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Stiffer front springs for 1989 XT600 3EW Stiffer front springs for 1989 XT600 3EW
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Yamaha Tech Originally the Yamaha XT600 Tech Forum, due to demand it now includes all Yamaha's technical / mechanical / repair / preparation questions.
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Photo by Sean Howman,
The Pamir highway in an unseasonably
cold late October, Tajikistan



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  #1  
Old 1 Apr 2019
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Stiffer front springs for 1989 XT600 3EW
Fellas,

I just replaced the stock rear shock on my '89 3EW with the YSS---feels great! But the front springs definitely need beefing up, too.

Problem is, nothing's labeled "3EW" online for replacement or aftermarket parts, so I have no clue what other XT model codes match for parts or not.

Any recommendations for stiffer replacement springs?

And in general, can anyone help me which model codes are the closest to mine?

Thanks!
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  #2  
Old 1 Apr 2019
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many people will not recommend it (likely without ever trying ) , but i always cut up my springs for more stiffness and make a longer spacer to get back the right ride height. never had a problem in 30 years. cost? a few $ for the nylon material to turn two spacers on the lathe or cut some PVC tubing.
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  #3  
Old 1 Apr 2019
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turboguzzi View Post
many people will not recommend it (likely without ever trying ) , but i always cut up my springs for more stiffness and make a longer spacer to get back the right ride height. never had a problem in 30 years. cost? a few $ for the nylon material to turn two spacers on the lathe or cut some PVC tubing.
Well I have checked the date of the post and I assume that this is an April Fool post.
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Old 1 Apr 2019
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no 1st April thing, it's totally for real. I also understand people rejecting the idea in disbelief, but works for me. Not forcing anyone to do this or even believe it....


link to a non 1st april post (not mine)



http://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/t1...t-fork-springs
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Old 1 Apr 2019
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So you have reduced the available travel but not affected the spring rate so it bottoms out earlier is the way I see it.
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Old 1 Apr 2019
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good try but exactly the opposite:
increased the rate, travel/ride height remains the same, bottoms later.


let's let paddywagon decide who he wants to believe,



between us we can agree that we disagree
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Old 1 Apr 2019
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Cutting a section of compressible spring and replacing it with non-compressible spacer would, in theory, reduce the amount of available travel---that is, unless the stock travel 'bottoms out' before the spring reaches full compression.

For folks doing mostly street/light trail riding, I'm sure that works fine. But I'm looking to make my front forks handle more aggressive bumpy terrain, and I want to make sure I still have full travel.
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Old 1 Apr 2019
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I'm wanting to do the same for a 1986 xt. 43f

Can you post a li k to the setup you got for the rear?
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Old 1 Apr 2019
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glsawyer View Post
I'm wanting to do the same for a 1986 xt. 43f

Can you post a li k to the setup you got for the rear?
Rear Shock: YSS MZ456-395TRL-02-X

On eBay, they run about $390, but I was able to find one on a german website for $280 (in USD) + $40 shipping.

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Old 1 Apr 2019
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beautiful bike!
some of my racing buddies use yss and report very good control.

so yes, it's like you explained in your "unless" bit.... it is not coil binding that limits travel, would be a disaster it it was like that. there is plenty of coil space in all springs even when fork is bottomed out. check.
in any case, in a 40 turns spring we are talking about removing 4 turns or so, and i usually cut off the closer coils that impact very little available "spring stroke"



I did this on desert racers that have seen big air and currently have such a setup on my XT600 supermoto that sees tarmac jumps and high loads in cornering.

but honestly, dont have time to do a complete engineering demo to explain basic spring engineering, so simply IGNORE my posts.... buy yourself a set of stiffer springs form kedo for 110 euro and youll be happy as a clam, i'll continue riding on my perfect zero cost shortened springs.... a win - win situation for all!
here's my babe, as you can see it's not lowered or anything, all the fork stroke is usable

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-and-m-sm3.jpg
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Old 1 Apr 2019
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turboguzzi View Post
so yes, it's like you explained in your "unless" bit.... it is not coil binding that limits travel, would be a disaster it it was like that. there is plenty of coil space in all springs even when fork is bottomed out. check.
in any case, in a 40 turns spring we are talking about removing 4 turns or so, and i usually cut off the closer coils that impact very little available "spring stroke"

I did this on desert racers that have seen big air and currently have such a setup on my XT600 supermoto that sees tarmac jumps and high loads in cornering.
...

here's my babe, as you can see it's not lowered or anything, all the fork stroke is usable

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-and-m-sm3.jpg
Well hey, in that you've done it and maintain full travel with no problems, it's certainly worth a try before I spend $$$ on new springs! I am a machinist after all, so cutting the springs down and making shims is easy and free.

Did you find a need to change your oil weight, btw?
(with riding gear, I weigh ~210lbs)
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Old 2 Apr 2019
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worst that can happen is that youll need to order the springs that you were thinking about anyway....


would start with a simple 5% increase in rate and see if you like it.


that means counting all you active coils in the stock spring and say if you have 40, 5% = 2, so you cut off 2 ACTIVE coils and machine a spacer that's longer by the distance you've cut.


A dremmel with cutting disc can do it, cut the wire 90 degs to the spring axis.



heavier/more oil, can be done after if you feel the need.


need to dig a bit to find pixs
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Old 2 Apr 2019
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By "ACTIVE" coils, does that mean not including the starting coil[s], or do you mean cutting the denser/spread out coils on a progressive spring?
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Old 2 Apr 2019
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both.... dont count the first coil where the wire sits on top of itself...start counting from the one above it.



i always cut the coil in the denser area in progressive springs, so to get more of a "straight rate"


if you want ot be sure that you are not getting coil bind at end of stroke, enter your current number in terms of N and the new count you want and see the difference....


https://www.planetspring.com/pages/c...calculator.php


good illustration there what coils count


put the cut end ALWAYS at the top, there its static, cant do no harm
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  #15  
Old 26 Apr 2019
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well, was changing the fork oil for this season and had to take the springs out, so here you can see the stock vs. shortened 3TB springs + the required spacer. 6 coils cut-off, so going from 44 coils to 38 equals about 15% stiffer



fill the numbers in the calculator link above if you dont believe
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Stiffer front springs for 1989 XT600 3EW-xt-spring.jpg  

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