Front suspension getting soft on V star 1100 1999

Replace your fork seals dismantling the forks

Yes your fluid may need to be changed if you want a more firm front end. I don't know what type of fluid you have in the forks now but what you need to do is to go with a thicker oil. In my '94 FXDWG, I went to PJ1 30 weight oil. Since I don't have a book on your late model bike, I can't tell you how much oil to put into each tube. There is a "wet" and a "dry" quantity to add when you've drained them. If you simply drain the oil and refill the fork tubes, use the "wet" quantity of oil. If you disassemble and clean the tubes out, use the "dry" quantity when you refill.

To drain the oil, look on the trailing side of the fork sliders. You'll see a screw or a set screw in the slider. Take this plug out and some of the oil will simply flow out. To get all of it out, hold the front brake and push down on the handlebars. Now, oil will spray everywhere so don't do this job in your living room. Once you get the oil out of both tubes, reinstall the plugs and refill the tubes one at the time by removing the top cap out of the tube and pouring the prescribed amount of oil into each fork tube. Ride the bike and see if the front suspension is too soft, too firm, or just right. Remember, the heavier the viscosity of the oil, the more firm the front suspension is. If you can't get it right, you might want to consider changing the springs in the fork tubes.

Good Luck
Steve

YOU NEED A STAR 2 TESTER 007 - 0041 - A OR DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT THAT IS EQUIVALENT TO TURN ON AIR COMPRESSOR TO TEST AND REGULATE AIR TO AIR SPRINGS. ALSO RESET THE AIR SPRING COMPUTER.IF YOU NEED TO RELEASE AIR FROM AIR SPRINGS TURN OFF AIR SUSPENSION SWITCH.THEN REMOVE AIR SPRING SOLENOID RETAINING CLIP,ROTATE THE SOLENOID COUNTERCLOCKWISE TO FIRST STOP, THEN PULL SOLENOID STRAIGHT OUT SLOWLY TO THE SECOND STOP UNTIL ALL AIR BLEEDS OUT AIR SPRING, THEN REMOVE THE SOLENOID. YOU COULD HAVE DAMAGED FRONT AIR SPRINGS WHEN YOU CHANGED OIL WITH OUT TURNING OFF AIR SUSPENSION.WHICH CAUSED AIR SPRINGS OVER EXPAND DAMAGING THEM.

Probably the reason the fork seal is blown is too much air pressure. Definitely fix the seal and put in the correct amount of oil. You do not have to put air in to the front forks if you do not want to. To properly set up your suspension, set your rear shocks first, hard for two, soft for one, etc. Now load the bike, you or you and the passenger. With the front forks set to near max pressure (only 12 to 14 pounds air pressure do not go over max recommended pressure) bounce on the motorcycle seat and bleed off the pressure in the front forks till the front and back of the bike drop together. This is the correct way to set up your suspension. A bicycle foot pump with a pressure gauge works best works best. You will be near max pressure in one small hand squeeze of the foot pump. You will find it only takes 7-8 pounds of pressure to set up your bike. Just remember, You do not have to put air pressure in to your front forks, they will work just fine. You just wont benefit from the adjustable design.

Does it have air shocks? If the pressure is low they will be soft.
Check the shock oil level. Low oil will cause softness also.

If it has air caps on the top of the forks, you can put a little air in them. If not, the other thing you can do is add a bit more oil to each fork leg.

Add oil or air if air equiped.

Height is not adjustable on those. Your only option would to replace the springs in the forks with a higher rate spring, and get better valving to slow down the jounce of the bike.

fork psi should'nt exceed 9psi. fork air valves are best used for removing air. spring preload should be adjusted to abtain the correct sag (1'' on most street bikes)

hi there,,if u can see a air valve on top of the forks, then u can use a bicycle or foot pump to squeeze a bit more air to the fork,, or if there is an adjuster on the fork,ie, a plastic lookin cap with 1 2 3 4 and a arrow on it u can turn that to a comfortable position,, if there is nothing u can see, then u either have not enuff fork oil in each fork leg,,or if there is enuff,, u will need to change the grade of fork oil and replace wots in it,, so id say a more harder grade of oil,, usually there isnt enuff oil in the forks to make it dive into the front wheel,, try topping the oil up,,with about,4or 5 egg cup fulls of oil in each leg,,if nothing has made any difference,, put in another 4 or 5 ,,,any probs on how u put oil in2 the legs ,please do come back in ,and il tell u how 2,, im assuming u do no,, ok ,,cheers