If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
I have had my R6 forks and calipers fitted up for over a week now and all I can say is .. WOW. lol. Still waiting on a mirror mount, then I will put on the HEL lines and radial master cylinder. When it is all together (and cleaned up) I will post some pics. For now, I am off to do some riding ;c)
How easy is this, I like not having the centre stand but some jobs are a hell of a lot easier with it!
It wasn't too tough to install the centerstand again. It's only two bolts, but the tough part, is getting the springs back on again. I struggled for a while, trying pliers and screwdrivers, before I remembered that I have a spring installation tool for doing drum brakes. Basically, it's a metal rod with a notch in the end, you slide the spring end over the rod, place the notch on the destination post, and apply force to expand the spring. The spring slides up the rod, onto the post.
I have had my R6 forks and calipers fitted up for over a week now and all I can say is .. WOW. lol. Still waiting on a mirror mount, then I will put on the HEL lines and radial master cylinder. When it is all together (and cleaned up) I will post some pics. For now, I am off to do some riding ;c)
How did you support your bike, I am assuming you don't have the centre stand. I am looking to put axle stands under the foot rests while the back sits on the padock stand.
How did you support your bike, I am assuming you don't have the centre stand. I am looking to put axle stands under the foot rests while the back sits on the padock stand.
Lol, I cheated. When I had the suspension place service the 2nd hand R6 forks and swap the eibach springs from the stock forks to the R6 forks they had both front ends off the bike, so I just asked them to bolt on the R6 forks.
At the moment I am having some troubles with the radial master cylinder, the brake lines bolt to the bottom of the master cylinder (rather then the front like the stock ones) and the banjo bolt needs to go where the throttle cables are, so I either have to have the master cylinder bolted on such that the brake lever is very high or very low. Oh and I need to figure out my routing for the brake lines, they look dodgey at the moment.
I don't have a picture on hand, I can take one later, but basically what you want is this (stealing from a prior pic... hehehe)
You need to move the fork up or move the triple down so that there is 3.5-5mm spacing between the alignment line on the R6 fork and the top of the triple. I used a 3.5mm allen key on it's side to measure so I could line them up the same on both sides.
Also - it's easy, but a bit of a task to do. I needed another person to help, and you do one side at a time. Steps I used were to loosen bottom pinch bolt, then have someone hold the front end with you as you loosen the top pinch bolt really slowly to the point the fork just starts sliding - then tighten it when you get to the right point. Tighten top, tighten bottom, do the other side.
Has anyone tried lowering the stock forks in the same fashion? I recently had some work done to the forks, and was asked by the mechanic if I wanted him to lower the forks. I didn't know what the advantage would be, but from the sounds of it, maybe I should have had him do it! I'm sure I could easily do it myself, but I was just wondering if anyone out there had done it.
I have no chicken strips on my back tire, but HUGE ones on my front. Can anyone give advice?
Just a quick tip for those looking for a cheap 19mm socket fo rthe forks. Take a craftsman 5/8 inch spark plug socket and reverse it. The end is 19mm. To make it work, just reverse a socket extension through the big end first and it pops out just enough to get a wratchet on it. I use a 1/2 adapter so I could use a torque wrench on it. Cheap, for me nothing, and not a dedicated tool. Necessity is the mother of all things good.
Last edited by red06fizzer : 06-03-2006 at 08:25 AM.
Reason: pic added
By the way, I did the fork mod today. It took all of 1 hour to get everything back together. What a great kit from JSA customs. Makes it easy for the rest of us. The worst part was bleeding the new lines and calipers. THat took more than an hour. Still spongy, need to rebleed them again. FAZR06 is spot on about the bleeder valve needing teflon tape or thread seal. I can see it bubbling out after its torqued down.
The guy I got the forks from is a racer and these forks only had a few thousand miles on them, but has anyone else recalibrated the suspension and started from scratch. I am 175 lbs.
Tonight, I finally finished up the major parts of the R6 fork/brake swap. I torqued down the caliper bolts and installed the braided brake lines. I got the spiegler lines and it's cool how you can adjust the ends.
I still need to bleed the brakes (always a fun job....) and install new brake fluid (switching to ATE Super Blue like I run in my Trans-Am).
Well, I also need to install my new battery, do some wiring, install my heated grips, do the headlight mod, pod light mod and install the fairings.... But at least the major mechanical things are done.
I posted in my modfest thread the differences in between the R6 caliper bolts and the FZ6 caliper bolts. The R6 bolts are gun drilled and I'm amazed at the difference in weight between the two. Here's a picture:
I finally finished the R6 fork/brake swap and was able to ride my bike to work today.
It's been such a long time since I rode my FZ6 (about four months) that I can't compare the improvements directly (plus I changed tires), but it sure feels good. The turn-in is nice and the brakes seem to work well. I think I bled the brakes well as they don't feel spongy at all. The braided line installation seems to be routed well and I custom modified brackets for the reflector mounting and line routing.
I'll post some pictures later.
Any suggestions for adjusting the R6 forks for a 190lb rider? [with explanations to which adjustment does what and where it is located]
I have the R6 manual PDF somewhere around here, so I'll have to lookup the default values.
