79 cbx

[Paul]

I AM GOING TO INSTALL PROGRESSIVE FRONT FORK SPRINGS ,ARE THEY REALLY WORTH THE INVESTMENT AND IMPROVE THE RIDE , ALSO I HAVE BEEN USING TRANSMISSION FLUID IN THE FRONT FORKS WHAT IS THE OPINION ON THIS OR SHOULD I BE PURCHASING A HEAVIER WEIGHT FRONT FORK OIL , ASLO WANT TO INSTALL A 1982 CLUTCH BASKET IN THE 79 ,IS THERE ANY NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE THAN THE ORIGINAL

[daves79x]

Paul:
You probably won't notice much difference in the fork springs. 10 wt fork oil set at 6 inches below the top of the tube with spring out and fork collapsed (for about the millionth time) is about all you need to do to the front end. My personal opinion is that we're all just making a few guys rich by buying Pro-Link clutch baskets at rediculous prices. There is absolutely no functional difference, they are just quieter. A noisy clutch to me is no big deal. Oh, and you'd be wise to lose the caps before someone goes off on you for it. Again, no big deal to me, but is to some.

Dave

[NobleHops]

I will RELUCTANTLY disagree with Dave, solely on the basis that for me, most bikes are undersprung as delivered, and that has the most bearing on suspension performance, given reasonable damping performance. Put differently, if the bike is undersprung or the old springs are sacked, you are riding with less travel then designed and that messes up everything else. I am #230 soaking wet, probably #240 in gear though, and if you're closer to #175, this might not be an issue for you.

I did install new springs, and also a device called a cartridge emulator in mine, and it's really pretty good for a 30 year old damper rod fork.

N.

[daves79x]

Should have stipulated I'm 165 soaking wet. Stock springs have always been fine for me. Your weight may vary. That's for the stock internals. Nils is quite correct that emulators are a whole different thing and likely much better for most. From my perspective in having serviced a gazillion CBX forks is that yours likely has oil that looks like chocolate milk and probably only has half of what's called for. In doing a simple service, cleaning, new seals and proper weight and quantity of oil, said forks will behave night and day compared to prior. Once you get a good feel for properly serviced stock forks, then see if you require some changes.

I'd do a by-the-book clutch adjustment as Jeff said, starting at the adjuster in the cover. See how it behaves then. If you still get the creeping, then someone installed aftermarket plates, some of which will do that. Keep us posted and thanks posting!

Dave