Progressive Or Traxxion Fork Springs

[Brian65]

First off I know everyone has they're own opinions between the 2 springs. Just wanting to know what people are using. I have a 2008 GL1800 with RS HTS1800 conversion. Rider & passenger weight is around 350 lbs. 80% of riding on flat fairly smooth roads/ hwy.

Don't know what springs are in it now. The trike was purchased from KD cycles with new HTS1800 conversion by them.

 

[pwhoever]

My vote is for Progressive Springs. This is what I ran in my last trike and on my new one, if the springs are stock, I will be swapping them out for PS springs. IMHO, stock springs are too weak for trikes. I am just not a fan of Max so would not buy his stuff. He has yet to find a Goldwing that didn't "need" his improved products. Honestly nothing wrong with Traxxion, just not for me.

My bet is that whatever fork springs were in there prior to the KD Cycle conversion is what it was sold with. You will just need to check and find out yourself.

Is there a particular problem you are having with your forks?

 

[Brian65]

My vote is for Progressive Springs. This is what I ran in my last trike and on my new one, if the springs are stock, I will be swapping them out for PS springs. IMHO, stock springs are too weak for trikes. I am just not a fan of Max so would not buy his stuff. He has yet to find a Goldwing that didn't "need" his improved products. Honestly nothing wrong with Traxxion, just not for me.

My bet is that whatever fork springs were in there prior to the KD Cycle conversion is what it was sold with. You will just need to check and find out yourself.

Is there a particular problem you are having with your forks?

No problem or leaks. Has 37,000 miles. I had an 02 GL1800 CSC trike previously and rebuilt those after slight leakage at around 60,000. Used stock springs & oil.

 

[pwhoever]

Some folks do still prefer to have the stock springs as they say it provides a softer ride. But with the added weight of a trike, they can shorten quicker over time and need to be replaced. I'm not sure on the length for service limit but it's in the factory service manual.

In my case, I had the PS fork springs prior to the conversion when I was still running around in 2 wheels. I kept them after conversion and was happy. One thing I did though was to disable the anti dive valve which does tend to be an issue in some cases. If it gets stuck in activated position, it can cause a very harsh ride and end up blowing out the left seal.

On a bike with stock springs, it is not recommended to disable as it could cause front end to dive to far in emergency braking which wouldn't be good. It's not as big an issue on a trike though.

 

[pwhoever]

I did just take a look at service limit on stock springs. If they are shorter than 382mm (15.07 inches) they need to be replaced. And like I mentioned, on a trike, there is additional weight on them so they will compress beyond service limit quicker. They will also sag more as a result of the additional weight. Either PS or Traxxion will help keep front end raised a bit more giving better ground clearance.

Also for reference, I many times ride solo and am right around 190lbs. Another thing I did to get just a bit more ground clearance on my California Sidecar trike was to swap out the 1" fork extensions with 2" fork extensions I bought a while back at Cut-n-shoot Customs and that helped. I'm not sure what fork extensions that Roadsmith uses on their kits but something to keep in mind.

 

[Marc H]

If the front is raked it also doesn't push as straight downward so that lessons the effect of the additional weight. Different bike so completely different spring but I took the Progressives out of my 1500 and replaced them with a straight wound spring. The ride improvement was worth it. Other factors prevented me going with stock springs. I used Racetech but getting them to answer questions was hit and miss. It has been mentioned here and I'll agree that the Progressive for the 1500 was the wrong combo of weight ratings caused the ruff ride.

 

[Brian65]

Well after kicking around Progressive springs & complete seal bushing kit on its way. I about fell out of my chair when I looked up price for the OEM springs. $34 for pair!!! No wonder they don't support weight of bike poor performance

 

[pwhoever]

After finishing up the R&R on the forks and the new PS fork springs, make sure you disable the ADV valve too.

 

[Brian65]

After finishing up the R&R on the forks and the new PS fork springs, make sure you disable the ADV valve too.

Already disabled. Did that after buying it last July.

 

[geol]

Speaking of front end mods, Hannigan has a "180 Wide Front Kit". Anyone ever install one? I would think the cost would be a consideration unless you have deep pockets. What would the expense offer as far as an improved ride. I just changed out my leaky fork seals (mostly on the left fork) with a seal kit and with I had thought about new springs. The OEM seem a bit harsh on bad roads (live in a rural county made up of bad roads).

 

[Brian65]

Geol, I live in a rural area as well. Ride mostly 2 lane but several have what I call miny speed bumps. With a Cobra trike tire, stock springs it's a good jolt. After hitting several of these one after another it starts pissing me off the harshness of stock suspension. I'll see how the PS springs work.

 

[pwhoever]

Speaking of front end mods, Hannigan has a "180 Wide Front Kit". Anyone ever install one? I would think the cost would be a consideration unless you have deep pockets. What would the expense offer as far as an improved ride. I just changed out my leaky fork seals (mostly on the left fork) with a seal kit and with I had thought about new springs. The OEM seem a bit harsh on bad roads (live in a rural county made up of bad roads).

IMHO, it is not worth the added cost. IIRC, it's up towards $3000 for the "180" kit. You can buy a lot of tires and rebuild parts for that kind of money. I had a friend with that on his Hannigan and he said when not moving or going slow, it was more difficult to turn. That kit makes the footprint much larger than a MC tire would be so more rubber grabbing the pavement.

