Indian Scout - Upgrade Fork Springs
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.พ. 2018
- Today I walk you through the replacement of the overly soft factory fork springs on my 2015 Indian Scout. We'll be installing Progressive brand springs and thicker fork oil for a vastly improved ride and better handling. Like, share and subscribe for more content like this!
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All of your spring is 'unsprung mass', as they are not 'dampened', but are part of the fixed 'damping system' itself. As for a progressive spring (type, not name-brand), keep in mind that all coil springs are nothing but 'wound torsion bars' (the wire 'twists' which gives reactive force), and progressive means that the wire coils are not all 'equally spaced' at rest, but vary longitudinally along the length of the spring...with torsion happening the full length of the 'non-contacting coils'. So, as each coil comes to rest on the previous coil, they no longer provide any further damping contribution (in effect, they become a solid mass)...which means they are giving a fixed-rate of resistance (conventional or non-conventional springs have a fixed resistance that can be plotted using simple algebra, Y=MX+b for rate per inch of deflection or degree of twist). Now, following the physics, this means that if you place the 'denser spaced' coils at the bottom, you no longer have movement (while in damping or compression), so less coils are providing varying (but additional) reactive moment...and all that reactive (recoil tendency) motion is occurring up near the triple-tree...this all results in 'solid or fixed mass' near the axle, with any resulting (kinetic energy) going into the triple-tree, and thus, the frame, for the remaining travel...it is more stable to place the 'more-tightly spaced coils' at the axle, not at the triple tree.
I hold an M.S. in Engineering, and retired from a major shock absorber and strut manufacturer...with quite a bit of experience designing ride control products.
Thanks for the feedback. Very enlightening.
Great vid...please do an update on how the front suspension feels/handles now that you've changed the springs and oil
Hi. Thanks for the video, I just ordered DarkScout suspension kit and it comes with front springs :). It will be my first time ever doing a job this big on my bike, so your video is very helpful!!!
How's dark scout suspension?
I'm 5 years late to see this, but I just bought a used Scout. Half way thru: use mineral spirits to wash sludge out of the forks. When cutting plastic spacers, use tape to form the cut line, then cut around rather than through from one side. A hypo from the pharmacy+ battery vent tube will allow you to suck oul out, rather than dumping. And more than 10 pumps to purge air is unnecessary. I'm not trying to be critical, just the way our shop has done it for my 38 years as a mechanic.
I thought this was one hell of a video. I bought a 17 scout, and as much as I love the bike I hate the suspension. I feel the front shocks are almost dangerous. I have taken it to the dealer and they told me its "the nature of the beast" and they are all like that. I then called Indian and I was told and I quote "we have received ALOT of complaints about this, BUT our concern is not interstate riding, its more of a low speed cruiser" ..I literally couldn't believe what I just heard. Nice to no that Indian really cares about its customers!! I would love a follow up vid on the improvement . Thanks again, very informative.
Yours wobbled a lot?
A low speed cruiser that exceeds 80 mph in 2nd gear. Okay.
thanks for this video
i think they put the tighter coils at the bottom because the fork angle is a little steeper and the tire is a touch fatter. putting a little more weight lower helps with the tighter turning.
just installed mine they are better but what I don't like is that my bike is significantly lower from the front, same forks on the victory octane which is what I have and there was no resistance when putting the cap back on with new set up, so im not sure if i should have went with a longer spacer...
Greetings from Costa Rica
I saw that the front suspension is liking
Which parts do I have to replace?
Which oil do I have to buy?
10/10
I typically use a mitre box to do perfectly square cuts on tubing/other items (like molding - the original use for my mitre box - but none of that on a bike).
Great vid. Would be real interested in an update as you get some time in on them. Looking to do them on the bobber
Jay Fast I think the bobber comes with them pre-installed.
I believe the bobber and the 2018+ has a cartridge in the forks. Or so I’ve read.
2rRas hmm. The front forks feel a bit spongy to me. Maybe just an oil weight change? I’ll have to investigate more.
unaclocker my very limited research says you are correct...
Great video. Did this today. I followed the instructions and did the 140 mm. I will see how I like it.
How do you like the 140mm?
How did it ride?
Need a Indian shirt bud
I keep going to the dealer looking for one that catches my fancy. None yet.
How much would an Indian dealer charge for change of tires, and change out front springs.?
Why 160mm fork oil level instead of 140mm?
Great video! How much fork oil did you end up using? 1 qt?1.5qts? Thanks!
Less than a quart, even after flushing the dirt out with some extra oil.
I have oil leaking out of the bottom of the left side fork tube. Did something come loose. Not sure what to do
Had that happen to me. The fork seal may need to be replaced. Replace both while you're having the job done. I first noticed the problem when my front brake was becoming less effective. The fork oil was getting on the rotor.
at 18:18 you misspoke... LOL, yea I caught that. Great job, we need a follow up vid.
I was about to sell my scout because of the wobble and rocking and couldnt figure out why. How was the ride after this? Thanks
Rides excellent now.
Just got a scout sixty a couple weeks ago. Its a fun bike with good power, but 80 mph + and hold on tight! It feels like I’m going for a land speed record back in the old days or something with how dramatic the wobbly steering is. Add the non fairing parachute like aerodynamics and it can be a little sketchy. Did you notice the higher speed wobble get better with the new springs and fluid change?
