[SANTA GORD]

Plan on replacing rear spring to a progressive spring.
Have done this to the front end and it is great.
Has anybody done this and would they recommend it?
All help would be appr.
Tks

 

[budoka]

No personal experiences with rear shocks, but I did use Progressive springs in my '84 and they were great. Lots of positive comments on rear swaps on the 1500's too. I'd say it's worth considering.

 

[Steve F]

I'm wondering what prompts you guys to consider replacing the suspension? Maybe I just don't have anything else to compare to, so I don't know what I'm missing? Is there any way to determine if the stock ride that I'm so used to is somethning that can be noticeably improved (as in worth the time effort and especially the MONEY)? I'm not unhappy with the stock suspension......but then again, I wouldn't know either.
Steve F

 

[Kandgo]

Plan on replacing rear spring to a progressive spring.
Have done this to the front end and it is great.
Has anybody done this and would they recommend it?
All help would be appr.
Tks

You will like the difference in the rear suspension with the Progressive. I would suggest to ensure your pre load is full of oil, make sure it starts preloading right at 1. Majority of the 1800's are shy on the oil and won't start preloading until around three or four and some not till six or eight. So make sure yours is full. Have someone hold your bike straight up and run the preload all the way to zero. Put your ear down by the left side where the rear actuator is and listen, have the guy holding your wing up straight looking at the pre load numbers, you holler when you hear the motor loading up, you will hear a distinct load sound, do it a couple times and you will see that it needs some oil from the factory. Other than the low oil, just take your time and remember how the oil line routes back to the shock from the actuator when going back in with the shock. Might as well also have a new Airfilter ready to toss in, you will be there anyway, and also go over all the hose clamps on the Cooling System, they are notorius for being loose from the Factory.

After writing this response, I noticed your bike was a 05. If you could run across a New Take off Shock from a Trike build, it would be good. New Shock, New Spring, you would be set.

 

[Dookoo]

Our bikes are undersprung by about 30-40%. This is determined by how much sag the suspension has when the rider is aboard compared to how much travel is available. Stock Wings use a large majority of their suspension travel as soon as it comes off the centerstand. A stiffer spring in the rear would balance out your bike since you already have added stiffer springs to the front. The Race Tech website has a spring rate calculator for the Wing based upon your weight, if you ride two-up most of the time, and your riding ability. A good place to start for the average weight rider is 1.0 kg/mm front springs with 21.4 kg/mm rear springs. I would go stiffer if you ride with a passenger more than 50% of the time. Just my opinion.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Seems there has been somewhere around 126,000 1800 Gold Wings sold in the USA. Based on threads discussing the secondary master cylinder recall. Using that figure, the number of members of Gold Wing forums is relatively few with even fewer "complaining" about it's suspension.
Accessory companies are making good money from selling what they call upgrades simply by using the same philosophy used by oil companies to convince you to change oil every 3,000 miles.
Those that spend hundreds on up into the thousands are going to justify that expenditure whether or not they actually sense a "better" ride or what usually results, which is a much "stiffer" ride.
A few have been honest in their opinions stating either "no felt" difference, harsher ride or something like "I wasted my money".
I have been riding since I was 16-now 67. I have ridden and or owned most styles of motorcycles available in those years. Yes, even my sons various sport bikes!
Specifically on Gold Wings, I ride "normally" meaning I don't call myself Nicky Hayden. I have dragged my road pegs in the corners of "The Dragons Tail" but, that is a rarity.
I have not found, what I call, any significant difference in the "ride" of a Wing with suspension changes, that would cause me to spend money on any suspension change, until the time it "wears out" from mileage. Then OEM replacements are fine for me! I do make sure that rear shock is topped off with fluid!
I have now triked and even against the advice of the conversion manufacturer, I retained the OEM fork springs and found the "ride" is still fine.
In reference to the rear shock on the 1800, a gentleman far more wise than I, Tom Finch(owner of TailWind Trailers)posted an explanation of the rear suspension of the 1800 and suggested setting it on the max(25) and leave it there! I did this and my wife asked me what I have done to the bike as the "bumps" and "dips" did not seem as harsh anymore!
Tom, by the way, has far more miles on Wings(including towing his TailWind) than mere mortals, such as we will ever have. Just one opinion for consideration.
Audited to remove a statement that was an opinion only with no actual knowledge to confirm! Thank you Kando for pointing that error out to me and for editing your post.

