stiffening the front end

[cegan09]

I was wondering what can be done to stiffen up the front end of my bike. The front will compress under just the weight of the bike. I have a spare set of forks, new seals to put in, and a set of S&W aftermarket springs. Is there anything else I can do? I just don't like how much the front compresses before you even set off to ride.

thanks

[mende21]

If you don't want to get even stiffer springs, you could add a spacer at the top of the spring to give a little extra preload. Getting the retaining clip for the top cap back in could be a pain. It's a lot easier to do with the screw in type caps.

[jrhendryx]

If you don't want to get even stiffer springs, you could add a spacer at the top of the spring to give a little extra preload. Getting the retaining clip for the top cap back in could be a pain. It's a lot easier to do with the screw in type caps.

So for spacers, can you just use washers? I would assume that they should be as close to the inside diameter as possible.

I have the same problem. I redid my fork seals about a year ago, but my springs appeared nearly brand new. I put in the amount of oil that the manual called for, but it still compresses (with just bike weight) by nearly 7cm. Should I add a few more cc's of oil (10 per side?) or just use spacers?

Sorry to hijack your thread

[mende21]

My old Yamaha SR500 had about a 2" spacer under the fork cap and it was just thin metal formed into a tube. I don't remember anymore but it must have had a seat between the spring and the spacer. I think you would need lots of washers if you went that route. Maybe a piece of pvc with a thick enough wall to rest on the spring. Adding extra oil won't affect ride height. Using thicker oil will make the front end less "floaty" but it will stay at the same height. If you overfill it and compress the front end enough, the oil could be forced around the oil seals.