Topic: Front End Upgrade Options - Progressive vs Race tech. A little help!

[Seeparkfly]

Spent some time reading through posts and learned some valuable info on fork tuning, however I still need guidance from more experienced riders. If you have experience with Progressive or Race Tech products please help a brother out.

Bike: 1976 CB750F Racer
Rider: 140 lbs without gear. Mostly ride around SF and some twisties in the surrounding area. No track action.

Upgrade options:
Progressive springs only, or
Race Tech emulators with stock springs (save up for RT springs)

Is the ride quality for all around riding similar, or is one option way better than the other? Please share your thoughts.

Thanks in advance!

[750cafe]

Don't leave out Sonic straight rate springs too.
I currently have Progressive Suspension forks on three of my bikes and Sonic springs on two others.
You cannot go wrong with either of them if you set the preload correctly. A great improvement to any vintage bike indeed.
Those bikes also have either Progressive Suspension rear shocks, Koni's or Hagon's.

Eric

[becken]

Ordering from Race Tech, they will take into consideration your weight and any modifications to the bike and your riding style when recommending spring weight. Great people to work with.

[Steve_K]

I have used RT in a SV650 and a 86 GSXR750 which have similar forks as your Honda.  I used RT springs and emulators, tried several different preloads and it was GREAT.  I would do it again.  That said, I used Progressive springs in my 73 750K.  It works OK, but not as well as the RT forks. They work well with the Progressive shocks in back.

That said,  I am building a 76 550 cafe racer and that will get the RT treatment and some better(more expensive) shocks in back.

Note: 750cafe is right,  preload is very important for best performance,

Steve

[Seeparkfly]

Don't leave out Sonic straight rate springs too.
I currently have Progressive Suspension forks on three of my bikes and Sonic springs on two others.
You cannot go wrong with either of them if you set the preload correctly. A great improvement to any vintage bike indeed.
Those bikes also have either Progressive Suspension rear shocks, Koni's or Hagon's.

Eric

Eric,
Thanks for the info. Never heard of Sonic until now so I'll do some research. As for the Progressives up front did you go with the recommended spring rate? I feel that it may be too much for me, I'm a light weight.

[Seeparkfly]

Ordering from Race Tech, they will take into consideration your weight and any modifications to the bike and your riding style when recommending spring weight. Great people to work with.

I sent them an email and got the same impression, great service minded folks, which says a lot about their products.

[Seeparkfly]

I have used RT in a SV650 and a 86 GSXR750 which have similar forks as your Honda.  I used RT springs and emulators, tried several different preloads and it was GREAT.  I would do it again.  That said, I used Progressive springs in my 73 750K.  It works OK, but not as well as the RT forks. They work well with the Progressive shocks in back.

That said,  I am building a 76 550 cafe racer and that will get the RT treatment and some better(more expensive) shocks in back.

Note: 750cafe is right,  preload is very important for best performance,

Steve

I'm leaning towards the RT setup since SF has some really rough roads. Did you have to weld any of the holes on the emulators?

Noted, correct preload. I am seeing that more and more as I read about tuning forks. If someone went through the trouble of making precise settings in mm increments it must make a difference to get it right.

[750cafe]

Don't leave out Sonic straight rate springs too.
I currently have Progressive Suspension forks on three of my bikes and Sonic springs on two others.
You cannot go wrong with either of them if you set the preload correctly. A great improvement to any vintage bike indeed.
Those bikes also have either Progressive Suspension rear shocks, Koni's or Hagon's.

Eric

Eric,
Thanks for the info. Never heard of Sonic until now so I'll do some research. As for the Progressives up front did you go with the recommended spring rate? I feel that it may be too much for me, I'm a light weight.

I am not a fat pig like 89% of Americans these days and am more like you.. healthy.
I usually give a little bit more preload than either of those brands recommend because I tend to ride either very "spirited" or with my passenger from time to time and
she knows how to hang on for dear life. LOL!

Eric

[Steve_K]

On the Suzuki forks, I just needed to drill some holes in the damper, so the compression damping would be controlled by the emulator.  Some forks do need to be welded, so check with RT on that.
Steve

[Seeparkfly]

On the Suzuki forks, I just needed to drill some holes in the damper, so the compression damping would be controlled by the emulator.  Some forks do need to be welded, so check with RT on that.
Steve

Will do, thanks!

[Seeparkfly]

Don't leave out Sonic straight rate springs too.
I currently have Progressive Suspension forks on three of my bikes and Sonic springs on two others.
You cannot go wrong with either of them if you set the preload correctly. A great improvement to any vintage bike indeed.
Those bikes also have either Progressive Suspension rear shocks, Koni's or Hagon's.

Eric

Eric,
Thanks for the info. Never heard of Sonic until now so I'll do some research. As for the Progressives up front did you go with the recommended spring rate? I feel that it may be too much for me, I'm a light weight.

I am not a fat pig like 89% of Americans these days and am more like you.. healthy.
I usually give a little bit more preload than either of those brands recommend because I tend to ride either very "spirited" or with my passenger from time to time and
she knows how to hang on for dear life. LOL!

Eric

LOL, good stuff. Also, good to know about the preload when riding "spirited". I like to do the same.