Some advice on a r6 red shock

[buzzawak]

Hi guys its been a while,

A little while back I did the r6 rear shock and that went smoothly. Only problem is I am getting too much rider sag and on a hard bump its bottoming out.
The shock is from a 2006 R6 with a red spring and I want to put in a stiffer one. The r6 workshop manual I have says the stock spring is 10.5 kg/mm the
Race tech web site say the stock spring is 9.8 kg/mm.

Is there anyway to confirm the actual rate of the spring I have ?

[yamaha_george]

Hi guys its been a while,

A little while back I did the r6 rear shock and that went smoothly. Only problem is I am getting too much rider sag and on a hard bump its bottoming out.
The shock is from a 2006 R6 with a red spring and I want to put in a stiffer one. The r6 workshop manual I have says the stock spring is 10.5 kg/mm the
Race tech web site say the stock spring is 9.8 kg/mm.

Is there anyway to confirm the actual rate of the spring I have ?

When you put in the R6 shock what adjustment did you do ?
I had the same set up at one point and at 195lbs+ and pre-load set at 50% and rebound<?> set at 50% & compress set at 50% it was OK but still a tad soft for my taste I eventually went with the GSXR 600 shock

[rotortech]

buzzawak,

I did the R6 rear shock but swapped my stock FZR spring on to the R6 shock. Works fine.

[kilika2]

buzzawak,

I did the R6 rear shock but swapped my stock FZR spring on to the R6 shock. Works fine.

Seconded.

Chris.

[buzzawak]

Hi guys its been a while,

A little while back I did the r6 rear shock and that went smoothly. Only problem is I am getting too much rider sag and on a hard bump its bottoming out.
The shock is from a 2006 R6 with a red spring and I want to put in a stiffer one. The r6 workshop manual I have says the stock spring is 10.5 kg/mm the
Race tech web site say the stock spring is 9.8 kg/mm.

Is there anyway to confirm the actual rate of the spring I have ?

When you put in the R6 shock what adjustment did you do ?
I had the same set up at one point and at 195lbs+ and pre-load set at 50% and rebound<?> set at 50% & compress set at 50% it was OK but still a tad soft for my taste I eventually went with the GSXR 600 shock

I have left all the setting as the factory default except the spring pre-load which is at its highest setting. I really want to get the sag right before trying to tune the rebound and compression damping. Its the case that the bike squatting too low when stationary with me on it. I am a fairly light guy at 165lb without gear.

[buzzawak]

buzzawak,

I did the R6 rear shock but swapped my stock FZR spring on to the R6 shock. Works fine.

Hi Rotortech & Chris,
I love this forum, cant beat a bunch of different brains finding a solution to a problem.
Excellent idea, I never considered that the original spring would fit the R6 shock. Definitely sound like
a simple and no cost way to go. How close are the dimensions of the two springs? Was it a neat fit ?

[kilika2]

buzzawak,

I did the R6 rear shock but swapped my stock FZR spring on to the R6 shock. Works fine.

Hi Rotortech & Chris,
I love this forum, cant beat a bunch of different brains finding a solution to a problem.
Excellent idea, I never considered that the original spring would fit the R6 shock. Definitely sound like
a simple and no cost way to go. How close are the dimensions of the two springs? Was it a neat fit ?

Buzz. I don't know the exact dimension of the 2 springs inner and outer. It fits in with absolutly no adjustment to be done at all. The springs that is. Depending on what year shock you have to modify the FZR knuckle. But that is moot since you have the shock installed. I can't search on my iPod here but in the or sale forum reelrazor has an ad for his shocks and tells all the dimensions and compression ratios and such if you need to know. Long story is it easy after you get the springs off the shocks.

Chris.

[yamaha_george]

I have left all the setting as the factory default except the spring pre-load which is at its highest setting. I really want to get the sag right before trying to tune the rebound and compression damping. Its the case that the bike squatting too low when stationary with me on it. I am a fairly light guy at 165lb without gear.

Hmm that is odd you are 30lb lighter so in theory it should feel quite hard for you. What happens if you back the pre-load right off.?

[buzzawak]

I have left all the setting as the factory default except the spring pre-load which is at its highest setting. I really want to get the sag right before trying to tune the rebound and compression damping. Its the case that the bike squatting too low when stationary with me on it. I am a fairly light guy at 165lb without gear.

Hmm that is odd you are 30lb lighter so in theory it should feel quite hard for you. What happens if you back the pre-load right off.?

George I have tried from zero preload all the way up.

[buzzawak]

A bit of an update.
Decided to try installing the original fzr400 spring in the r6 shock which was a fairly painless exercise thanks to a homemade spring compressor to fit into my garage press.
Well now I have the opposite problem no rider sag actually no static sag, I can get it to move about 5mm if drop my ass on the seat from a height.

This is kinda understandable seeing that the fzr400 spring is about 14mm longer than the r6 shock so its like having 182kg of preload on the spring.
My manual says the fzr400 spring is 13kg/mm compared to the r6 shock which is 10.5kg/mm.

I do recall the original shock and spring gave me the correct ride sag settings so I basically need a spring that is 13kg/mm but the same length of a r6 spring.

[yamaha_george]

A bit of an update.
Decided to try installing the original fzr400 spring in the r6 shock which was a fairly painless exercise thanks to a homemade spring compressor to fit into my garage press.
Well now I have the opposite problem no rider sag actually no static sag, I can get it to move about 5mm if drop my ass on the seat from a height.

This is kinda understandable seeing that the fzr400 spring is about 14mm longer than the r6 shock so its like having 182kg of preload on the spring.
My manual says the fzr400 spring is 13kg/mm compared to the r6 shock which is 10.5kg/mm.

I do recall the original shock and spring gave me the correct ride sag settings so I basically need a spring that is 13kg/mm but the same length of a r6 spring.

B,
Ok , let me make a suggestion there is a guy in Oz (victoria) I trust to give good answers and a phone call may be all it takes.
BUT suspension is his core Business so ...................
having said that i bought my PD valves (emulators in Yankspeak) from him fast delivery and Phone after sales on something I was not absolutely sure about was 1St class
Greg
+61 3 5981 0165
or
Mobile 0427532931
www.asr.com.au

Have a natter and see what he says
Y-G

[buzzawak]

Thanks yamaha_george will give him a call

[yamaha_george]

Thanks yamaha_george will give him a call

B,
any news / progress with ASR ?

[buzzawak]

Thanks yamaha_george will give him a call

B,
any news / progress with ASR ?

Hi George, I finally got around to giving Greg a call and he was most helpful on the phone.
He had a spring but I needed to send the shock to him because he would have to make up some spacers to fit the spring.
Problem is the bike is my daily commute plus I can't bear to be without it for more that a few day.

But I came up with my own solution.



I got rid of most of the R6 shock preload adjuster (just left the 5mm bit the spring sits on.
This left the R6 shock with the same extended length as the original shock.

Underneath the ring I made up some 2mm shims so I can adjust the ride sag.
I hardly change my preload once its been set and I never carry a pillion.
So all good now, I have 30mm rider sag and bike's rear feels excellent.