Progressive Shock - Sag Setting

[fjmartin]

Today I got my Progressive Suspension 465 installed...and my dogbones lubed up. Now, I want to make sure I have it setup optimally by seeing the preload and rebound. My front and rear rebound seem fine. Comes back fairly quickly but doesn't buck or bounce. But the rear preload is giving me some issues and making me wonder if I'm doing things correctly. So this is on an RX3, I'm a fairly light guy at 120 pounds and then add my riding gear and having all the normal stuff on the bike I first put it up on the center stand and then measured from the center of the axle to a point I marked up on the luggage frame. It measured 21 13/16". My understanding is our bike has 5.7" of rear travel. So setting a 30% race sag means that the measurement with me on the loaded bike should be 20 1/8". I mounted the bike and bounced it a bit to settle the suspension and had my wife measure the same points. It was closer to 19". So turned the preload spring down a couple of turns and was able to get it to 19 1/2". But there was also a note in the supplemental manual for the CSC version that said: Caution: The installed spring length must never be shorter than 8.13" or shock damage may occur. The spring length was shorter than that from the factory and I'm worried about continuing to tighten it. BTW the shock came with the light spring.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I plan on calling Gerry tomorrow but wanted some of your in the field recommendations also.

Thanks much!

[jbfla]

Hi Joe,

Here's Spud's tutorial:

http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=14677&highlight=Shock+absorber

jb

[pete]

heavyer spring required.... Did CSC not ask you for
your weight etc ? if theres one thing I have learnt
yer don't buy suspension componets from motor bike
shops..
But the sag setting you are trying for
are for a 100% off road.. with these setting
the bike will wollow though the corners...
if I was you I would set the sags somewhere
between dirt & road....more along the lines
of a motard set up......

yer never said what the static sag is...






..

[pyoungbl]

First, it's much more accurate to measure suspension setup in mm rather than in inches. You are looking for 1.7 in of sag....hard to keep track of that when you are forced to deal with fractions of an inch.

The caution you mention is probably due to the limited travel of the OEM shock. The Progressive Suspension likely has much more travel. I'd recommend riding the bike as it is now. See how it feels to you. If you are happy with the ride that's all that counts. Remember, that 30% figure is just a starting point.

Peter Y.

[fjmartin]

Pete, I requested the light spring which is now default on that shock since I weigh 120 pounds and others on this forum had mentioned it. I am setting the shock up for offroad riding right now as I do a lot of that. I'll stiffen it up come summer as I start moto camping and loading it up a bit more. The static sag of the bike is 20 9/16". That was with the hard luggage and gear in them. Just not me on the bike.

I usually do MM but since I setup a wooden yardstick to allow me to easily see the sag I ended up using inches. It wasn't much of a stretch to do the conversion of 1.7 to inches.

I spoke with Gerry at CSC this morning about the shock setup. Specifically I wanted to ask about the little add-on sheet that was included by the manufacture that spoke about not having the spring set shorter than 8.13" and that from the factory it came at about 7 1/2". He said that should not have been included for this shock and to ignore.

I took the bike out on some nice twisties and some bumpy fire road to test out the shock. I like it. It seems set well for both and doesn't buck around like the OEM one did offroad and doesn't wallow in the turn...felt confident railing around!

As always, thanks for your comments and pointers and have a great holiday!!!

[pyoungbl]

Interesting that the light shock spring is now the default. Thanks for that update. When I got mine they assured me that the existing spring was perfect...not so to me...I asked for something lighter. That appears to now be the standard. Funny how these things work out. Once you get the suspension dialed in the bike is much more fun...as you have shown. Enjoy.

Peter Y.

[Dualsport Chic]

Interesting indeed - as I was told the 450 shock was the right one for me by CSC at only 140 lbs - only later to come to find that it is far too stiff for my weight. Feels like I am going down the road without suspension much of the time if the terrain is bumpy. I may opt for the lighter spring as well - just have to see how folks like it once they've put some miles on it. I tried calling Progressive but they did not seem to know that the 450 spring CSC sold me existed and never called me back after they were going to 'research it'. Will put more time and effort into it come Spring once the snow melts.

[rjmorel]

DSchic, I had the 450 spring and went to the lighter one also . More better and I'm around 185lbs geared up. rj

[jbfla]

DSchic, I had the 450 spring and went to the lighter one also . More better and I'm around 185lbs geared up. rj

Same here, rj.

450 spring too stiff for my geared up 190#.

I'll have to live with it...not spending any more $ on this "inexpensive" bike.

jb

[pete]

Is the 450 spring 4.50nm/mm ?
Or do they tell yer the nm/mm rating..
but 4.5nm/mm seems very soft so it makes me
think the 450 is meaningless number...

Or if someone could measure there spring
i could run the numbers though a spring calc
to fined out what it is.....

uncompressed length = ?
fully compressed length = ?
number of active coils = ?
out side dia = ?
wire dia = ?


...

[Jay In Milpitas]

No, Pete, that's 450 lbs./inch.
I don't know what Progressive was thinking when they chose that spring.

[Dualsport Chic]

But moreover - what was CSC thinking selling that 450 spring to a 140 lb rider when I expressly asked them if it would work for a lighter rider?? I am told that this spring is used on Goldwings - REALLY???? This is my beef.

[Dualsport Chic]

RJ - can you shoot me the information on the new spring you acquired - I need to find it and buy it to save my fragile back.

[Inroads]

My shock spring is a 375/465 that I received last week.

Seems to be in the ball park for my 190 lbs.

