Bad fork dive, need answers...

I need some help. Every time I hit the front brakes with anything more than slight pressure, the nose/forks dive and quite often bottom. Not that I am a feather weight or anything, but a 220 lbs rider doesn't seem like too much for a 1000cc bike. I thought maybe my springs were bad, so I bought a new set of progressives and it didn't seem to help much. Are these bike just that soft, or is something else wrong?

side info, I am running the proper amount of 10 weight fork oil, and recently replaced the seals and dust boots.

it is really hard to get the fork cap to start thread ing...but can be done....you could try this...take the wheight off the front end...remove the fork caps.....cut two sections of 3/4 p.v.c or a.b.s pipe in about 1 1/2 " pieces..find a fender washer that will sit on top of your fork springs..and put the pieces of pipe on the washers and force the caps back on....there are aircaps available too......my two cents ...good luck

try a heavier fork oil,my kz1000st had the same problem,filled with sae 30 weight motor oil,handles better now and a lot less dive.no progressive front springs for the st(shaft)

10 wt. may be a little light. I would give 15 or 20 wt. a try before going to 30 wt. You don't want the front forks stone hard; I run 15 in my KZ650 and they're plenty firm for my 200 lbs. I suppose the condition of the fork cylinder rings may play a role here as well, but I've never seen replacements for them. Ed

kzmason, you're a big boy. These bikes were designed for guys in the 150-180 pound range so, for you, the suspension is kinda weedy. As trianglelaguna said you can beef up the preload with some spacers AND change your fork oil too.
I'd start off by dumping the 10 weight and replacing it with 15 weight rather than going right to 30 weight. If the 15 weight helps some, but not enough, go to a 20 weight, etc etc. Fork oil is cheap enough to experiment with, IMO.
BTW, Progressive springs are about 10-15% stiffer than stock springs, FWIW.....

+1 on dumping the 10W fork oil. My KZ750 came stock with 15W and that was too soft for my taste and I only weight 160. I would think you would need something in the 15 - 20 range.

H2Rick, The KZ1000E ST is plenty big enough with a stout enough from for any rider... It is MUCH heavier and better braced than say a 78 KZ1000 or a 76 KZ900. I have all three bikes and your assessment of the KZ is fairly on-mark for a KZ900 but the shafty works well for a bigger man. I am heavier than KZMason by about 40-50 lbs and the shafty is very comfy for me. He wouldn't be compressing the front forks on my bike... He needs to drain the oil and put in some 15w.

kzmason wrote:

Every time I hit the front brakes with anything more than slight pressure, the nose/forks dive and quite often bottom. ....I bought a new set of progressives and it didn't seem to help much. ...

...put in some 15w.

15W fork oil is the solution? really?
I thought new progressive springs were supposed to be the cat's meow?