Up rating front suspension

[Paul]

I currently have an FZS 600 (2001).
 
It's clocked 67,800 miles and I'd like to up-rate the front suspension.
 
I was speaking to a bloke yesterday who has fitted an R1 front end to his bike but needed to have yokes specially made.
 
The question is, does anyone know of a better set of forks/yokes that would fit the FZS 600 without needing major surgery to the yoke set-up?
 
Or does anyone know of way of improving the front suspension without resorting to changing forks and yokes etc?
 
 
 
 
 

[His Dudeness]

you could get progressive springs. check out the old site for info on modding

[Paul]

Thanks your Dudeness

[kebab19]

Exactly how much do you want to improve your forks?
I found my Goldvalve emulator fork mod was the best for the original forks but was also the most expensive @ about £250 in total. This is a very common mod for TRX850's and SV650's and the dimensions were also suitable for the FZS600's 41mm forks.

http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,71.0.html

At the cheaper end of the scale, Hagon's fork springs with 15w(?) heavier oil is a common mod, weighs in under a ton.
 
But rather than progressive springs I'd go with linear rated springs matched to your weight, along with slightly heavier fork oil. Mixing 10w and 15w together to give 12.5w oil probably ideal

[wraith600]

R1 forks are not ideal any way as thay are a lot shorter than the fazer and as the bike is lighter the spring rate will be wrong .  how far you want to go how much do you want to spend also remember upsidedown  fork set up is a lot lighter than stock and will up set the weight balance of the bike pushing it closer to the back so you would have to adjust your riding stile to suite  also any mod is pointless unless your going to keep the bike as you will lose money on it , unless ofcorse you have money to burn .

[wraith600]

one more thing if you keep the stock front end drop the yokes by 10mm this will help a lot

[Paul]

To Wraith 600
 
Unfortunately I don't have money to burn, only the Bank of England is afforded such luxury.
 
In any event why will dropping the forks through the yokes by 10mm help?
 

[kebab19]

Most fork swap options are out because of the unique FZS600 speedo pickup. 
Someone on here grafted on Thundercat front forks but most people make do with upgrading the standard forks, even if they are damper rod rubbish.
Heavier fork oil and heavier fork springs together are your cheapest option.

[markbubble]

what do you wish to improve on your front suspension?the cheapest way is an oil change/swap for different weight oil,a progressive spring set up or maybe a small spacer to stiffen it up a little is cheapo way of changing it slightly,a full swap for different forks is expensive and can meen lots of work and might not suit your riding or the bikes handling etc,a well maintened standard set up works very well on te bike and i find it a real nice ride for most of my riding type ie ride to work thru traffic on crappy roads to riding fast(ish)on nice smoot tarmac!   

[Paul]

Thanks to all those that replied, I reckon Kebab19's idea sounds quite interesting + fork oil thickness changes etc.
 
My mate has a lathe so cutting out the damper rod should be reasonably possible, trouble is I don't have two spare damper rods, other than those that are on the bike.

[kebab19]

You could change out the springs and oil, then do the cartridge-fork emulators at a later date when you have more money.

When I did my Goldvalve mod I got spare damper rods from someone who had bent fork legs. They do pop up on ebay cheap & go for buttons (how much demand is out there for bent forks?) and the damper rods are virtually always undamaged inside them.

'Daveph' bought my goldvalve emulator setup off me when I migrated to a Fazer1000 and AFAIK he still has them fitted; you could PM him to see what he thinks of them.

Fitment guide below for SV650 / Gladius, but probably uses the same emulators (for 41mm forks):
http://www.svrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141538

They make a huge amount of difference on the road and provide the only way to get both adjustable compression and rebound characteristics into the Fazer's forks.

Advantages of Emulators explained:
http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_9502_tech/

[thom_1991]

Linear springs to suit your weight. Set the sag and play with the oil quantity, weight and air gap to your hearts content.

[Lumpy]

R1 forks are not ideal any way as thay are a lot shorter than the fazer and as the bike is lighter the spring rate will be wrong .  how far you want to go how much do you want to spend also remember upsidedown  fork set up is a lot lighter than stock and will up set the weight balance of the bike pushing it closer to the back so you would have to adjust your riding stile to suite  also any mod is pointless unless your going to keep the bike as you will lose money on it , unless ofcorse you have money to burn .

USD lighter than RWU. Having a laugh?
 
Bike much lighter........ do us a favour.
 
Fazer 600- 1998.. Dry weight 189Kg
Fazer 600- 2001.. Dry weight 189Kg
 
R1 2001 Dry weight 188Kg.
R1 2004 172Kg
R1 2007 177Kg
 
  don'tch just love it.

[wraith600]

my bike 180 wet 
allways look at the wet not dry