Quote Originally Posted by SeverAMV View Post
its still using oem shocks and springs from when it was built 18-19 years ago, and the missing chunks on the outer layer of the springs support my belief. i'll just work on one bit at a time. the coilovers should be the first step to rectifying the cause of the problem. after that i'll see what else i may need.
The missing 'chunks' are just chips in the powder coating, mine has similar, not to worry. The springs on my CB7 are only a couple of years younger than your springs (just clocked up 250,000km), and both front springs are exactly the same free length as each other, as are the rear spring pair. This strongly suggests that none of the springs have sagged appreciably because it would be unlikely for both springs in each pair to sag to exactly the same degree, a testament to the quality of the OE Honda springs.

I think you're right in that if the dampers are at all suspect you should start there before thinking about anything else. You need a stable platform to be able to adequately feel whatever else the suspension may be doing.

Even if you do the time honoured test of pushing the car down hard at each corner and it feels nicely stiff and doesn't 'bounce', this is no test of the dampers. The dampers may well feel fine according to this 'test', but could still be utterly shot. When I bought my CB7 it passed this test easily and drove fine on smooth city roads at the pace I could get away with with the salesman sitting beside me, but as soon as I was alone with my new purchase on the open road at hwy speeds, and on rougher country roads it was painfully obvious the dampers were way past their use by date!