Fork spring length

[agedbikeman]

I am about to make a gadget to slowly release the fork caps without removing the forks on my 1995 Aspencade.

With the front wheel raised and the fork cap removed, can anyone tell me approximately how many inches of spring is standing out of the fork with standard and progressive springs.

I need to know this as there's no point in building my gadget only to find it's half an inch short.

I will post my gadget here after I have made it for anyone else to copy

Any input grateful

Alex

[WingAdmin]

The progressive springs come out quite a ways - you can see mine here:

[agedbikeman]

Roughly how many inches of spring is sticking out

[marks146]

I'm interested in how you make out changing your springs because I'll be tackling this job shortly on my 1994 GL1500. I don't need to change the seals and wipers. They're working great, but the springs are sagging so I'll be putting a set of progressives in.

If you don't mind, posting a picture of your home made compressor tool would be helpful, too.

-- Mark

[agedbikeman]

Mark
I always post here any gadgets and mods I make, I've started making it and as soon as I've finished and tested it it will be here.

I wish someone could answer my question though about how many inches the spring sticks out of the top of the fork tube with fork fully extended, a photo does not give me a measurement, this would help me to get it righr first time.

Alex

[Snowmoer]

I had progressive springs in my 88. They only stuck out about 4 inches on my bike from what I remember. I was able to just stand on the foot pegs and use my body weight on the socket wrench, compress the spring and tighten the cap. No spring compressor needed. The bike was on the center stand with blocks of wood under the motor to hold up the front end. Sorry, I did not take any pictures.

[agedbikeman]

Thank you Snowmoer, thats what I needed to know

Alex

[FM-USA]

Thank you Snowmoer, thats what I needed to know
Alex

Just mentioning since WinA posted his pix.
The spring is about 1-1/8 in. wide.
Finger measuring the spring sticking out is around 4 inches. Collaborates others post of 4 inches.

[agedbikeman]

Thank you, now watch this space for my spring compressor gadget

[Garyd]

did your "gadget" work for you?

[marks146]

Thank you, now watch this space for my spring compressor gadget

Since it's been quite some time I followed another thread where the gentleman made a tool out of wood and all-thread. It worked perfectly. I've since completed the spring swap and moved on to other repairs. By the way I didn't need to use the compression tool to recap the tubes. I was able to push down the caps and catch the threads without any issues or drama.

To those who are contemplating doing a fork spring refurbishment. Don't be overly concerned. It's not that big a job nor is it difficult. It's just a little oily. No matter how much oil you think you've removed there's always some left inside.

[agedbikeman]

were you able to use this tool with the forks still in place? the tool I'm making is able to do this as I have no intention of removing the forks, just need to measure the springs and drain the oil.

started making gadget but cold weather has put it on hold so I've not finished it yet, when it's finished and tested I always put my gadgets here for the benefit of others in return for all the benefit I get from this site.

[marks146]

were you able to use this tool with the forks still in place? the tool I'm making is able to do this as I have no intention of removing the forks, just need to measure the springs and drain the oil.

So if you're not removing the fender parts and wheel then I can appreciate you not removing the tubes. In my case I put new bearings and seals into the hub, so it was not much more for me to remove the tubes and do the full refurb on the guts as I always intended to do.

No, the clamp I made out of 2x4 and all-thread would not work while the down tubes are still in the triple tree.

[agedbikeman]

Thanks for the info, I saw the wood one but as my forks are not leaking or bearings worn, I didn't want to remove them, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.