I'm average weight at around 83kgs/1.87m. Bouncing the bike with the front brake applied produces some fork movement, but it's very stiff. On my ''82 Gold Wing I recall looking at the forks through the fairing gap while riding, they moved up and down nicely, not so with this one.
The selling dealer suggested I return the bike for them to take a look, but I'm concerned, if they couldn't do a proper job the first time what hope do I have of them getting it right the second time. They're not Honda dealers and may lack the expertise/specs. Could they have done a 'cheapy', as in replaced the fork seal without stripping and refilling the forks? Dealers are inclined to spend as little as possible, thereby ensuring maximum profits.
Ralf_CT,
Just open a fork tube cap as I suggested above. It's a simple, one-hour, driveway job and can be done with the bike's tool kit. That will show YOU what the issue is, either too much oil and/or aftermarket (too stiff) springs. Then you can decide to take it back to the dealer for corrections or not. You might want to see if their assessment is the same as yours. A "stuck" front end is not good and definitely not normal for an ST. If anything they suffer from a WAAAAY too soft front end, IMHO.
It seems to me that there is a very specific sequence of assembly and torquing of the front wheel axle and triple-head bolts that must be followed. Think I read that here somewhere. That shop may not have known about it. You DON'T have to do any of that when you open the fork cap and pull a spring, only when the forks are disassembled or front-wheel removed.
Most dealers want to keep customers happy or they can't stay in business. Yes, they need to make a profit, "or they can't stay in business." Unfortunately, people sometimes make mistakes. I've always found that it's not IF a business makes a mistake (everyone does, we all have erasers on our pencils), but it's HOW THEY HANDLE THEIR MISTAKES that makes the difference. But you have to at least give them a chance to handle it.
EDIT:
Ralph, I'm no mechanic and an expert in nothing, please believe me. But I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty ...once in a while.
These are the pics I took while putting the air-boost on my '08 ST last year in my garage. There are two pics that show the OEM spring alongside the SONIC spring. The OEM is a progressive, or "DUAL RATE" - close coils
and wider spaced coils. The SONIC spring is the same spacing throughout the length. The pics only show the "progressive' end (last 4-5 inches).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kVCyRAZerss5Lgkj7