FORK SPRING INSTALLATION

I used Mercon/Dexron III ATF, which is a 10-wt oil. Some have used 15 wt oil for a stiffer response. Honda currently recommends their SS8 fork oil, which is a 7.5 wt. I just went with the ATF like the manual says, and it worked fine.

The manual specifies 415 mL (14 fluid ounces) of ATF in each fork. However, you will notice that the Progressives are a heavier wire, and a more compact coil, resulting in a larger displacement, so you will use less than the recommended 415 mL.

The Progressive installation instructions tell you to fill each fork to no more than 5.5 inches from the top of the tube with the springs, spacers, and washer removed, and the forks completely compressed.

I took an 18" length of #12 electrical wire that I had lying around in my garage, marked it about an inch from one end with a black Sharpie marker, and marked it again at 5.5" above that mark. I added the fork oil carefully, and after each addition, I lowered the marked wire down into the tube, making sure that I kept it approximately centered, until the top mark was just at the top edge of the tube, but no further. Then I pulled it back out and checked where the oil level showed up in relation to the lower mark. Once I had the right amount of oil in there, it worked just like a dipstick, and the oil level showed up perfectly even with the lower mark, 5.5 inches below the top of the tube. The final volume in each fork tube was 400 mL (13.5 fluid ounces).

Make sure that you jack the bike up until the front wheel is off of the ground before opening the fork tubes to remove the spring, spacer, and washer - to relieve most of the pressure from the springs. They will still be under a bit of pressure, so be prepared when screwing out the top fork caps. You'll need a 24mm socket to fit the fork caps. There's a drain plug at the bottom of each fork tube that you can remove to drain the fork oil out after removing the caps. Once the fork caps are off, you'll find that the fork spring sits on the bottom of the fork tube, with a steel washer and a spacer tube that's about 3" tall on top of the spring, just under the cap. The only marginally tricky part of the whole task is that you'll need to compress the springs a bit with firm pressure when screwing the fork caps back in, and it takes some persistence to get the threads to catch while compressing the spring. I put the 24mm socket with an extension and ratchet onto the fork cap and used the tool to push down on the fork cap and spring spacer while carefully threading the cap in, making sure not to cross-thread the cap. It worked really well.

A trick that some have used is to thread the cap onto the tube without the spring in place, noting where the threads just start to engage and mark the nut and tube so you can match the marks up when trying to overcome the spring. This way you’ll know when the threads will engage without have to turn the nut very far. Also a short turn in the “loosening” direction may help the nut fall into place before trying to tighten it.

The front springs 11-1129 from MAW. $68 with shipping.