[pyoungbl]

mine is labeled 1156 375/465, it works for me @ 195 lbs. You can check the Progressive web site for springs that fit on our shock. You'll have to pay attention to the spring length, get something close to the 1156 so it is matched to the range of our shock.

Peter Y.

[rjmorel]

RJ - can you shoot me the information on the new spring you acquired - I need to find it and buy it to save my fragile back.

Just call them and tell them you need the lighter spring 365/495. I believe I have very little preload on spring with all luggage removed and just riding around town. If I bottom out lots and have luggage , Then I put more preload on spring. The softer spring is longer and gives you more adjustment to play with. I always error on the soft side so I know I'm getting all the travel I paid for. If it only bottoms on really hard pot holes a few times I just let it go and ride it. At 60 yo I'm not worried about impressing any one and like it cushier on my tushier. rj

[Dualsport Chic]

Just call them and tell them you need the lighter spring 365/495.

Ok - a few questions:

I need to know full dimensions of this spring - is it a stock Progressive spring and what is the normal application of it - what type of bike etc.? Was it modified at all?

Will it change the height of the bike etc. as I am already challenged by the existing height of the bike with a 29" inseam.

Can I change it out for my existing spring and will I get credit for sending back the 1158 400/450 as it only has 1500 miles on it?

I assume you purchased it from Progressive? How much did you pay for the new spring? Can you provide the name of the person you spoke with at Progressive about the change out as the person I spoke with knew nothing about my 450 spring - didn't even know it existed.

I am about 140 lbs and will have up to 40 lbs of luggage if I should choose to travel with the bike. I do plan to take it off-slab - gravel roads only as I have other bikes to take on more gnarly terrain.

Want the next spring I put on the bike to fit both the bike and myself as I have felt the frustration of trying to dial in suspension in the past - along with the cost of it and really don't want to walk down that road again.

Thank you for allowing me to pepper you with all these questions RJ - while I am a very tenured rider, mechanical stuff ain't my gig so lots for me to learn from those with actual experience in this area.

[2LZ]

On a different note, I'll be working with the stock shock when I'm putting the lowering link on the new RX3 for Mrs. 2LZ. I was able to set up the stocker pretty well with my white one so fingers crossed I can do the same between preload and dampening with the new bike.
I'll be taking off the bags and rear bars so hopefully I can set tit up light enough for that and her.......

[pyoungbl]

DS, the spring is a Progressive one...and now CSC has them in stock. As I recall, mine cost about $70. I think the softer spring won't change the seat height since the shock itself can only extend to the limit of its travel, no matter what spring is installed. I doubt you can get any credit for trading in your 'old' spring. Of course you can talk to Ryan or Steve at CSC and see what kind of help they offer. Swapping the spring out is a pretty easy task. You will have to take the shock off the bike (a good time to grease all those bearings).

Peter Y.

[rjmorel]

DS, the spring is a Progressive one...and now CSC has them in stock. As I recall, mine cost about $70. I think the softer spring won't change the seat height since the shock itself can only extend to the limit of its travel, no matter what spring is installed. I doubt you can get any credit for trading in your 'old' spring. Of course you can talk to Ryan or Steve at CSC and see what kind of help they offer. Swapping the spring out is a pretty easy task. You will have to take the shock off the bike (a good time to grease all those bearings).

Peter Y.

DS Chicky, same as above for me, I went through CSC $80, Progressive is pretty mum about the shock and told me to deal with CSC. Ryan no longer works at CSC , got a job teaching where Joe teaches I believe.
My inseam is about 28" so you shouldn't see any difference. Don't have bike in front of me as its put away for winter. The spring is longer then the one that came on the shock which makes it work better through out the travel it seems. rj

[Dualsport Chic]

Thank you gentlemen for the good information. Spring is on the way from CSC. Looking forward to getting it on the bike and testing it out - hoping it will provide the fix I seek.

Once again - great customer service from Steve and Gerry. Nice to talk with Matt as well. Best wishes to Ryan in his new career.

[rtking]

Ryan no longer works at CSC , got a job teaching where Joe teaches I believe.

Whaaaat?!? Bummer as I enjoyed working with Ryan. But if the change to teaching where Joe teaches is better for Ryan, I'm happy for him! He was an awesome guy to deal with.

But this does explain the used bike for sale at CSC. I was wondering who had that bike, especially with the KIPO exhaust. I am guessing it was the bike that Ryan was riding. Whoever buys that bike is going to get a well kitted and maintained bike.

[2LZ]

I emailed Ryan a few weeks ago and Steve returned the email. Said he'd got a teaching job. I was happy for Ryan but concerned for us, as Ryan was our main contact. Hopefully everything will move along smoothly in the transition.

[fjmartin]

I've been working with Matt now for a while on the new items I'd purchased around black Friday and year end and he was great to deal with. On a question I had that he didn't know the answer to he went into inventory and pulled things apart to take pictures to confirm what was needed for the order. Above and beyond as usual for CSC.

[2LZ]

I've been working with Matt now for a while on the new items I'd purchased around black Friday and year end and he was great to deal with. On a question I had that he didn't know the answer to he went into inventory and pulled things apart to take pictures to confirm what was needed for the order. Above and beyond as usual for CSC.

Do you have a direct email for Matt? I sent a question on the "contact us" link o(since Ryan had vaporized) on the website last week and have yet to get a response. They must be super busy, year end is what I'm thinking.

[fjmartin]

Yes. matt at cscmotorcycles.com