 

[Kandgo]

Seems there has been somewhere around 126,000 1800 Gold Wings sold in the USA. Based on threads discussing the secondary master cylinder recall. Using that figure, the number of members of Gold Wing forums is relatively few with even fewer "complaining" about it's suspension.
Accessory companies are making good money from selling what they call upgrades simply by using the same philosophy used by oil companies to convince you to change oil every 3,000 miles.
Those that spend hundreds on up into the thousands are going to justify that expenditure whether or not they actually sense a "better" ride or what usually results, which is a much "stiffer" ride.
A few have been honest in their opinions stating either "no felt" difference, harsher ride or something like "I wasted my money".
I have been riding since I was 16-now 67. I have ridden and or owned most styles of motorcycles available in those years. Yes, even my sons various sport bikes!
Specifically on Gold Wings, I ride "normally" meaning I don't call myself Nicky Hayden. I have dragged my road pegs in the corners of "The Dragons Tail" but, that is a rarity.
I have not found, what I call, any significant difference in the "ride" of a Wing with suspension changes, that would cause me to spend money on any suspension change, until the time it "wears out" from mileage. Then OEM replacements are fine for me! I do make sure that rear shock is topped off with fluid!
I have now triked and even against the advice of the conversion manufacturer, I retained the OEM fork springs and found the "ride" is still fine.
In reference to the rear shock on the 1800, a gentleman far more wise than I, Tom Finch(owner of TailWind Trailers)posted an explanation of the rear suspension of the 1800 and suggested setting it on the max(25) and leave it there! I did this and my wife asked me what I have done to the bike as the "bumps" and "dips" did not seem as harsh anymore!
Tom, by the way, has far more miles on Wings(including towing his TailWind) than mere mortals, such as we will ever have. He has never (as far as I know) made any comments on "upgrading" the OEM suspensions of the 1800 Wings!
Just one opinion for consideration.

I would urge you to go back and re read the OP post. He stated he has already tried the front ones and likes em allot. So he does have experience with the upgrade. He goes on and states in a question? " Has anyone done this and recommend it?"" You state that you have not, so why would you respond to such a question? You then go on to quote Tom Finch never responding to or making Comments about upgrading Suspension Components, maybe you should copy him in doing so. He doesn't make comments about subjects he has never experienced. You end your response with "Just one Opinion for consideration? Why not just respond to Topics with experience in lieu of just " Opinions"? Experience far outweighs Opinions. Hmmmm??

 

[Dookoo]

Put it this way. When my suspension was stock, my front fork only had less than 1-3/4" travel with a total of almost 5" available (Static sag, Wing + rider with bike held upright). With the proper springs, now I have just about 3-1/2" of upward travel. I never measured rear sag as it is very difficult to do as the rear shock is located in a remote and fairly inconvenient location for measurements. Surprisingly enough, the Goldwing operated just fine stock. However, upon upgrading spring rates and suspension valving, the benefits over the stock suspension become clearly evident. Changing spring rates is the easiest and most inexpensive modification to the Goldwing suspension to achieve proper suspension setup/travel. You can spend a lot of money upgrading your suspension. Obviously, the more aggressive you ride, the more important proper spring rates become. Comparatively speaking, the stock rear spring is closer to ideal for more aggresive riders than the rear but when I went stiffer, my passenger even stated how much smoother the bike was. This was because I wasn't bottoming out everywhere delivering shock loads to my precious cargo.

Stock front springs are roughly .7 kg/mm with rears at 16 or 19 kg/mm, I don't remember. My new spring rates are 1.0 kg/mm and 21.4 kg/mm. The bike is much more compliant and less harsh than stock suspension. Again, this is because i have more useable suspension travel to better soak up the bumps in the roadway. If I were to do this again, I would go even stiffer front and rear. I weigh around 200 lbs.

 

[Kid61]

I would urge you to go back and re read the OP post. He stated he has already tried the front ones and likes em allot. So he does have experience with the upgrade. He goes on and states in a question? " Has anyone done this and recommend it?"" You state that you have not, so why would you respond to such a question? You then go on to quote Tom Finch never responding to or making Comments about upgrading Suspension Components, maybe you should copy him in doing so. He doesn't make comments about subjects he has never experienced. You end your response with "Just one Opinion for consideration? Why not just respond to Topics with experience in lieu of just " Opinions"? Experience far outweighs Opinions. Hmmmm??

I've upgraded my suspension to Traxxion and I think suspension is a great mod. Whether it's just spring upgrades or a full-blown rework there's nothing on a Goldwing that affects the quality of the ride experience more in my humble opinion. Bling is nice and all but with the roads beat to h*ll like they are I'm happy to have my bike chassis soaking up the bumps instead of my own 50 year-old chassis.

In my opinion do all you can afford-your body will thank you.