Flip, I keep seeing all this info on Progressive and Wilber's replacement springs for the Rocket. Heavier springs and heavier oil. Better front end handling.
Any truth to them being better? Are you switching or staying with OEM?
At least one inquiring mind wants to know!
Heavier oil and heavier springs will cause a harsher ride without modifying the valving on the damper rod. I put Progressive, progressively wound springs in the Bonnie's forks and then took them out.
Dave:
The forks are Kayaba made to Triumph's specification. The manual calls out for '0' weight in the specification section and 5wt in the fork disassembly section. I'm going to go with the 5 weight. None of the dealers in the Ohio/Michigan area have the seals so I ordered them from Bike Bandit. I'm going to replace both sides complete, seals, dust seals, circlips and lower sealing washers. The forks are cartridge, that is, on normal forks, when you take the upper caps off, there will be a spacer and then the spring. On R3 forks, the spring is retained by the damper rod so you have to relieve the spring tension and remove the damper rod nut and then remove the lower bolt that retains the damper rod. Typical of newer forks is there is no provision for draining the fork oil other than disassembly.
If, I can't get the parts before ES. I'll ride the bike as is (with 2 discs that stop and one that squeals) and do it when I get back. Each fork holds 663cc of oil so I'm not too concerned about running out and, if I did and I destroyed the bushing, I'd just make another in the shop. I have many sizes of 660CA bearing bronze rounds available. If, I can't get it done before ES, I'll machine the lower leg(s) for a draining provision with a hex cap screw and a sealing washer.
I'm not going to replace the seals myself (I'm doing both sides simply because if one side is leaking and I have to completely strip the front end ((Windshiled, lowers, fender, brakes, etc)) why not replace them both). I'm going to have Adam at Thunder Cycle do it. I'll take the forks in to him. Adam is a good friend but I can't see paying him 65 bucks an hour to strip the front end when I can do that.
I can't understand why modern fork assemblies don't have a provision to drain them other than cost constraints. When forks compress and rebound, you created a small vacuum in the fork itself and dirt and grime gets pulled past the dust seals, the fork seals and contaminates the oil. My fork oil is already dark. Would be nice to change it regularly.
My opinion is out on the Wilburs springs. The compression damping on my forks is fine as is the rebound. If anything, I'd like a little softer compression dampening which I can achieve by either enlarging the holes in the rod or adding another set, but other than that, the fromt forks are fine. It's not like there is a lot of travel anyway. Total travel is 120mm, which is about 4". In the realm of things, that's not much. My KLR has 9" of useable travel in the front forks and 7" of travel in the rear. The KLR rides measurably better than the Rocket, especially on bumpy roads at speed. Of course the KLR is designed for off road, not something a Rocket is for.
After my experience with Progressive springs on the Bonnie, I'll stay with the OEM springs and enlarge the holes a bit in the damper rod so the compression dampening is less harsh.
