Progressive Fork Springs

[Journeyman]

Update: manufacturing glitch. I talked with someone at Progressive and after seeing my photos, they seemed pretty sure that's what happened. ***Read on if you are replacing springs or servicing forks.

I hope others will have better luck. I couldn't wait for a replacement, so I put the original springs back in, BellRay 7wt, and new seals- a definite improvement. Too bad. I'll never know how much better the Progressives might have been.

***If you're contemplating doing the fork job yourself, with the right tools it is not that bad. I bought a spring compressor, a tool to set the seal, 2 feet of 3/4 steel square tube with a wall thickness of 1/16th (.0625) to hold the damper cartridge from spinning, and made a syringe thing to create the proper air gap. Follow the manual and it's pretty straight forward. You can do it.

Beware when reinstalling the spring cap. The orientation of the spring cap in the manual is not shown consistently. On pages 14.10 and 14.15 it shows the spring cap turned so that the smaller part goes into the spring. That way the spacer fits in a shallow cup formed by the larger side of the spring cap. This is correct. But on page 14.13 it shows the spring cap flipped so that the wider cup part fits over the spring and the smaller part goes inside the spacer= wrong. See photo of pages from manual- picture at left is wrong, other two photos show the correct orientation for the spring cap.


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On an '11 Roadster I'm trying to install Progressive fork springs (11-1529). Trouble is the "spring cap" won't fit in the spring. The ID of the Progressive spring, on the tight wound side that goes pointing up, is too small for the cap to go inside. You can see in the photo that the end of the spring turns in resulting in an oblong hole that is too small.

Flipping the spring over (progressive says no) works for the spring cap, but you can't pull the damper rod up past the spring through the smaller opening high enough to catch the nut with the tool. It's obviously catching on the smaller spring opening.

Please let me know if this sounds familiar and if you found a solution, but I guess the answer is obviously that they sent me the wrong springs (in the right box). Update: Manufacturing error.

Too much hassle to get replacements and have to get to work tomorrow, so back to the original springs and 7W oil.

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[bebsy]

Update: manufacturing glitch. I talked with someone at Progressive and after seeing my photos, they seemed pretty sure that's what happened. ***Read on if you are replacing springs or servicing forks.

I hope others will have better luck. I couldn't wait for a replacement, so I put the original springs back in, BellRay 7wt, and new seals- a definite improvement. Too bad. I'll never know how much better the Progressives might have been.

***If you're contemplating doing the fork job yourself, with the right tools it is not that bad. I bought a spring compressor, a tool to set the seal, 2 feet of 3/4 steel square tube with a wall thickness of 1/16th (.0625) to hold the damper cartridge from spinning, and made a syringe thing to create the proper air gap. Follow the manual and it's pretty straight forward. You can do it.

Beware when reinstalling the spring cap. The orientation of the spring cap in the manual is not shown consistently. On pages 14.10 and 14.15 it shows the spring cap turned so that the smaller part goes into the spring. That way the spacer fits in a shallow cup formed by the larger side of the spring cap. This is correct. But on page 14.13 it shows the spring cap flipped so that the wider cup part fits over the spring and the smaller part goes inside the spacer= wrong. See photo of pages from manual- picture at left is wrong, other two photos show the correct orientation for the spring cap.


----

On an '11 Roadster I'm trying to install Progressive fork springs (11-1529). Trouble is the "spring cap" won't fit in the spring. The ID of the Progressive spring, on the tight wound side that goes pointing up, is too small for the cap to go inside. You can see in the photo that the end of the spring turns in resulting in an oblong hole that is too small.

Flipping the spring over (progressive says no) works for the spring cap, but you can't pull the damper rod up past the spring through the smaller opening high enough to catch the nut with the tool. It's obviously catching on the smaller spring opening.

Please let me know if this sounds familiar and if you found a solution, but I guess the answer is obviously that they sent me the wrong springs (in the right box). Update: Manufacturing error.

Too much hassle to get replacements and have to get to work tomorrow, so back to the original springs and 7W oil.

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Hi there, I'm glad I came across this thread since I installed the them initially I was very pleased no more sag when braking, but when going slowly over a pothole or mounting a small kerb it feels nasty, now the thing you mentioned I remember well and the thoughts in my mind is did I place the springs upside down if I remember rightly there was only one way the fit were the spring sits in that cup any help much appreciated cracks me up stuff like that

 

[Martin-Brighton-uk]

Great info. I've got some Hagon springs going in as a project this winter. Thanks for the tip of the documentation error

 

[Journeyman]

Great info. I've got some Hagon springs going in as a project this winter. Thanks for the tip of the documentation error

Very welcome. I seriously doubt you'll have the same bad luck. I contacted Progressive and they were concerned and admitted that it was probably a rare manufacturing error. I'm hoping first timers will see that the actual job is not that bad with the right tools. Some of it is hard to visualize from reading and getting bits and pieces from videos, but it all makes sense once you start turning wrenches. Go slow, it'll be fine.

 

[Nat67]

One little tip for those wishing to replace fork seals , if you havent got a fork seal driver , you can use a piece of sheet lead . Wrap it around the stantion a couple of times and it makes the perfect driver . Soft enough to not scratch or damage but hard and heavy enough to do the job and infinately adjustable !

 

[barbagris]

One little tip for those wishing to replace fork seals , if you havent got a fork seal driver , you can use a piece of sheet lead . Wrap it around the stantion a couple of times and it makes the perfect driver . Soft enough to not scratch or damage but hard and heavy enough to do the job and infinately adjustable !

Of course this explains the leaky church roofs on Dartmoor.

 

[Martin-Brighton-uk]

I hadn't planned on replacing the seals as they are not leaking at all. Bike is 2011 with 39k miles. What's the opinion? Replace while I've got the forks apart or leave them?

 

[Journeyman]

I hadn't planned on replacing the seals as they are not leaking at all. Bike is 2011 with 39k miles. What's the opinion? Replace while I've got the forks apart or leave them?

Definitely replace the seals while you're there. The seals are not very expensive and the extra time is fractional while you're in there changing the oil and springs.

IF you buy a tool to drive the seals be careful of rough spots due to careless manufacturing. I got this one which did great, once I sanded off the burs on one side that would have scratched my forks. Just one more thing I learned to look for on this job.

 

[Martin-Brighton-uk]

Definitely replace the seals while you're there. The seals are not very expensive and the extra time is fractional while you're in there changing the oil and springs.

IF you buy a tool to drive the seals be careful of rough spots due to careless manufacturing. I got this one which did great, once I sanded off the burs on one side that would have scratched my forks. Just one more thing I learned to look for on this job.

Great thanks @Journeyman28778 I'll look out for all those issues and all being welli won't experience any badly made spring.

 

[Nat67]

Of course this explains the leaky church roofs on Dartmoor.

Funny you should say that ? The lead was replaced on a parish church near here , only to go missing the following night . Happened 3 times in a row before they replaced the lead with zinc , to strip a church roof in one night is no mean feat , there is tons of the stuff ! !