Originally posted by kebab19 on 20/09/2008


Short Q&A

Q: What's this?

A: This is a front fork modification for Yamaha's FZS600 98-03. It improves the feel of the front forks, particularly over bumpy roads but pretty much everywhere else too.

Q: Can't you just add Hagon springs & different oil?

A: Yes, and that works to an extent, but it does not alter the internal damping properties of the fork mechanism. Damper rod forks are by nature a compromise; bumps are transmitted to you in a fairly harsh fashion. Fazers (and almost certainly all other budget bikes) employ damper rod fork design, whereas the more expensive cartridge forks have an internal mechanism design considered much superior.

Q: So what have you done?

A: Taken Fazer forks and fitted Race Tech's Gold Valve emulators (and suitable linear springs) to make the fork comparable to a cartridge-damped fork. It will now be adjustable for high-speed and low speed compression in addition to rebound, unlike the standard setup.

Q: How much?

A: Depends how much you replace and what tools you have - £120 minimum, about £250 maximum. Breakdown as follows: £120 for the Gold Valves, around £80 for a pair of suitable linear springs. £10 or so for fork oil. £25+ for drill cutting stones, drill bits & a centre punch, angle grinder, jigsaw, big hammer……

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Cutting stones

Q: Is there a catch?

A: The modification is permanent - as surgery is required you can't go back to the standard set-up unless you replace the fork's damper rods. You can get round this (as I did) by getting hold of a spare set of damper rods. You can of course modify the ones that are currently inside your fork legs, but if you mess them up you're in a world of poo. Someone on the site may have a pair for sale (thanks BrummyMax!) or Ebay 'Fazer breaking' ad may have the parts (bent legs). If you do this, you can convert forks back to standard if necessary.
Also, although a considerable amount of adjustment becomes possible, it requires changing oil level / thickness & fishing the emulators out of the forks to change their settings: however, this really is a minor inconvenience compared to the end result.

Q: How did you come up with this?

A: One of my previous bikes was a Yamaha TRX 850, another great bike that also suffered from a poor damping-rod fork design. After selling it on, I had a spare set of forks in my garage (pitted stanchions). I'd remembered reading that there were RaceTech products to improve the TRX's forks and that reviews of their Gold Valve kits had been very positive. I noticed that the TRX forks looked very similar to the FZS forks (apart from length), were also 41mm in diameter and both bikes apparently weighed the same. A bit of Haynes research using exploded diagrams showed that the internal front fork design also looked very similar, so I thought 'What if...?'

HOW TO DO IT

Disclaimer - offered for information only, if you have NO mechanical prowess then DO NOT attempt this mod! Either that or get a pro to help out…..

There are other threads on this site regarding how to remove forks/ change fork oil etc so I will assume anyone intending to do this already knows their stuff.

Order the necessary parts - I ordered mine from PDQ. You'll need a set of Race Tech Gold Valve Emulators part number FEGV S4101 for the Yamaha TRX850 at £119.99
I also ordered an optional pair of Race Tech linear springs with spacer material at £79.99, but you may be able to get by with Hagon springs or other makes. Race Tech advise against progressive springs for technical reasons I wont go into here, but IMO any aftermarket springs are better than standard! Might also be useful to get for preload caps off 2000 onward bikes (or remove them off TRX850 forks as I did).

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Race Tech goodies

Acquire a spare set of front fork damping rods. As far as I know the rods from 98-03 remained unchanged so this mod should be applicable to them all. By the way, mine is a 1999 bike.

1. Bike up on front & rear paddock stands

2. Remove front wheel & brake callipers / lines off fork legs. Remove mudguard.

3. Loosen the fork leg top caps off very slightly (for easier removal later).

4. Loosen yoke pinch bolts & remove fork legs.

5. Loosen the 8mm allen bolt at the bottom of the fork legs. I added extra washers in under the fork top caps to increase preload; this stopped the damper rotating round with the allen bolt. Remove lower allen bolt & let the fork oil drain out (potentially messy).

6. If it still won’t come off, turn the fork upside down and use an impact driver to jolt the allen bolt loose. It helps to compress the suspension while doing this. If this doesn't work take the fork top cap off, drain oil, remove spacer & spring and then jam a broom handle in place to stop the damper rotating.
Anyway, what we want is the lower damping mechanism to separate from the bolt and for it to slide out.

7. Allow remaining fork oil to drain out of legs, usually takes an hour or two.

8. The damper rods have now to be altered. This is the important part!

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Standard Damper

Remove (and keep safe) the plastic piston ring it will be refitted upon reassembly. Grinding with it in place might damage it. The Gold Valve emulators are meant to sit on top of the damper rods, but unfortunately they don't fit modification time!

