BMW Replacement Springs

[east high]

Originally Posted by Lornce

Thicker fork oil or additional spring preload will accomplish two entirely different things.

Personally, I'd preload the fork springs to 20-25% (of total fork travel) sag under the unladen bike and leave the fork oil at 5w. This nets a plush ride with good cornering manners.

Front springs that are too stiff and fork oil that's too thick results in poor cornering manners as the front wheel ass'bly is unable to respond with subtlety to road surface irregularities.

imho,
Lornce

Thanks for the advice, Lorence. I like the cut of your gib. So preloading the fork springs is accomplished by a spacer of some sort? I've only done this once and it was on a different bike with a different setup, but it was accomplished with a piece of pvc pipe cut to length and placed between the spring and fork cap.

[Lornce]

Originally Posted by east high

So preloading the fork springs is accomplished by a spacer of some sort? I've only done this once and it was on a different bike with a different setup, but it was accomplished with a piece of pvc pipe cut to length and placed between the spring and fork cap.

You've got it. The target is to get the bike sitting under it's own weight with the fork compressed 20-25% of it's total travel.

[Mallard]

Thank Wirespokes, Daveball, & Lornce, I just re-read your posts. I enjoy your sensible perspectives/aims for the front end set up.

The R90/6 is only just keeping it's headstock off the axle, so it's time for a rebuild, including front springs.

It's like Goldilocks & The Three Bears over here. The R80 is too stiff, the R65 is too soft. So I'd like to get the R90 right.

Before adjusting preload, before experimenting with oil, I'm wondering on advice for the spring itself. Wilbers, Wirth, Progressive.... the makers are endless. Were the original springs or 'heavy duty' original springs a good match for a bike that is only ridden solo, or look elsewhere? All I want to do is get the bike to behave as it was meant to.