Ratty-matty, thanks for your reply. All the pieces Hitchcocks sent were exemplary. I could have turned about .020" off the original bronze spring guides and they would have worked fine, but as Hitchcocks sent the correct size replacements it was un-necessary. I was unaware about the new dual rate springs, but I opted to use my originals as they are about two inches longer and have been suitable for the thirty plus years I have owned this machine (no sagging). Having said that, this bike has always been a bit rough in the front and it is difficult to keep the middle fender stays from cracking (see the pictures of j95rs Chief in this section for an example of that). So perhaps this next winter I will swap them out and see how it works. Good information, thanks. Tom