350x Fork Spring Identification

[wonderboy]

I am digging into the front forks on my 350x. I have parts mixed and matched from previous experiments such as swapping the damping rods from an 83-84 250R. The situation now is that I have two sets of front fork springs that are the right length for the 350x, but are very different. I'm wondering which ones are stock 350x and what the other ones are. (I'm not sure which is even the stock spring... I think it is the top spring).



The top spring is 19.375" long, wire diameter is 0.193", and has 45 turns of wire.
The bottom spring is 19.5" long, wire diameter is 0.200", and has 65 turns of wire.

The service manual calls out a nominal length for the 350x spring of 19.42" (both are right in this ballpark). Parts catalog shows a common part number for both 85 and 86, so I don't think it's a difference between the two years.

The likely candidate for the odd spring is the 83/84 250R (the donor of the damping rod that I transplanted previously). However, the service manual for the 83/84 250R shows the free length as 17.8"... so what I've got definitely isn't from the donor forks.

Is one of the springs I have an aftermarket progressive spring?

[Jmoozy27]

The top one looks a little fatter and likely for the 350x. As for the bottom, it may be a progressive spring, I'm pretty sure the 2nd gen 250r has a dual spring design and the progressive spring usually replaces both of them and is designed to have a spacer so its a good chance that it would be longer than the factory spring. Although I may be 100% wrong, it feels right.

[kazander]

neither of them is a progressive. I just put a set in one of mine. they are longer to make up both springs and are wound differently.

[big specht]

Hey wonderboy did you notice the difference after changing the damping rods? I also have a set of 83/84 forks that I was going to rob the rods from, for my 350x.