Complete Suspension Fix For a Nickel.

Attention all GL1800 owners: I have discovered a permanent fix to the front and rear suspension issues without replacing anything. It really works! I cannot take the credit for this, I found it in a forum written by Tom on 6-16-2008 and commented on by Sam Jones on 4-28-2010 on the GL1800 riders site. Out of everything I read, I wouldn't have discovered this solution without these two writers. I want to take a moment and thank them. I didn't understand the technical description at first, but after much thought (and some assistance from my wife), I now understand it and have successfully tested it.*Since I still see many people have not "solved" the OEM suspension issue, I decided to see if I can make it more clear.

First about me. I had a 2002 GL1800 and put 33K miles on it in two short riding seasons way up north. I just recently purchased a 2008 GL1800 with 5500 miles on it. I was surprised by the suspension, both front and back. The front fork was very stiff and I could feel every imperfection in the road in the form of vibration. I didn't remember having that issue on my 2002 GL1800. The front fork suspension hadn't changed as far as I knew since the first GL1800 in 2001.*

Anyway, out back, I used my previously gained knowledge the lower the preload setting was, the lighter the load it was supposed to carry (understood to be a softer setting) and a heavier load was a higher setting (or harder setting). I felt like I was able to adjust the rear preload for riding solo to about 10 to get the correct amount of comfort and to support my weight. It still felt rather harsh, but this setting seemed like the best I could do. When my wife and I started riding together (the whole reason I got the Wing), we choose 18 as the best setting. At 16 it felt like we were bottoming slightly on some bumps. At 20 the ride was too harsh. So 18 seemed like the best we could do. So I set memo 1 to 10 for solo and memo 2 to 18 for two up. Unfortunately, this still left us extremely disappointed in the suspension department. It was still too harsh of a ride, but I knew I couldn't set it lower (softer) because of the increased weight. So that night I spent about 4 hours reading everything I could find on the Internet about this issue. I found out how many others were having the same problem. I researched all of the possible solutions I could find online, which mostly concluded with replacing both the front and rear suspension. Then I found 2 possible solutions which addressed both ends of the bike. I began further investigation: 1. Disabling the anti-dive on the front fork; 2. Setting the rear shock preload to 25.

I understood all of the reasons to disable the anti-dive to correct the front fork response. I thought this could be accomplished without any detrimental effects to safety. I also noticed many people asking about why the left front fork seal always failed first and I believe the anti-dive high pressure constantly inside the left leg of the front fork could be the cause.

The technical explanation of how the rear shock*worked written by Tom intrigued me, but I struggled to understand his chain pulling example because his conclusions defied my logic and everything else I thought I already understood about the Wing pre-load settings. I changed it so I could understand it better. So here is my (non-engineer) rendering of his example:

Imagine if a 6 foot 1/2 inch chain were attached to the wall about waist high in front of you. You hold the unattached end with both hands facing the wall. You are very close to the wall and the chain sags in the middle down to the floor. As you back up and pull the slack out of the chain the resistance to you backing up increases and the chain begins to pull straight. Finally it is a struggle to even hold the chain tight enough to stay where you're standing.

Now imagine a shock above the chain*pushing downward in the center. The top of the shock is stationary and it has 3 inches of hydraulic and spring movement available. The shock is mounted so it's travel is contracted inward 1.5 inches when the chain is pulled as straight as possible. This leaves the shock with 1.5 inches of travel left. If you allow the shock to extend to it's full 3 inches of movement, it creates a sag in the chain and you step towards the wall some.

Now to understand a bump in the road, you would pull on the chain to simulate a bump. With the chain pulled tight there is only 1.5 inches of travel left and it is the hardest part of the travel distance. The bump would be felt harshly. Another bump simulation with a sag in the chain and the shock being fully extended to the full 3 inches of travel, the first part of your bump simulation is easier (softer) and as you pull harder the shock gets down to it's last inch or so of movement and it gets much harder to pull (harder). This demonstrates where to find the softer part of the suspension and where to find the harder part of the suspension travel. The first 1.5 inches of travel are softer than the final 1.5 inches. Now let's transfer this to the GL1800.

Think of the rear suspension like a chain that is hooked from the frame of your bike to the swingarm. In the center of the chain on the top is a shock. The top of the shock is stationary bolted to the frame. The bottom of the shock, which has the spring and hydraulic travel available, is attached to the center of this chain. (Remember we are on the bike now and it isn't really a chain.) When the preload setting on the GL1800 is at zero, the amount of downward pressure on the chain is least and the weight of the bike causes the chain to be pulled tight and the amount of travel available from the shock is about 1 to 1.5 inches. This is the hardest setting and supports the least amount of weight. The softest part of the shock's travel is already removed and it has the least ground clearance. Besides being the hardest setting it could easily bottom out if too much weight is on it. On setting 25, the amount of shock travel available increases to the max amount and a sag develops in the chain (not really) lifting the bike to compensate for the sag. Believe it or not this is the softest setting. When you hit a bump, you have the first 1.5 inches of movement which is easier (softer) and then the last 1.5 inches which is harder because you and the chassis needs to be protected from impact.

After I thought I understood everything I had researched, I took the next step.

So I took apart the anti-dive cylinder, drilled a nickel in the center, and put it over the 5 mm pin and put it back together. Then I set the preload setting to 25. In fact I held the the button up until the little motor stopped.

Then my wife and I went on a trip. WOW! Major difference. I called it a magic carpet ride. Smooth. Much better handling. WOW! I had to write and tell everybody. I hope I made sense.

I have ridden it solo and two up many times since this. I never change the setting from 25 and I have the smoothest and most comfortable bike on the road. The handling is better. The front does't vibrate at all and it feels much more planted in the corners. Everything I did improved the bike without a single contrary thing. I want everyone to know!*

The major questions I have left is why was it designed like this? Basically setting it on 25 and never touching it is like having no adjustment at all. Why doesn't Honda tell everybody?

Email me if you have questions. [email protected]