Shock Springs question

[Patrick C Buckl]

OK so my 950 ADV 2005, soft as hell front end as many comment on...especially after the Safari tanks. So, I spoke to Craig at CJ, super nice guy, he says go with .58's. I'm 5/10 200 pounds so the springs get here. One thing he tells me is that it will even raise the bike a bit.

Now, the bike rides absolutely better, much stiffer and the handling is just better all the way around BBBBUUUUUUTTTT...

...when I removed the springs, the .58's I bought are actually lower than what was in there in height. Did the PO already upgrade or what the hell?

CJ's .58 are on the right.

[James Siddall]

Originally Posted by Patrick C Buckl

OK so my 950 ADV 2005, soft as hell front end as many comment on...especially after the Safari tanks. So, I spoke to Craig at CJ, super nice guy, he says go with .58's. I'm 5/10 200 pounds so the springs get here. One thing he tells me is that it will even raise the bike a bit.

Now, the bike rides absolutely better, much stiffer and the handling is just better all the way around BBBBUUUUUUTTTT...

...when I removed the springs, the .58's I bought are actually lower than what was in there in height. Did the PO already upgrade or what the hell?

CJ's .58 are on the right.

Those springs are made in two different lengths, depending on year and model. You may have gotten 465mm long ones when you needed 485. This would explain the discrepancy. How long are they?

James

[Patrick C Buckl]

Thanks for the response James...does that men I just lowered the bike 2 cm.? I will measure them tomorrow and give you the length.

[Chuckracer]

Well, I'm not James but I did drive by a Holiday Inn once...

The shorter springs will not change your fork travel (neither will longer ones). All you need are some 20 mm spacers to make up the difference for correct spring preload.

However...if you have a 2005 standard Adventure (ie. not an S or R bike), you have 8" travel forks and those should have come with the same length springs as CJ sold you, 465mm. So it's a fair bet that a PO changed fork springs before you.

Now, AFAIK you certainly can run the longer springs in your 8" forks, just use no or very little spacer on top. That's exactly what I'm doing with my 485mm 6.0's in my 8" forks, and it seems to work fine...but hopefully James will be along to straighten us all out and I can justify buying some softer (and shorter) springs.

[James Siddall]

Originally Posted by Patrick C Buckl

Thanks for the response James...does that men I just lowered the bike 2 cm.? I will measure them tomorrow and give you the length.

If in fact you have 465mm springs when 485 are warranted, you have effectively reduced the preload by 20mm. This means the bike has much less force stored in the springs from the get go, and will ride lower in the stroke in normal operation. It would likely have little to no preload at the top of the stroke, making it feel odd or uncontrolled at the top of the stroke.
Your travel refers to the maximum stroke top to bottom, which has not been impacted. But likely you are riding lower in the stroke dynamically.

James

[Chuckracer]

Aha!
I'm glad he asked!

[Patrick C Buckl]

Ok so if I leave it as it is...am I;
damaging anything?
Compromising ride safety?
Stiffer ride?
Softer ride (can't be).
If I leave the ground will I bottom out easier?

Or can I just leave it be and ride on?

My original intention was to stiffen the ride and add some clearance to the bike.