Progressive fork springs - cost?

If you ever bought Progressive's, do you remember what they cost? I have a line on a set for my bike, just want to know what to offer him.

Thanks

You can get them out of CycleDepot.com for $80 a pair.

I got Prog shocks there recently. Fork springs are next on the list.

I installed a pair of Progressive fork springs about 10 years ago and it made my bike handle worse. As I applied the front brakes hard the front end would get REALLY squirrly. It was scary. I took them back out and the problem went away. Never figured out why.
The springs are still sitting on my shelf.
Anyone want them let me know. they are for the KZ650.
The best front end mod I have ever done was a fork brace.

The stock 650 springs are very good really. I never fooled with any of mine. The KZ1000MKII had a terribly undersprung front. The progressives worked great there.

I installed a pair of Progressive fork springs about 10 years ago and it made my bike handle worse.

I get a squirrly feeling sometimes, and I have Progressive fork springs. I found that when I changed my Fork Oil, I had no problem getting the top caps back on the fork tube. I did not have to commpress the spring much or at all if I remember correctly. This was with the front wheel off the floor.

Do the stock springs stick out of the fork tubes when the caps are off, and do they need to be pushed in to get the caps on?

I'm wondering if I need to add some spacers/collars in there to stiffen and make contact with the springs?

I just got a price on Progressive fork springs for my bike the other day from Jeff (Z-1 Enterprises). It was around $65. He doesn't carry mine but will order them.

When you buy Progressive springs you need to be very careful about whether or not the springs they sell require a spacer or not. This information is hidden in one of the many footnotes on their reference information. For some bikes (like the J motored LTD's, they tell you to use a 3" spacer. Now if you install the springs without the spacer they will be VERY sloppy.

I don't really like this approach by Progressive - but these days there isn't too many options for fork springs and I guess it allows them to have a handful of generic springs that will fit just about any bike with the right sized spacer.

Can you tell me Jeff if the '78Kz650C requires spacers? Or where can I find some info on this?

Again, should the springs need compression to get the caps on? This is with the front wheel off the ground.

I get a wobble at high speeds and am wondering if the front end raises enough for the springs to get loose and sloppy?

Post edited by: rstnick, at: 2005/12/16 12:13

Progressive lists their part number of 11-1106 for this bike and says no spacer is required.

These springs should be 486mm long and 25mm across

Normally, I've found it's an effort to push the fork caps down enough to get the thread on the caps to bite. You should have a fair amount of tension on the cap while fitting it - to the point if you let go of it, it would sail 15' - 20' across a workshop (been there and done that).

Progressive confuses this by saying these springs fit 77-83 KZ650 without spacers. But then add 78-79 SR's see spacer instructions in with the springs...

Looking in the Clymer manual, it lists the following lengths for springs

KZ650-B1 477.7mm
KZ650-B2 & C1 485.0mm
KZ650-D1 522.0mm

Could your forks be off a different model?

When installing the springs, they usually sit just outside the fork tubes when starting to compress them - so you have to push them down about 1" to get the cap thread to bite.

Post edited by: jeff.saunders, at: 2005/12/16 13:47

Thanks for the info. I'm going to have a good look at it this Winter, and may experiment with some spacers.
As far as I know the forks are stock. I've had the bike since '84, but who knows what happened before that.
.

My front wheel come Spring:



Post edited by: rstnick, at: 2006/01/22 17:31

Rob, I had changed seals/boots last summer, and if I remember correctly, I did have to compress the stock springs to get the cap started, and was able to use a 1/2" DR ratchet for the cap. BTW, a hardwood broom handle tapered to hold the inner tube, and a seal driver which I had machined .025" under seal diameter worked like a charm!