Yeah, it’s definitely improved. Between the windfly smoothing out the wind as it hits my shoulders (really, passes over them), and the improved front suspension, it’s a lot better. RPMs are still a tad high over 80, but I’ve cruised at 100 on this thing without feeling like death was imminent. Heh.
unaclocker Right on. Thanks. I will definitely be doing this at my first tire change as well as the fork boots to protect the shiny part of the fork from debris and keeping the seals good. Thanks for the vid. There seem to be a lot of scout vids with nonsense “upgrades” and not a whole lot of cool practical diy upgrades like your video. I was beginning to think I bought a bike that only douche bags ride. Thanks again.
A stupid question but is it possible to paint/coat the metallic (shiny) cylinder part of the front suspension?
Can you? Yes. Should you? No. That silver part of the fork is the "inner" tube of the suspension. The black out tube compresses up the silver part when hitting changes in pavement like bumps or holes, or any movement at all like sitting on your bike, therefore any paint you'd put on the silver part would get scuffed off as the fork moves up and down.
I'd recommend looking into fork boots, they're rubber covers that go around that area usually just for aesthetics to black it out, but it also helps dirt and debris from entering your fork seal
No, but you can put gators over them.
I haven't seen a headlight install, i know it's easy, but what headlight did you use?
It’s a daymaker clone from AliExpress. Cost like $40.
do you suggest it? Plug and play for the most part?
I purchased the Indian led . It’s great
The suspension on my 2018 bobber is stiff as hell , no speed wobbles , no shakes (130mph) . Its actually a bit too stiff and needs softened up.
Do you know the length of the stock fork tubes?
No, sorry. Wasn’t relevant to my install. I bought springs designed for this bike.
Did you say you bought a 2 qt container of fork oil to do both forks?
Yes, turned out one quart was all I needed.
Thank you, I got 1 quart in the mail and with the help of you're great video, I was able to do a thorough job changing my springs to Progressive & my fork oil to 20 weight. Are you a member of either the Indian Motorcycle Forum or the Indian Rider Forum?
I am planning on doing the 15k mile fork service in my bobber. Can I just remove the fork, empty the old oil. Flush out more of the old oil by adding new oil like you did, then adding the recommended amount of oil (per Indian manual) and placing fork back like you did? Indian is quoting me $500+ just for fork oil change nothing else, no seals or anything. I figured I have tools laying around, you made it seem easy. I can save myself $500.
The bobbers and later Indian Scouts have a cartridge based shock in the front fork. I haven’t looked into how to service those but it should still be doable.
Nice video, good job not editing. Would take away from the good stuff . I hear you on the cool stickers. I was thinking about putting some on as well , but my Indian is so clean it would take away from the sleek look 👀 of the bike
looks like your fork oil will be way low as you didn't measure when slider was fully extended, as you pulled it up to fit the spring also if you did it correctly the 160mm air gap lets the fork bottom out easier than if you did the 140mm air gap. The smaller the air gap the more resistane to bottoming out in final,part of the stroke.
Nah, it’s perfect. Got 10,000 miles on the new springs and oil. It’s like a whole different bike. Fixed several problems it had.
What year is your bike?
2015
About 10 minutes in... a cheap PipeCutter that plumbers use would have done a good job cutting that white spacer tube. And maybe using a syringe found at Livestock supply store used to administer their meds will be handy to measure precise doses of oil.
The first thing I did with only like 300 miles on my Scout, I had my local RaceTech Suspension expert do my Front Fork mod with their Springs & Gold Valve Cartridge Emulator & and replaced my Rear with their RaceTech G3-S Custom Shocks. The bike handles and rides so much better.
My lower fork tubes showed excessive wear also after only 2900 miles on them... this was pointed out by the same guy that modified them for me. He had to replace a bushing or two. To prolong this wear, I had my lower fork tubes paint stripped off, then polished them removing casting marks and seams and sent them to be Hard Anodized Black. I've yet to put any significant amount of miles on it all yet.
Great idea with the anodizing. As for buying some extra tools to do this, sure, but this was a one time thing for me. Seems like my route worked without buying things.
Yea, you did well making it work. I liked seeing how it all went. Thanks for sharing the videos.
The cost for my Anodizing both lower fork tubes was $150 along with some lethal Jasco Paint Stripper and abrasion wheel / 400 grit sandpaper to polish them beforehand. A pipecutter can be found for $3-6 depending on size... handy for a homeowner / DIYer.
18:53 we as guys know this move....hahaha.
did ever have a high speed wobble on scout? i better look into that. don't need that happening on the way to vegas..
Nope. It’s a stable bike.
OK tanks Blessings!!
The back end on my in heavy rain doing 100 kph did a nasty fish tail on me scared the crap out of me no warning
I would replace the seals
Indian motorcycle owner with a harley davidson shirt……..secret love?
Other bike is a Harley. Bought my Indian at the Harley dealer. Heh.
Why not measure the oil first, saves the guess work? Painters tape will help keep from marring the top nut
Measuring the quantity you’re putting in? Seems more like a guess to me. You’re not entirely sure how empty the shock is. The air gap is a critical measurement. That seems more like a guess to me.
After you pay so much money for a motorcycle why do we have to upgrade everything.
You don’t have to. I bought this bike when it was three years old with 6800 miles on it. The previous owner upgraded nothing.