Front shock spring problem-please help.

Hi,
Have an 04 dyna wide glide. My right fork spring goes bad. Its happened two times in two years. First time replaced both springs, last year they warrantied and replaced the right spring. Its doing it again. Hold the front brake and rock the bike back and forth, the front fender twists as the right shock is getting weaker just like before. Last time, with front tire off, the left shock was fine, but the right shock could be easily be compressed. They said the temper went out of the spring.

Whats the fix, replacing springs every year isn't the answer.

Thank you,

Harry

Wanted to add-there is no oil leakage on the bad front shock.

Been working on suspensions for dirt bikes for 14 years and never had that problem come up, but try using a after market spring, race tech or progressive they are a lot better spring than stock and while your at it put in some race tech emulators in the front forks helps the ride out a lot!!

Thank you for replying.

The first time, when the stock spring failed I put in progressive in each fork. Last year the same shock failed again. The oil was burned and smelled bad. Just like before. Progressive warrantied the spring and was good uptil last night. Noticed the ride didn't feel right. First stop, held the front brake and rock the bike back and forth and the front fender did the tell tell sigh of twisting.

So have a dampner and a new pair of progressive springs next day delivery.

No one I know or all the bikes I have had has seen this problem.

You say the oil smells burnt.The only thing that could due that is heat and you couldn't use that fork enough to get it that hot on a street bike! Even if it was binding up you would never get it that hot. The front forks on our motocross bikes don't get that hot but the rear shocks on our motocross bikes are so hot after a race that you can not touch them without getting burnt and we never had a shock, spring or oil failure in 14 years! What kind/ type of oil are you using? Go to a bike shop ang get a brand name oil such as PJ One, Belray or amsoil in 10wt which is what most HD's run and if that's too soft go to 15 wt and see what happens. You can mix different weight of oils to get somewhere in between on weights to make the fork work and feel right for you, but I would stick with the same brand. Also watch how full you get it as that will affect stiffness, too much oil=harder, less oil= softer, and the best way it too measure it from the top of the fork with the spring out fork tube compressed all the way, too much room for error measuring a certain amount and adding it. You can buy or make a tool for measuring the oil this way with a rod, some tubing and a big syringe which you can get from a drug store and a nut that the tube fits in. Next time you take the fork apart make sure the bushings ( there is two of them, one under the forks seal and another on the tube ) and make sure they are wearing evenly and then your lower tube take that and roll it over a piece of glass or a known flat suface to make sure its not bent. That is all thats in there that could go bad as these are dampening rod forks, the cheapest type of fork out there,with the simplest design! Hope this helps you and if you need more help or info let me know.

Follow up: Took the bike to a repair shop. They broke the front end down. The right forks oil was again discolored and smelled different, was darker and cloudy. The right spring was much easier to compress like its temper was gone.

Replaced the dampers and put in a set of Progressive springs as well as the smaller damper springs.

The bike feels better than ever, front end rides perfect-except for the $450 bill.

We figured that the right damper was flawed and super heated the oil taking the temper out of the spring.

Its a crazy thing, no one I talk to has ever heard of this.

Thank everyone for commenting.