You are ready to ride. Nice job and nice documentation.
Peg leg Bonnie
- Thread starter Rocky
- Start date
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Is that an inspection sticker on your front fork?
If so...we've got them too in Pennsylvania and I hate that they want it on your front fork like that.
For some reason, they will allow H-Ds to put the inspection sticker onto a plate and bolt the plate to the bike. It's supposed to be put on a place where it cannot be removed and transferred to another bike, so I don't know how H-Ds get away with that.
If so...we've got them too in Pennsylvania and I hate that they want it on your front fork like that.
For some reason, they will allow H-Ds to put the inspection sticker onto a plate and bolt the plate to the bike. It's supposed to be put on a place where it cannot be removed and transferred to another bike, so I don't know how H-Ds get away with that.
Yes, that's an inspection sticker. We have to have an MVI every two years - bikes and cars.
I chose to make a plate out of aluminum for the MVI stickers on my vintage bikes and bolted them on. As you said, they're supposed to be on a place clearly visible and not easily removed.
I could probably do that with my modern bikes too, but they're on the road more of the time and more likely to run into a police roadblock looking for expired stickers.
But I've also gone through checkpoints on the old bikes and not been questioned about it, so who knows
Our vintage bike club president runs a small engine repair business and is a motorcycle-specific MVI inspection station so he lets us have the bolt-on plates
So, until we have a problem, we're going to carry on as is.
I chose to make a plate out of aluminum for the MVI stickers on my vintage bikes and bolted them on. As you said, they're supposed to be on a place clearly visible and not easily removed.
I could probably do that with my modern bikes too, but they're on the road more of the time and more likely to run into a police roadblock looking for expired stickers.
But I've also gone through checkpoints on the old bikes and not been questioned about it, so who knows
Our vintage bike club president runs a small engine repair business and is a motorcycle-specific MVI inspection station so he lets us have the bolt-on plates
So, until we have a problem, we're going to carry on as is.
Pennsylvania requires yearly inspections. It used to be every 6 months. Cars, bikes trucks all.
The required placement is on the left had fork.
People complain, but I like to know the guy behind me has brakes, so I don't complain. I live close to Ohio where there are no inspections and there are death traps on the road.
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The required placement is on the left had fork.
People complain, but I like to know the guy behind me has brakes, so I don't complain. I live close to Ohio where there are no inspections and there are death traps on the road.
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Good job Rocky. 
The job isn't too bad but I hate doing it. There for awhile it seemed like I had one of our bikes torn down for fork seals. Most of the time it was one of the boys needing their race bikes fixed.
Our inspection stickers have to be on the rear of the bike so most bikes around here have an extended license plate bracket for them.
Posting with Tapatalk while riding my Tiger 955i at 15 over the speed limit.
The job isn't too bad but I hate doing it. There for awhile it seemed like I had one of our bikes torn down for fork seals. Most of the time it was one of the boys needing their race bikes fixed. Our inspection stickers have to be on the rear of the bike so most bikes around here have an extended license plate bracket for them.
Posting with Tapatalk while riding my Tiger 955i at 15 over the speed limit.
Well while you waiting for spring you can allways just sit on it and go Vroom Vroom
I've been doing that most of the winter and am starting to lose my voice 
:y24: :y24: Hurry up, Spring!
I took the T100 out for its first ride of 2013 today. With brand new tires that hadn't been scuffed in I took it easy in the corners so can't really comment on the handling yet with the new suspension pieces, but right away I noticed a smoother ride on our often bumpy backroads. I was quite surprised (and pleased) at how much better the suspension handled ruts and frost heaves in the pavement.
The bike handled pretty well with the factory suspension so I expect it to be even better now.
So far so good, and I think it was money well spent. The bike is even more of a joy to ride now!!!
The bike handled pretty well with the factory suspension so I expect it to be even better now.
So far so good, and I think it was money well spent. The bike is even more of a joy to ride now!!!
Once you have those tyres worn in I am sure you will find an improvement in the cornering as well.
It's been over a month since I last reported on the suspension changes. The spring weather has been lousy so I haven't done much riding, but now that the tires are scuffed in I've been out a few times and have been able to ride in a more spirited manner.
