Spring rate

[InertiaMan]

Anybody know the rate of the Wilbur's rear spring?

I bought a Penske rear shock, which I like a lot, but the 1000 lb. spring seems too stiff.

I'd like to get a softer spring but need a clue as to what rate works best.

I need other clues as well, but this is neither the time nor place for that.

 

[skyway]

Anybody know the rate of the Wilbur's rear spring?
I bought a Penske rear shock, which I like a lot, but the 1000 lb. spring seems too stiff.

I'd like to get a softer spring but need a clue as to what rate works best.

I need other clues as well, but this is neither the time nor place for that.

If you have the paperwork to go with the Penske shock, you might want to double check the 1000 lb spring rate figure that your quoting.

Each custom built shock is exactly that, so asking what the rate of the Wilburs spring is, will give you a lot of different answers.

Your best bet if possible would be to find your local suspension tuner who can size you up for your bike.

Or your gonna have to supply us with some more info on your weight, passenger (?) riding style?

 

[InertiaMan]

Anybody know the rate of the Wilbur's rear spring?

I bought a Penske rear shock, which I like a lot, but the 1000 lb. spring seems too stiff.

I'd like to get a softer spring but need a clue as to what rate works best.

I need other clues as well, but this is neither the time nor place for that.

If you have the paperwork to go with the Penske shock, you might want to double check the 1000 lb spring rate figure that your quoting.

Each custom built shock is exactly that, so asking what the rate of the Wilburs spring is, will give you a lot of different answers.

Your best bet if possible would be to find your local suspension tuner who can size you up for your bike.

Or your gonna have to supply us with some more info on your weight, passenger (?) riding style?

Thanks for the reply.

The 1000 lbs. came from Penske's paperwork.

I know everybody's will vary somewhat. I was just trying to get an idea if average sized riders (160-175) were using a much softer spring or not.

I'm going to call Traxxion Dynamics, the distributor, and check into this.

Thanks again.

 

[sportryder]

Anybody know the rate of the Wilbur's rear spring?
I bought a Penske rear shock, which I like a lot, but the 1000 lb. spring seems too stiff.

I'd like to get a softer spring but need a clue as to what rate works best.

I need other clues as well, but this is neither the time nor place for that.

That 1000 lb spring is too stiff.

We did some testing over the winter with my own FJR. Previous to our testing, we depended on field testers to do some R&D. Our primary tester came up with the 1000 lb spring as a "standard".

Not always will measured sag numbers and amount of spring preload be a perfect source for determining the proper spring rate for a given application. Sometimes, it's just plain riding the bike that will determine the best spring rate. It took us a couple of months to acquire the data but we honestly feel at Traxxion Dynamics that for a rider weighing around 200 lbs, an 800 to 850 lb/inch spring offers a good compromise between ride comfort and properly supporting the FJR for most of it's intended uses. If you want a softer ride, then a 750 or maybe a 700 but in the long run, you'll end up adjusting the preload more often for each different setup. In other words, if you add a passenger, you change the preload, if you load the bags, you'll change it again. Add the tail trunk and again you be fooling with the preload. It's easily done on the Penske but is that something you really want to do - change preload constantly?

I've got a Penske 8981 on my FJR with an 850 lb/inch spring. Front forks are modified with the AK-20 cartridge kit using 1.10 springs. The package is completely balanced and even when riding with passenger and hard bags stuffed full, we had no issues with comfort or handling during a recent 600 mile weekend trip. We rode the bike fairly hard in the mountains. Used all of the back tire (no safety strips left) and only about 1/4" or less remaining on the front tires. That's using the POS stock OEM Metz Z4. Ground clearance was outstanding and only bairly nicked the footpeg feelers once.

Would everyone like this setup? Probably not. Would many people like it? Probably. Setting a suspension package up for lots of different riders requires lots of questions to be asked.

If your 1000 lb spring is in really good shape, it's possible we could exchange it for you with a spring that would be more to your liking. Let me know if that interests you.