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The Problem!

9. You'll need to bore the top of the damper out by about 1mm and about 4mm deep using a drill & the cutting stones. Or for an easy life take it to an engineering company.
The emulator must sit tight & level on top of the damper rod, effectively blanking it off. Even though the fork spring will be compressing it down in place, I feel that if you're going to all this trouble, it's best to get it right!

Next we need to radically alter the existing damping setup. Leave the tiny rebound pinhole at the top of the rod untouched; the compression holes require surgery. You need to drill out the two existing compression holes at the bottom of the damper enlarging them to 8mm. In addition, you need to drill another four 8mm holes, making SIX in total. The intention is to kill off the old damping oil routes - the emulators will control oil flow instead. A Centre punch is great for starting the holes off - make sure holes are staggered and MORE THAN 10mm APART - less could cause the rod to fracture, and remember these rods bear the full weight of the bike, particularly under heavy braking. Make sure you leave the holes smooth inside & out (cutting stones again and circular file). Finally, ensure parts are totally clean with no fragments of metal anywhere.

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Modded Damper

The complete setup should now fit together and look like this
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Modded Damper & Gold Valve

10. Next, either make up or alter your existing metal spacers that sit on top of the springs. The emulators add about 12.5mm so either cut the spacers down to size by that amount or wind off your preload caps if there's enough adjustment. As I used TRX fork springs I had to make custom length spacers.

11. Reassembly time. Insert damper with small spring back in fork, add spring, spacer, washers & fork cap to create tension so you can reattach the 8mm allen bolt at the bottom of the fork leg. Tighten and use thread sealant, especially if you're not renewing the crush washer!

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Ready to Reassemble


12. Remove top cap, washers, spacer & spring again. Now we insert the Gold Valve - it needs to be nut side down, allen bolt side up.

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Gold Valve emulator in place


13. Once in place, pour about 250-300ml of your fork oil in. What weight to go for? Racetech mention ether 15W or 20W for the TRX forks. I'm about 73kgs so went with the lighter 15W oil. Now pump fork up & down (slowly, about 15 times) and enjoy the gurgling noises.

14. Now add remaining oil. How much in total? Well, I have again gone with data similar to the TRX. Their forks use 483ml per leg (early Fazer 475ml). The emulators displace volume, but exactly how much is unknown. Most TRX owners use about 440ml per leg, so just over 40ml less than standard. For the Fazer, I have started with 430ml - 45 less than standard. I realise that Fazer fork oil height is usually a critical setup factor, but the introduction of the emulators changes all this. Besides with no one else having tried this I had to start somewhere……

15. Add spring, spacer, washers and fork caps.

16. Reattach everything in reverse order - forks, mudguard, wheel etc etc and you're ready for action.

17. From now on, fork adjustment is done as follows.

17a. PRELOAD - Either change internal spacer length or adjust preload fork caps

17b. REBOUND - changing the thickness of the oil alters rebound characteristics. You could switch to 10W, 20W or mix oil for in-between settings. A bit tedious I know but eventually it will end up perfect for you!

17c. COMPRESSION - The emulators are set with a certain amount of preload (they are 2 full turns in, suitable for 'street use') - changing this preload will affect the amount of oil flow through them. In addition, oil height / level obviously still plays a part. Too little oil & the fork action will bottom out too easily. Too much oil & spring action will become very harsh especially near full compression. Experimentation is essential.
That's enough for now! Needless to say, I have started the long process of gathering precise data for my preferred settings, but they will only apply to my weight range (11.5 stone) and as everyone's weight and preference is different, there is no single miracle setting for everyone. I will update this thread when I have more info.

For anyone out there who feels their Fazer deserves quality front suspension, this is the best cure!
Oh, and finally thanks to Yamaha's TRX850, which has unwittingly provided a cure for the FZS600's fork damping.


Useful links
Race Tech's Gold Valves - Emulators explained
Gostar's suspension setup - Suspension setup

The Gatherings album, whilst a top idea, MAY be improved by allowing all users write privileges my fine fellow..

Hey up, just wondering if there was an easier way to insert photies into posts?
I really like the Yuku "click on the photie and go through your own gallery" option as it's nice and simple to do all in one.

Only way I can manage it here is to have two tabs open, one with the gallery and one with my post.
Is there any way we can adopt the Yuku method?

The square bracket thing is dead straight forward mind you, but only as long as you know the image id number.
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Photie embedding isn't that easy unless you know the id number, is it?

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Easy enough, but very time consuming...

What about this way?




Or this way??

<img src="http://www.foc-u.co.uk/smf/MGalleryItem.php?id=98" alt="" />

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Hiya all

I’ve been busy doing this so please have a look and tell me what you think especially you guys who've already fitted FCE's.