Well, the mod is done! I foolishly forgot to check the life of the brake pads before I put them on, so I have to order new pads! These ones still have some life left, though. I am riding to work this morning, so I will let you all know how it feels!
__________________
If you're not mad enough to bare-knuckle box, then you're not mad!
-Red Foreman
I finally finished the R6 fork/brake swap and was able to ride my bike to work today.
It's been such a long time since I rode my FZ6 (about four months) that I can't compare the improvements directly (plus I changed tires), but it sure feels good. The turn-in is nice and the brakes seem to work well.
I have about 75 miles on the bike with the mods now and I really can feel the difference. I don't know if it's the slight geometry change of the different length forks, or them being 10mm above the top triple clamp, but the bike feels awesome. It seems to change direction much easier than it used to, feeling more like a sports bike.
I still haven't fooled with the suspension settings, even though I looked it up in the R6 manual, but the front shocks feel a lot better than the FZ6 shocks. It's noticable when going over rough stuff (especially in turns) and when braking on rougher surfaces. I haven't really gotten on the brakes hard, but they feel crisp and they modulate well.
I told one of my trackday racer friend about my mod and he was yelling that I should have changed the springs. Here's his quote:
Quote:
Springs are not in there for feel, they hold you and the bike up. Feel
has to do with damping which is controlled by oil and
compression/rebound damping circuits. If you are comfortable taking the
fork apart the springs themselves are only $110/set. http://www.traxxion.com/store/detail...roduct_id=TDFS
You should try to correctly set the sag before messing with the
compression/rebound damping. Spring rate and sag are critical to
suspension operation because it has to do with the position of the forks
in their range of stroke where the damping circuits are designed to work
efficiently. Saying you'll change the springs only if the forks don't
feel right after everything else is like saying my feet hurt, so I'll
change my shirt and if that doesn't work I'll change my shoes.
I thought his analogy was lame.... (I would have used "changing my shoelaces" first, then "changing the insoles".)
I'm not too concerned right now, since I ride 99% on the street, but maybe I will check my sag and see if it's too much with the existing springs.
Anyone here change the R6 springs? Heck, since I bought the forks on eBay, they may have been changed, but I doubt it based on the grossness of the fork oil that I removed.
Nice job James. maybe now we can go for a ride. By the way, the guy I got my forks from was a racer and he told me that for my weight, try 4 lines showing for the preload, and 2 clicks back from the bottom for rebound and comp damping. Feels great to me. I weigh 175, so use that as a start and go from there. Also, how did you determine the 10mm setting for the fork height above the triples? I set mine as 3.5 mm above. Are you losing any high speed stability, headshake problems??
I think the 10mm came from me posting thats what I used a long while ago... I don't have an explanation for it, it just seemed like a nice number and I wanted a bit more of an aggressive seating position.
__________________
R6 Forks, Calipers, Master Cylinder / Galfer SS Front Lines / Two Brothers M2 VALE Polished Aluminum Exhaust / Yamaha Chin Fairing / PUIG Race Windscreen / TCP Aerodynamics Painted Hugger & Chain Guard / FAZR6 FE / FS6 Frame Sliders / Watsen Design LED R1 Flushmount Signals / Garmin StreetPilot 2610 + RAM Mount / Corbin Saddle
"There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who know binary, and those who don't."
Use frame sliders. One never knows when a cripple is about.
I have about 75 miles on the bike with the mods now and I really can feel the difference. I don't know if it's the slight geometry change of the different length forks, or them being 10mm above the top triple clamp, but the bike feels awesome. It seems to change direction much easier than it used to, feeling more like a sports bike.
I still haven't fooled with the suspension settings, even though I looked it up in the R6 manual, but the front shocks feel a lot better than the FZ6 shocks. It's noticable when going over rough stuff (especially in turns) and when braking on rougher surfaces. I haven't really gotten on the brakes hard, but they feel crisp and they modulate well.
I told one of my trackday racer friend about my mod and he was yelling that I should have changed the springs. Here's his quote:
I thought his analogy was lame.... (I would have used "changing my shoelaces" first, then "changing the insoles".)
I'm not too concerned right now, since I ride 99% on the street, but maybe I will check my sag and see if it's too much with the existing springs.
Anyone here change the R6 springs? Heck, since I bought the forks on eBay, they may have been changed, but I doubt it based on the grossness of the fork oil that I removed.
Your friend is right in that it is best to have the proper springs for your weight, however, if you can get your sag in range with what you have by cranking in some preload and you don't want to spend the money right now to upgrade the springs you are still way better off than ever before.
To say that because you don't have the perfect springs means you shouldn't bother messing with damping is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Damping will help compensate for a lot of things, including a sag that is a little too much in situations where it is critical like braking. Whether a bike is sprung right or not it still needs proper damping to let the suspension work well. Tell your friend to keep his shitty advice to himself if that's the best he can come up with in helping you figure things out. He's telling you that if you don't have the perfect springs for your weight then you shouldn't bother improving what you have with what you have. I'm sure he's just trying to emphasize the importance of having EVERYTHING done right, and springs are a very important part. But PLEASE!!! He must think you are trying to go race Mladin.
Linear Mode
