Fork springs... Which way up?

I haven't ridden the FZR yet. There was a leak on one of the forks, so I've
been changing the seals this morning. My manual hasn't come through yet, so
I'm using my Dad's manual, and bits of info of t'internet.

Manual says the tighter winded side of the spring goes at the top of the
fork. Open up the first fork, and that's the way it came out... Did the
dirty work, and put it back on.

Second fork, the spring drops out... opposite way up :-/

Which is right, and how would this affect the handling either way?

Surely whoever did it last would have noticed a difference in handling?

Also, I've managed to chew up one of the bolts on the top of the fork leg.
Any ideas where I could get a couple of aftermarket? I was thinking of
nipping down J&S in a bit, but I couldn't find anything in the demon tweaks
catalogue, or the M&P website, so it's looking unlikely.
--

 

I've always put them in with the tight wound bit at the top. Like it
shows me in the HBoL.

Dunno.. I think not though.

If they're after market ones, just make sure that they are both the same
height, or one fork leg will have more preload then the other one.

I scored a set of forks with yokes for my FZR for £20 off ebay, arrived
this morning they did.

 

Which is right, and how would this affect the handling either way?

The tight coils weigh more per inch than the loose. Putting them at the top
would very slightly reduce the unsprung weight, I doubt you could tell in
practice. But I'd certainly want them both the same way up.

 

The only coils that effect oil level are the ones that dive into
the oil when the forks are compressed. Coils already submerged
does not change volume no matter how you deform them.
This seems to suggest that there is a chance that tightly wound
springs on top could, possibly but not likely, increase air
compression more than the opposite.