Now I'm an engineer, I ain't David Bailey nor do I write books, but this is about as much sense as you'll get out of me.

Step 1

Remove your front and rear seats and disconnect your battery, I haven't documented this cause I thought you'd figure that one out.

Step 2

Bodywork

Undo the screws as shown and slide the panel rearwards on both sides of the bike, put panels out of the way

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Remove 5 screws as shown , then lift off airbox shroud

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Remove the Allen pins from front off tank (1 each side) note the position of location taps

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Prop tank up with length of wood approx. 450 mm long

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Next look at the orange clip on the fuel hose; this needs to be slid forward to expose the 2 grey pads. If you go round the left side of bike you can disconnect the 2 electrical plugs, there is a tab on each 1 which needs squeezing then pulling downwards. also put some rag under the fuel connection as you will get a little bit when you unplug the coupling.

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This pic shows the orange clip in the forward position, now pinch the 2 grey pads together (1 each side) and wiggle the connector off the white plastic pipe under the tank

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Next the overflow pipe needs to come off. From the left side of the bike grip the wire clamp as shown with a pair of pliers and pull the rear hose off the "Y" piece then pull the same pipe through the black clip it passes through, replace the wire clamp on the pipe for safe keeping.

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Next remove the piece of wood propping the tank up and lay the tank back in place, go to the rear of the tank and remove the long Allen pin as shown, once removed lift the tank off and move out of the way so it doesn't get knocked.

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OK

Step 3

Airbox

Now you can see the air box, remove the 11 screws as shown, also unplug the sensor by squeezing the tab and pulling it off, remove the airbox top cover

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Lift out the air filter and undo the 6 Allen pins holding the inlet stacks, the screws don't actually come out of the stacks but you'll know when they're loose, once undone lift the stacks out

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Locate the metal clip on the hose/airbox and squeeze with a pair of pliers and pull pipe off airbox, keep the clip on the rubber pipe

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Next, at the front left side of the airbox there's another pipe which needs disconnecting the same way, mine shows 2 white plastic plugs this is how you disable the AIS to stop the popping and banging on deceleration, you put a plug in the pipe and a cap over the stub in the airbox where the pipe was fitted to.

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OK

Step 4

Fitting the FCE

Locate the IAP sensor, unplug it as shown and cut the 3 wires exactly 35 mm from the edge of the connector.

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Next you will need to put MALE crimp terminals onto the 3 wires that are coming out of the IAP plug as shown, remember to put the clear plastic sheath on before the crimp terminal.

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On the other ends of the wires you cut (still on bike loom) you will need to crimp on 3 female connectors NOTE remember to put the clear plastic sheath on first.

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As you can see the FCE comes with male and female connections already installed.

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Next get the IAP plug which you've already crimped the male terminals onto and plug the 3 wires into the 3 corresponding female connections on the FCE.

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Now plug the IAP connector back in place and get the 3 male connectors coming off the FCE and plug them into the 3 wires on the bikes loom which you've already crimped terminals onto, just remember to match the wire colours up.

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Now moving in front of the throttle bodies you will see 2 cable ties holding a rubber shield on , i cut these and pulled the shield to one side but you can do the following with out removing the tie wraps , just makes it easier with the shield moved.

Locate the ECU and disconnect the 2 plugs by pressing the tab down and pulling the plugs out ( they are different sizes so you can't get them mixed up) keep a note of which one is the left one (the big one).

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You will need to ease the looms with the plugs on out under the bit of frame bracing and down in between the throttle bodies it is a little bit tight but it can be done, don't snatch anything just ease them through the tight bit take your time and they will come out,
Once you've got them free locate the piece of loom which has got the large plug on and remove any insulation tape that is on it, it will be covered by a black sheath if you look all around this sheath you will notice a seam and you can open it out to reveal the wiring harness.
Once you've got the harness exposed you need to find a black wire with a yellow tracer on it (it's on the underside of the plug towards the right) once found you will need to cut this wire about 100 mm from the ECU plug and attach a female crimp connector on the ECU side and a male connector on the loom side.

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Next, get the long lead with 2 wires coming from the FCE and route it around the throttle bodies and into the loom where you peeled the black sheathing from, connect the male connector from the FCE into the female connector you fitted to the black/yellow wire and the female from the FCE connect to the male connector on the bikes loom.

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Now once you are happy the connections are all pushed in correctly and tight and that the clear sheaths are pushed over each other you can lay the wires back into the black sheathing and seal it back up and tape it up as it was before.
Now route the looms back where they were before down the side if the frame rail in the same order (which ever one was on top has to be again) plug the plugs back into the ECU, if you snipped the tie raps off on the rubber shielding replace them now.
Check all the push in fittings between the FCE and IAP connector, make sure they are all sound and solid and that the clear sheath is overlapping, if all is ok then job jobbed!

