Stiffer rear spring?

[fridge]

Anyone know if it's possible to fit a stiffer spring to the back of a '99 TA?

Went out the other night two up and the handling was somewhat disconcerting... light front, back a bit wallowy. Thinking that a bit more weight on the front might help the handling??

[sproggy]

You probably just need to increase the rear preload, although if it's anything like the 650 it's a pita to do. There shouldn't be any need to change the spring - that's a bit extreme unless you and your pillion are both....er....of an extra-stout nature.

You could also try just increasing the rear rebound damping (is that adjustable on a 600?) as that should make it wallow less.

[anton88]

Yep - belt the pre-load right up to max - its the 2 collars above the spring - easier to do with the shock out - great design Mr Honda

Can be done with a hammer and long drift but be carefull what you hit

[fridge]

Thought about winding up the preload but, from my mountainbike days, cranking up the preload was no substitute for swapping the spring for one the right weight. Guess that the ratio of rider to machine is totally different but I assumed that the principle was the same.

[sproggy]

Honda designed the rear suspension to cope with both solo and two-up use, providing the degree of preload adjustability necessary to switch between the two. The same applies to any other bike. There should be no need to change the spring unless, as I said before, you and/or your pillion are above average weight.

If you fit a stiffer spring to suit two-up use you won't have enough sag for solo riding.

[fridge]

Honda designed the rear suspension to cope with both solo and two-up use, providing the degree of preload adjustability necessary to switch between the two. The same applies to any other bike. There should be no need to change the spring unless, as I said before, you and/or your pillion are above average weight.

If you fit a stiffer spring to suit two-up use you won't have enough sag for solo riding.

Good point, well made. Hadn't thought about it like that, too fixated on mtbs where, probably due to the massive weight difference changing the rear spring to suit the rider is normal practice.

Think I'll get myself a c-spanner and try a bit of adjustment. Anyone know the spring collar size on a 99TA, manual is at work at the mo?

[Steve T]

Best of luck with the "C" spanner, cos there aint much room to use it.

As anton88 said, a long drift and a hammer would be easier (a Chad Mallet would also do the trick - do a search for Chad Mallet for details of location & availability).

PS - there aint no re-bound on 600 TA's.

[atgreg]

Actually most jap bikes are undersprung, Transalps specially so, you need to take your sag measurements to see how the spring is. And you are totally correct that more preload is a poor substitute for the correct spring

[FatFergie]

The six hundreds are definitely undersprung for a normal (?) passenger and rider. The spring is a compromise. I've thought about getting a harder coil to use when two up and swap back to standard for solo. Demon tweeks was selling custom springs a couple of years back.

[fridge]

The six hundreds are definitely undersprung for a normal (?) passenger and rider. The spring is a compromise. I've thought about getting a harder coil to use when two up and swap back to standard for solo. Demon tweeks was selling custom springs a couple of years back.

Interesting, anyone happen to know the dims of the standard spring.... haynes manual still at work!