In the years since I've had the Bonneville I more or less scoffed at all the chatter about suspension changes. But as time passed the comments started to ring true and deserved more consideration. I put more faith in the words of folks here who had made the changes so, as you know, this past winter I changed the shocks and fork springs. All along I thought the factory suspension was pretty good so wasn't in a hurry to change it.
But now that I've done it the difference is a revelation. The more I ride the bike the more the changes make me smile. It is almost like a new bike!! With only 15,465 km's (9,666 miles) on the clock it's really still a new bike in so many ways - just nicely broken in.
I also switched out the front brake disc and pads with a matched set from EBC, and now that they are bedded in, the braking has improved.
All of this combined with the new tires, I'm all set for years to come.
In the years since I've had the Bonneville I more or less scoffed at all the chatter about suspension changes. But as time passed the comments started to ring true and deserved more consideration. I put more faith in the words of folks here who had made the changes so, as you know, this past winter I changed the shocks and fork springs. All along I thought the factory suspension was pretty good so wasn't in a hurry to change it.
But now that I've done it the difference is a revelation. The more I ride the bike the more the changes make me smile. It is almost like a new bike!! With only 15,465 km's (9,666 miles) on the clock it's really still a new bike in so many ways - just nicely broken in.
I also switched out the front brake disc and pads with a matched set from EBC, and now that they are bedded in, the braking has improved.
All of this combined with the new tires, I'm all set for years to come.
Congratulations. Glad you are liking the changes its always a bit of a gamble to make those types of changes. Great it worked out for you. 
Now get out and ride that thing!
Now get out and ride that thing!
Well done, Rocky. I would describe the factory suspension as adequate and just a step above mediocre. It will certainly do. If one is a biker and rides a lot, one will benefit from and really enjoy a suspicion upgrade if nothing more that the improvement in the ride quality. The handling certainly improves.
Carl, it was your comments in particular (and others of course) who finally swayed me into making the changes.
Like a lot of things in life, you wish you had done it sooner
The weather has changed overnight from wet and cold to sunny and hot with highs of 27C (80F) by Friday!!!!
OK, so that's not all that hot to many of you, but to us that's a scorching day for the end of May. I'm about to hit the road right now and the club is riding again on the weekend
See ya later 'gator!!!
Like a lot of things in life, you wish you had done it sooner
The weather has changed overnight from wet and cold to sunny and hot with highs of 27C (80F) by Friday!!!!
OK, so that's not all that hot to many of you, but to us that's a scorching day for the end of May. I'm about to hit the road right now and the club is riding again on the weekend
See ya later 'gator!!!
This is COOL to hear Rocky. I'm glad it was a good change for you.
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Enjoy your ride, Rocky. Like you, I wished I had made the change right after I took delivery! But then it was fun to have anew bike after a year or so.
mr roper
Active Member
I did the Progressive springs and 10wt. Motul fork oil a few weeks ago. The bike hits small bumps a little harder than I remember the stock springs doing but as time goes by it gets hard for me to remember what things were like before a change. I've lowered the oil level to about 175mm with no real change. The next thing I'll do is switch to a lighter oil and bring the level up. The factory oil sure looked like ATF. Is it that the ride will feel stiffer with the progressives no matter what I do?
That hasn't been my experience - and I can only go by my experience.
I fitted Progressive fork springs with 10W fork oil, a 140mm air gap and 3" spacers as recommended in the instructions.
The front wheel takes the bumps and heaves much better without the shock and jarring the factory springs gave me. The forks don't nose-dive under hard braking like the factory springs did.
I haven't experimented with oil weights or air gaps so can't comment.
What I have seems to work well for me and I don't find the springs especially stiff.
I fitted Progressive fork springs with 10W fork oil, a 140mm air gap and 3" spacers as recommended in the instructions.
The front wheel takes the bumps and heaves much better without the shock and jarring the factory springs gave me. The forks don't nose-dive under hard braking like the factory springs did.
I haven't experimented with oil weights or air gaps so can't comment.
What I have seems to work well for me and I don't find the springs especially stiff.
I did mine on the T100 just as Rocky did and my experience is the same. The ride is better and the handling is better.
