OMG here he goes again I hear you cry  :rollin

Fork springs, we all know FZS600s have a mushy front-end. Indeed, the springs seem to be set up for an eight stone rider, and anyone heavier can bottom them out under moderate to heavy braking. This offsets the advantage of those monster blue-spot calipers more than a little.
But why this setup on this bike? The forks contain dual-rate progressive springs to give the one-spring-suits-all-riders and helps with budgetary constraints of Japanese motorcycle suspension. The solution to this cost-cutting exercise is usually expensive for us; people order replacement springs from aftermarket manufacturers to compensate, from £60-120 (just look at Hyperpro's bargain kit prices on ebay).

But there is a cheaper way, as reducing the length of the fork spring makes it stiffer. Cheaper as in £0 (although you will have to replace or lengthen the hollow metal spacers inside the forks, say £10 for replacements).  If you're big-boned, cutting coils away means the spring can be set up much more closely to your weight and such adjustment allows jumping from the standard 0.7kg/mm rate up to 0.95kg/mm, therefore covering most riders weights.

There is a calculation that can be performed to estimate how many coils should be removed. Normally it's easy to work out for a linear spring, progressive springs are harder but hey, there's bound to be some braniacs out there who can provide the solution for our springs?

Calculation below:
http://www.strappe.com/spring_rate.html

And here's the application of it, admittedly on an SV650:
http://www.strappe.com/suspension.html#rate

Admittedly the mod requires longer fork spacers, an angle grinder, blowtorch and bravery. Chopping off the tightly-would coils reduces comfort, whereas attacking the other end has a stronger effect on the overall spring-rate. I guess it depends how you want the bike to feel (I've removed the comfort coils, although admittedly I have VFR750 springs inside my forks).

Discuss.  :lol 


EDIT: For anyone who thinks shortening fork springs doesn't make them stiffer, the following link addresses such concerns:
http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/889824-...k-springs/

Righty ho chaps ....

Following my indecision a couple of months ago re flogging my Harley and FZ6 S2 for a newer, shinier model with a bit of oomph, I took out a Fazer 8 quickly followed by an FZ1S. Despite the Fazer 8 being perfectly adequate and actually far more comfortable at Motorway ++ speeds, I was suckered into the FZ1s shiny blackness, downright muscle and the noise from the Akroprovic carbon can.

So I bought it ........

HOWEVER,  the bikes a 2012 and cosmetically perfect but it's been on Yamahas books for the past year as their 'demonstrator', only done just shy of 900 miles but the rear tyre is down to its last mm of useable tread with obvious signs of abuse, backed up by the chamfered hero blobs. They've given it a service (Wigan Yamaha), but it's not happy with hot restarts, I'm having to roll on the throttle whilst pressing the starter although once running it holds idle.

Now realising that abuse during the running in period ain't exactly the best idea, is this a consequence of the Akpvc can, a symptom of future trouble (balance of Yam warranty with the bike), or is there a simple fix the dealer should be addressing.

Oh and it looks like someones had it away with the toolkit .........  :\

HI every one this is my first posting so for give me if the question has been asked
I have a 2001 fzs 1000 fazor ,just brought a 45mm lowering kit ,does this mean i need to
lower the forks as well ?and if so how much ? And will this affect the handling and performance of the bike
any feed back would be good

Oh well it is a old bike so it's not bad considering.


Failed on lights, they're apparently a foreign unit pointing the wrong way :\ , so does that suggest my bikes been crashed in its history & had a new headlight unit stuck in bought off ebay & ending up being a foreign one???, never failed on it before but anyway the tester says he can get round it on re test by sticking some tape on to deflect the beam properly.


Also failed on 2 bushes in the swing arm where the dog bones bolt in to-not sure how expensive they are to replace or how many there are in total but i'd like to replace them all if not too costly.


Trouble is ive searched an old post here & the consensus was that this play was common & replacing all the bushes makes no difference, her's the link [font=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php?topic=336.0[/font]
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI][/size][/font]
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI][/size]Anyone got anyideas on this as it wasnt just an advisory, straight fail![/font]
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI][/size][/font]
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI][/size]Cheers[/font]
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI][/size][/font]
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI][/size]Fras[/font]

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder. Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests itself: I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice letters on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table,  Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, then notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first... But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only one cheque left. My extra cheques are
in my desk in the study, So I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Pepsi I'd been
drinking. I'm going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm, so I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, A vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.
I put the Pepsi on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote on the kitchen table. I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water on the flowers, but spill some on the floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: The car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter, the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys. Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,  I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired.

I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....

Do me a favour. forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who I've sent it to.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!

P.S. I don't remember who sent it to me, so if it was you, I'm sorry.

A.A.A.D.D. -
KNOW THE
SYMPTOMS!

Hi folks,would anyone like to swap me, my new black MRA flip screen for a touring,or zero gravity D/B screen ? ,mines is only 3 wks old, and has only been out on the road twice  .


Or Skidmarx or Powerbronze d/b screeens 

a few days ago I had a Civic Type R pull alongside while I was on the 98 - 600. We both pulled away rapidly and he was obviously up for a blast. We pulled onto the slip road for the M27 and I gave my 600 the berries to show this cageist who was boss, unfortunately he managed to stay a few feet ahead right up to 125mph when traffic got in the way. I was very impressed as his car was not blingy but he certainly had so impressive power under there. My Bird would have annihilated it but it's the first time I have had a car like that out accelerate a bike.

well folks, on saturday evening i crashed !  :'(

was doing about 50 - 60 and lost control on a bend (maybe diesel ?), went through a hedge with a fence in it and ended up in a corn field.

looks like the bike is a write off, but still waiting to hear from the insurance company.

i was very, very, very lucky !

no broken bones at all.

the only thing i have is a very sore chest and a rather swollen right hand.

had yesterday off work to get to the doctors for some pills and advice, and get the insurance company boosted up, but back at work today on a "light duties" order from the doctors.

fortunately the boss is a biker too so he understands

ride safe all

Congrats to seangee and Looney Tune for jointly winning July's comp.

August's theme is "After Dark - no flash photography, but use of flash for fill or effect is ok".

Post your photographs below to enter. Competition rules include a maximum of 2 photographs per active member, photographs must have been taken by the entrant and relate to the theme and the competition will close on or after 28 August. The prize is to choose next month's theme.
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Hello,
Into bikes.. Have 5 of them, Yamaha Fazer 600, Kawasaki ZR7S, Suzuki GS550L , Gilera Coguar 125, Dirtmaster 200.