Topic: Front fork springs, i.e. tightly wounds coils up? or down?

[grcamna2]

I have this pair of forks and want to ask if the tightly wound fork spring coils are meant to go down into the forks first ?  or do they sit at the top of the forks ?

[jgger]

According to my Yamaha FSM for the FJR the "tight" coils go down. YMMV.

[PeWe]

I have the tighter wounds down.
I think same in both tubes is the most important detail.

[grcamna2]

I have quite a few different shop manuals,some very old,others like Clymer which have very clear language and some which are OEM and seem very straightforward.
I ask because these manuals have different information on similar things..

[Johnie]

Bill my HONDA service manual for my 76 GL1000 show the tight coils on top.

[BenelliSEI]

Most progressive springs call for the tighter coils on top, but thinking about the way the forces are applied, it really doesn’t matter. Definitely point them both the same way.

[HondaMan]

The shop manuals and racing technique puts the tight coils on top. The reason: the tightly wound coils are heavy, and adding mass to the unsprung side of the shock/fork makes it more sluggish to respond to movement.

So, the lighter-spaced side of the coils has normally been the 'moving' part to make the suspension more active.

[grcamna2]

I'm going to go with the tight coils Up.

[Alan F.]

The shop manuals and racing technique puts the tight coils on top. The reason: the tightly wound coils are heavy, and adding mass to the unsprung side of the shock/fork makes it more sluggish to respond to movement.

So, the lighter-spaced side of the coils has normally been the 'moving' part to make the suspension more active.

My Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 has the tighter wound coils at the bottom on the rear shocks, do you think it would be an upgrade for street riding to flip the springs?

[HondaMan]

The shop manuals and racing technique puts the tight coils on top. The reason: the tightly wound coils are heavy, and adding mass to the unsprung side of the shock/fork makes it more sluggish to respond to movement.

So, the lighter-spaced side of the coils has normally been the 'moving' part to make the suspension more active.

My Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 has the tighter wound coils at the bottom on the rear shocks, do you think it would be an upgrade for street riding to flip the springs?

At the risk of starting an internet war....

... I would!

[PeWe]

Good to know, I make sure the springs are with tight coil side up at next oil change.
I have recently changed oil on both bikes

[Alan F.]

The shop manuals and racing technique puts the tight coils on top. The reason: the tightly wound coils are heavy, and adding mass to the unsprung side of the shock/fork makes it more sluggish to respond to movement.

So, the lighter-spaced side of the coils has normally been the 'moving' part to make the suspension more active.

My Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 has the tighter wound coils at the bottom on the rear shocks, do you think it would be an upgrade for street riding to flip the springs?

At the risk of starting an internet war....

... I would!

I think I'll put it on my list of unnecessary mods to my perfectly good bike, I'll start a thread over on that forum so everyone can tell me how wrong I am and why... hold my beer... er, coffee.

[HondaMan]

I might mention that the CB500, when it first arrived, had progressive springs that were too soft. When a typical rider (150 lbs was considered 'typical' then) sat on the bike the forks sank over 2", leaving little travel for suspension use. Two-up riding left about 1" of fork travel (and 1" of rear shock travel, too). Somewhere in the timeline Honda made a little stronger springs in the front, but the 'hot setup' in the CB500 Four back then was to install straight-wound springs supplied then by Forking by Franks, accidentally from a dirt bike, that fit. We also cranked up the rear shock adjusters to their top positions. Riders all noticed that difference, and most liked it. The 500/550 with Vetter fairings got air fork caps when my shop installed the fairing. They needed it!

[PeWe]

I had to search more.
The spring brand my K6 has:

https://www.wirth-federn.de/service/manual-installation-of-wirth-springs/

"Insert the WIRTH-spring, tight coils upward"

OK, why wait? Will verify springs before next ride

My K2 too, brand Progressive.