And you mention the left seal being leaky. A big culprit for that is a stuck Anti Dive Valve. The best solution to that is to just disable it.

And the harshness could also be from the OEM springs being permanently compressed beyond the service limit. Unfortunately the OEM springs do not last long on a bike, let alone a trike.

 

[geol]

Geol, I live in a rural area as well. Ride mostly 2 lane but several have what I call miny speed bumps. With a Cobra trike tire, stock springs it's a good jolt. After hitting several of these one after another it starts pissing me off the harshness of stock suspension. I'll see how the PS springs work.

Please follow up. I have used Progressive fork springs on several vintage bikes and if you don't have the correct spacers they will really clunk over rough spots.

 

[geol]

IMHO, it is not worth the added cost. IIRC, it's up towards $3000 for the "180" kit. You can buy a lot of tires and rebuild parts for that kind of money. I had a friend with that on his Hannigan and he said when not moving or going slow, it was more difficult to turn. That kit makes the footprint much larger than a MC tire would be so more rubber grabbing the pavement.

And you mention the left seal being leaky. A big culprit for that is a stuck Anti Dive Valve. The best solution to that is to just disable it.

And the harshness could also be from the OEM springs being permanently compressed beyond the service limit. Unfortunately the OEM springs do not last long on a bike, let alone a trike.

I will disable the valve. Bought a shim and will install when it gets here. The left seal was leaking and I wish I had thought to change springs at that time but not going to pull them again until new seals might be needed going forward. Thanks for the tip; didn't know about the anti dive malfunctioning as an issue.

 

[pwhoever]

You can change out the springs at anytime. Just pull the caps, pull the old springs, and drop in the new ones. Many will wait until it's time to do maintenance on the forks but you really don't have to. If you do decide to do the spring swap, absolutely make sure to lift the front end off the ground. If you try to do it with wheel on ground, your front end will collapse down and that's not good.

 

[tourman]

Roadsmith uses Traxxion springs in their trikes if you order heavy duty springs from them

 

[Ramnight]

I tried Progressive springs, and they are almost the same as the stock springs. They did not add any additional lift to the bike and would bottom out as quick as the stock springs which are also a style design. I took them out a week later and installed the Traxxion springs and the ride height is great now, plus I could disable the anti-dive valve for a smoother ride when slowing down.

 

[Ramnight]

Please follow up. I have used Progressive fork springs on several vintage bikes and if you don't have the correct spacers they will really clunk over rough spots.

The harsh ride was most likely the springs bottoming out, But is you had the front brakes applies this will lock the fork tube which will ne like riding on a jack hammer. Your best bet is to get a set of Traxxion springs and diss able the anti-dive valve.

 

[Ramnight]

My vote is for Progressive Springs. This is what I ran in my last trike and on my new one, if the springs are stock, I will be swapping them out for PS springs. IMHO, stock springs are too weak for trikes. I am just not a fan of Max so would not buy his stuff. He has yet to find a Goldwing that didn't "need" his improved products. Honestly nothing wrong with Traxxion, just not for me.

My bet is that whatever fork springs were in there prior to the KD Cycle conversion is what it was sold with. You will just need to check and find out yourself.

Is there a particular problem you are having with your forks?

I would not worry about max because their springs are far superior to progressive springs as they give a great ride and you can dissable the anti-dive valve with them.
The progressive and stock have the same weak design.

 

[pwhoever]

I would not worry about max because their springs are far superior to progressive springs as they give a great ride and you can dissable the anti-dive valve with them.
The progressive and stock have the same weak design.

Now you are starting to sound like Max, LOL! This is your opinion and you are very much entitled to it. I would have to disagree though. Again, I did agree that Traxxion produces good products. I just personally can't justify spending the kind of money he charges especially for the full Monty which wouldn't apply to trikes anyway when there are less expensive quality options. There are many satisfied Traxxion customers just as there are many satisfied Progressive customers. Whether Traxxion or Progressive, both are excellent choices for an upgrade. And both benefit from disabling the ADV valve. Progressive Suspension has been producing their product for a lot longer than Traxxion and hundreds of thousands of vehicle owners believe they have definitely benefitted from Progressive's "weak" design. IMHO, it's truly is a night and day difference over stock. If someone chose to go with Traxxion Dynamic products, that's their choice and I would agree that it's a nice upgrade but same with Progressive Suspension. It might shock you to hear that there have also been trike owners that actually preferred those stock "OEM" springs over any kind of upgraded choices because it gave them a more acceptable smooth ride? You, I am assuming feel very happy with your Traxxiion decision. I felt very happy with my Progressive Suspension choice. But there are multiple reasonable choices available for folks to choose from that will make them happy. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[geol]

You can change out the springs at anytime. Just pull the caps, pull the old springs, and drop in the new ones. Many will wait until it's time to do maintenance on the forks but you really don't have to. If you do decide to do the spring swap, absolutely make sure to lift the front end off the ground. If you try to do it with wheel on ground, your front end will collapse down and that's not good.

Got one of the anti-dive spacers and installed it yesterday but it will likely be this weekend before I can see if it makes a noticeable difference in the ride. 22F out there and won't get much into the 40s today... supposed to be in the 70s this weekend. This weather is crazy!