keg gas tank off for inspection and then puts it on again till next year.
I might just ask one of the shops about it.

OK Matt, start another thread, with photos, how to do that. TC had the coolest idea to adapt the to LED tail light, you carried it further, may I say, to an art form. What do you mean "IF" you had to pay for them? You get them for free?

[pgg]

MartyA, I'm only nit-picking about those springs - they're fine. Here in NZ there seems to be more and more P.C. bull**** creeping in too. To get a sticker I now have to remove the S.S. brake lines (some clueless official twerp has deemed them illegal) - replace them with the spongy 25 year old rubber hoses - get the sticker - then go home - and put the S.S. lines back on. How stupid is that?

[MartyA]

That is bureaucracy at its best. Good to know the USA is not the only country suffering this malady.

[buffalo]

Marty, I saw that you are thinking about ordering a pair of 13.5" rear shocks and I am wondering hpw that might affect handling. On my '78E I experimented around with raising the forks in the trees (lowering the front) to make the steering quicker. What I found was with my old worn conti's it handled pretty good, but when I put new tires on with a rounded profile instead of the flattened worn tread it was too twitchy, particularly in long sweeping turns. (I did not have a fork brace at the time) I am thinking that raising the rear might have the same effect on the steering as lowering the front. You will have to let us know how it works out, I would love to get some more ground clearance.

[MartyA]

When I purchased the bike it had what I assumed were standard sized shocks. They had worn to the point that it was not enjoyable. A friend came over one day and swapped a pair of used shocks for my headlight bucket, as he was building another trike and had an XS fork on the front. The shocks were in fair shape and got me through two years. This past fall I convinced my wife to try a ride, after 30+ years of not being interested. She loved it! Could not wait for the next outing. Loves it when I scrape the pegs. But, those shocks were not up to my 250+ and her added 125 lbs. Bottomed out fairly regularly, wandered somewhat in the sweepers. So I quickly ordered some JC Whipme shocks just to get me through the rest of the fall, and through the north GA rally. They are much shorter, with my wife on I have to tip the bike over to the right to get the kickstand down, the bike sits too upright on the kickstand by itself, and I scrape everything riding two-up. I don't have the measurements for the JCW shocks, I am guessing they are 11 1/2"? The old tired ones are 12 1/2", and I had those on before and rode too low with my wife added, so that's why I am going to try 13 1/2. The JCW shocks worked fine as far as the ride, never bottomed out, but they were just too short. Might be why I mangled my muffler in Georgia. I noticed it also when I tried to put the bike on the centerstand, much more difficult than with the old shocks.

So I am thinking with my bulk and adding SWMBO on occasion, 13 1/2" might be a good compromise. I see Parts n More advertises 12 3/4", I might try those.

Should start a shock thread...

[buffalo]

Let me know how it works out... I recently found a serviceable pair of rear shocks off of an XJ (air assist) on ebay pretty cheap. It has been too nasty out to install them and test ride but that might be another option too. I find my bike sags too much and wallows around riding two up with the stock setup. Hopefully I will get decent handling for hot rodding around solo and pump them up for a decent ride hauling the wife and baggage.

[John]

XJ shocks

I am running a set of XJ shocks on my 80 SG. I've never owned a new bike, so I don't really know what the suspension should feel like, but after changing to the XJ shocks, I noticed a big difference.
My bike had 89k on the chassis, so the OEM shocks were shot, I'm sure. The XJ that donated the shocks had 41k on it. After sitting for over eight years the shocks still had 13 lbs of pressure in them. I tried to install them on the opposite side from which they came off the XJ, for hose to helmet lock clearance, but the size of the lower mounting holes is different from one shock to the other. They must be mounted on the same side they were on originally. The only problem I had was the air hose. The helmet lock was in the way of the hose, but I just removed the lock, installed the shocks, and reinstalled the lock. The hook on the lock is blocked by the hose, but that's a small price to pay for a smooth ride. If you do install the XJ shocks, the recommended pressures are: 15-55 lbs. I am very happy with the way it rides now. I have the air pressure set at 15 lbs, as I usually ride alone. SWMBO has her own ride...84FJ1100!

[mitch]

FJ

My cousin had a new FJ in 84 ,i had a 78 kaw Z1R it would blow the doors off me and out handle me big time. I tried it out man would it ever move i envy your wife ........MITCH

[John]

FJ1100

One night I got a big jump on her pulling onto the freeway, so I decided to twist it up. I didn't have the windshield on at that time. I was leaning over the tank, kissing the gauges, and she went by me when I was going 130mph, and did it convincingly. It was like she just reached over and turned off my ignition switch. I tried it again another time, with the same result. Won't try it again. I know better. When she bought it, I never really rode it very hard, just made sure it was mechanically sound. The one time I did take it out, I put about 40 miles on it, and when I got off the thing, my wrists, elbows and shoulders were sore. I don't like the riding position. Damn thing scared the S#!t outta me, though. I was making a right hand turn, and before I had it straightend up, I grabbed a handful of throttle and the damn thing stood up on me! I had never had a motorcycle on one wheel before. Thought It was going to come down on it's side and she'd kill me. Well, I kept it off the pavement, but really never twisted it up again. At my age I have more brains than ba!!s, and old bones don't heal as fast as they used to.

[mitch]

Hate that

Dont ya just hate that just when you think your really rocking someone blows by ya Jeeeeeez!!!!!.......MITCH