OEM SW Front Fork Springs specs

Searched but could not find, anyone has OEM springs diameter, length and service limit, etc. ?? sorry don't own manual yet, also be helpfull to know aftermarket springs diameter and overall length, I have access to several springs to do some DIY suspension mods

331.4mm is the OEM length with a minimum service length of 325mm. The OD of the spring should be 32mm.

As veteran of over 90,000 SilverWing miles with 2 new ones---I suggest you go out and ride yours 5-10,000 miles before tearing apart.....in end it is a scooter, ridden as scooter=just fine. Old, there might be some spring sag.

I have to agree with John on this one. This is a scooter and all the suspension mods will not make it a Yamaha R6... Quite a bit of work involved so try before you mod.

Loads of folks twitter on about front end problems, but I've found it fine, the handling problems came from the rear bottoming out. But I find the screen fine as well.
I'm just winter fettling mine and have had the forks apart. At 29k the springs are well within spec, so I've just changed the oil.
I expect they will feel better, but that might just be psychological, bikes always feel better after a fettle

I'm constantly amused by posts from long time motorcycle riders who're getting on a bit, who buy a maxi scooter and immediately think it should be modded back into what they were used to.

Especially when they've made that decision based on minimum riding.

I'm one of those motorcyclists who is attempting to make a SilverWing handle in a more motorcycle-like fashion. After spending some time and money on springs and cartridge emulators I am forced to partially agree with Meldrew. The unfixable bit is the steering geometry which encourages steering instability when bumps (especially gravity dips) are added in at speeds much above 90km/hr. Any inadvertant rider input is amplified and you can get a see-sawing motion started.

The suspension changes I made have however given a much better ride quality, as standard I found the Swing to be surprisingly jolting on bumps transmitting too much force to the rider and chassis. With stiffer springs you can use much less compression damping and rid the forks of much of that, making the bike much more relaxing and comfy to ride.

Terry, do you think cartridge emulators would be a practical upgrade if OEM springs have already been replaced with, progressively wound, HyperPro springs? Or might it be that HyperPros and Emulators are apples and oranges?

I appreciate all the great info, one of the main reasons of joining these forums is the wealth of info/experience, it can really save time/$$$, but just like any other adjustable parameter on any vehicle it comes down to what feels right for you, like you can get a myriad of CVT setups that work best for different people, I have also been down the road of diminishing returns many a times, most of the best mods where DIY at a time, they are just repackaged and name branded for big profits, as a lifetime diversified mechanic(Car/Bikes/aircraft)/tinkerer many of my previous bikes had many DIY mods, some very successful $$$, had SW for 2 weeks, just getting warmed-up !!!

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Terry, do you think cartridge emulators would be a practical upgrade if OEM springs have already been replaced with, progressively wound, HyperPro springs? Or might it be that HyperPros and Emulators are apples and oranges?

Springs and damping are nearly mutually exclusive; its better to have both, but either will be an improvement. The only issue with the HyperPro springs could be their length and the additional preload that the emulator provides.

Terry Smith wrote:

Springs and damping are nearly mutually exclusive; its better to have both, but either will be an improvement. The only issue with the HyperPro springs could be their length and the additional preload that the emulator provides.

Thanks.

So Emulators aside, are the Race Tech springs more progressively wound than the OEM fork springs? And Race Tech springs are longer so that they replace both the OEM spring and the OEM preload spacer as well?

The RT springs are straight-rate, not progressive. IIRC they are 340mm long which seems to be a standard length for most RT springs. RT supply some spacer material so you can custom cut spacers to suit any application, you just need a hacksaw or similar. They definitely don't work with the stock spacer and needed something like 10mm spacing to get a recommended 15mm preload.