AT fork springs
 

preparing my AT for ice land this summer and am thinking about changing the front fork springs(mine are still standard). touratech are just around the corner from me and they have some progressive wirth springs for £80. does anyone have experience of these or other's and does it make a big difference? if i change them do i use standard fork oil with them or is there some better oil to be had. i'm gonna leave the rear standard i think as i'm quite happy with it.also the cost to change is high and we all seen (dare i say it) :rolleyes2:ewan and charlie's problems!
any advice greatly recieved:thumbup1:

Kevin,
What problem are you trying to solve?

I don't know what rate the AT fork springs are, but progresive springs work over a range, I could make a quess at the range but it is not important. The problem with progressive springs is the standard damping will only be matched to the spring in a smaller range.

Improve the damping with the standard spring and you feel the improvement on the road and dirt. If I recall the AT has two spring rates as standard.

Racetech emulators with linear springs is the way to go to improve the handling.
Race Tech Inc.

Steve

no problem really.
 

not really a problem with bike but what i'm thinking of is that i'm gonna try and shift some weight forwards by making a toolbox to go on front of the sumpguard and then adding tank bag (never had one)and maybe 1 or 2 other little bits. i'm thinking that the extra weight would'nt help with front braking/nose diving situation. so therefore thought of upgrading the front end a little as it's relatively cheap to do so(about £100). nothing set in concrete and was toying with the idea. (as we do)

You need to match the fork oil weight and volume with your springs - I bought some from Hagon and they came with the correct amount and weight oil for my bike. I imagine they would do the same for the AT

If you are basically happy with the forks performance now I would concentrate on the sag. You will need to read up on it, there is loads of info on the web. With out adjustable preload you will use some spacers which maybe too much when not loaded.

To give you an indication of the progressive springs for the Transalp.
The standard springs which are linear in action, compress at 0.6 kg per mm
The compression rates for Hagon progressive springs Start at 0.4kg/mm and go up to 0.7kg/mm. Not sure about the spec on Touratech springs.

I would still recommend the Racetech emulators they make a big difference and separate the rebound and compression damping which allows easier adjustment of both, the rebound is adjusted by oil viscosity and compression by poppet spring rate and preload.

It is not a good idea to set out on a big trip with having your modifications fully tested nothing worse than a bad handling bike to ruin a trip.

Steve

Unfortunately the luggage added for overlanding will trash the handling anyway!

Doh!
 

thought it would be easy:blushing:. it now seems complicated! i thought just whipping out/changing springs and changing the oil would be it.i've not had any experience working on fork's in the past so i think a little more studying is needed.