TOPIC:

i was talking to a friend of mine about stiffening up my front forks as they are soft cuz i only have front brakes and the forks have bounced up and down alot
anyway he said i could take off the top of the fork tubes and place a chevy 350 valve spring cap upside done in the fork followed by a valve spring and another valve spring cap put the end plugs back in and it would stiffen it up real good anybody ever heard of anything like this the fork seals arnt leaking but i think the springs are just worn

I used 3/4" PVC pipe in 1" length ineach leg.

Just buy putting a spacer in you will compress the spring and stiffen it up. So i guess the Chevy valve spring idea may work.
Why not get Progressive springs in there is it cost? Becuase what you are suggesting is really a sort of band aid. You want stiffer a stiffer rate through out the entire range in your fork. The spacer will create that feeling but will not work as well as a proper stiffer spring. Does that make sense? Its early in the morning and i am only half way done with my first cup of coffee.

If the forks are bouncing up and down a lot, maybe they just need some oil, or a heavier weight of oil, in there. Have you checked the oil level in the forks?

While adding a spacer will increase the preload, the damping rates need to be upgraded too, or the fork will be harsh and prone to pogo-ing (at least this is from my experience). You'll also be reducing the effective travel of the fork.

While a linear spring and matching valves (adjustable?) would be preferred, that might be overkill for your situation (since you said you don't even have a rear brake). I would suggest at least considering a PVC spacer to get the preload right (by measureing the sag) then adjust the fork fluid thickness to get the desired damping characteristics.

The valve springs would increase the preload .. but that's making it a bit more complicated than it has to be, when a PVC spacer will suffice.

c_aasland has it bang on. Did exactly that to my 650 20 years ago. Worked great. When I brake I use almost exclusively my front brake. Well maybe 80/20. There is a reason sport bikes have huge multi pistonned dual discs up front and relatively tiny discs on back. I would still think seriously about getting rear brakes.

I rebuilt my forks and put the recommended 10w oil in it. However, they are still soft and will dive very easily. Bounces back much faster and they aren't quite as soft as they were before. Should I move up to a 20w or heavier oil or look to replace the springs? On my bike it says do not add air to stiffen but doesn't tell me what to do.

Time to address one of my pet peeves:

"front forks"

Hmmm...

As opposed to rear forks?

And how many are there? Why is it plural? Shouldn't it be FORK, singular?

Do you have a death wish?

Stop riding that bike until you get the rear brake working.

Have you ever been in a crash? It's not fun, and you need every ounce of breaking power to avoid some of them.

I don't want to see another rider show up in the obits...

I'd try 15W fork oil first, then if that's not enough you can try 20W. I weigh 235 lbs and 10W mixed with 15W (half and half) seems to work best for me.

I have to go along with Philcsand here. Almost everyone talks about jap tech being so much better than the alternative but if you have a jap bike lose a system as important as brakes and you keep riding it you need a head check. Especially since the nonexistiance of the back brake seems to concern you less than the stiffness of your fork. No doubt that the front brakes are more important than the backs but have you ever grabbed a fistfull of front on a slippery spot? It's not pretty! The first time I went for that back brake and it wasn't there The bike would be parked until it was fixed. I've been around for a long time and hope to be here for a little more. Hope you are too. Newspapers have enough bad news to print and the only time you like to see your name in one is when you win a lot of cash and not cashin' in. Get the brake fixed and then mess with the suspension.

I will Agree with MOOON on the brakes repair before anything else.I had a panic stop after some one pulled out in front of me last year and grabbed a fistful and then some more of front brake to avoid the collision and the only thing that kept me from going down was the rear brake that helped me regain control.Beleive me I had to go home and clean my A$$ after that close call.