Step 5

Putting it all together again

Put the airbox bottom back on , first re connect the AIS hose at the front of the airbox, then sit the airbox onto the throttle bodies you will feel it sort of latch into place and then put the inlet stacks back on and tighten the 6 allen pins down, making sure the airbox stays in place.

Re-fit the airfilter and the hose at the front of the airbox, now put the airbox cover back on and re-fit the 11 screws along with the connector that plugs onto the top sensor.

Next, sit the tank back onto the bike and put the long allen pin through the hinge at the rear of the tank , once tightened lift the tank up and prop with whatever you used before.

Now re-connect the overflow hose, take the clip of the pipe and feed the pipe through the black clip on the tank, put the small clip back on the pipe grip the clip with a set of pliers and push the pipe back onto the "Y" pice and release the clip back into place ,

Plug the 2 connections back onto the tank , the green one goes nearest the left side of the bike, ( see pics above)

Next the fuel pipe push the connector back on as far as it'll go but don't force it , when it's in place slide the orange clip backwards to lock the connector in place.


Well that's it I'm sure you can figure out how to put the body work back on from the pics above

NOTE: when putting the fairing inner panels back on there a some little tabs that need to be pushed into location i.e at either side of the clocks you'll see a small tab on the inner panel and a small slit in the top fairing near the clocks, it's all quite obvious really.



Martin

Originally posted by pointer2null on 13/11/2006


First this is only a guide so if you break it, burn it, snap it or set fire you yourself, garage, bike or cat that's entirely your own fault.

There isn't much to this HOW TO; fitting grips is a straightforward process. The only tricky bits is the writing.

If you plan to route the cable under the fuel tank you will need to remove this first, or if its almost empty you can just undo the top bold and then hinge it up out of the way. Personally I prefer to get the tank out of the way.

CAUTION: petrol and air are explosive in the right conditions and petrol vapour is heavier than air so can collect. Don't smoke, no naked flames and work in a well ventilated area.

First take one bike:

[smg id=66[/img]


You will need to remove the bar ends and then the old grips. Depending on how they were fitted (glued on or just pushed on) this can be a bit tricky.

One method is to wedge a small screwdriver etc between the bar and the grip (you don't have to go in too far, just enough to lift the grip a little)

Now spray a bit of brake/carb cleaner up there...

give it a wiggle and hey presto...glue is dissolved and the grip slides straight off.


On the three bikes I've done the left hand grip was easy to just pull of but the right hand grip had to be cut off.

You will need a sharp Stanley knife or similar. Carefully cut along the old grip so that it can be split and pulled on the throttle sleeve. Go careful as you only want to cut the grip and not the plastic sleeve.

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But here's a top tip..

to save cutting your grips off....wedge a small screwdriver etc between the bar and the grip (you don't have to go in too far, just enough to lift the grip a little)

Now spray a bit of brake/carb cleaner up there...

give it a wiggle and hey presto...glue is dissolved and the grip slides straight off 


Now fit the new heated grips. You will notice that the internal diameter is different between the two grips. The smaller diameter is the left hand grip and the larger is the right hand.

When you come to fit them they may be quite tight if this is the case then rotate them as you push them on this will make things a bit easier.

The right hand throttle grip should be glued on. BEFORE you apply the glue fit the grip and work out what position it is going to go in. You have to get the grip on so that the wire that powers it does not foul the front break lever and the throttle action is not affected.

This is how we arranged the right hand grip:

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And on my bike:

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Some heated grips are of better design than others I personally think the oxford ones are a totally daft design. The cheap ones I had before were much better (the power wire came out the bottom of the grip. Sadly the build quality wasn't as good as the oxfords and they broke).

When you are happy with the positioning of the grip remove it. Clean the plastic throttle sleeve and the inside of the grip to remove and grease or muck. Using the super glue supplied refit the grip with glue.

READ THE MAKERS INSTRUCTIONS!

THE GRIPS MUST NOT INTERFERE WITH THE OPERATION OF THE FRONT BREAK OR CLUTCH.

The super glue sets very fast so you have to be quick hence fitting it first without glue so you can see where it has to go. On the last bike I did the grip was so tight fitting we didn't use the glue in the end as it would have set by the time we got the grip half on.

You have to make you own decision on this the last thing you want is for the grip to start sliding round on the throttle sleeve when you are driving!

When the two grips have been fitted refit the bar ends. You may need to trim a bit of rubber of the ends of the grips in order to do this. Be CAREFUL when you do this as if you cut through the heating wire in the grip is wont work anymore.

Using the cable ties supplied tie the power cables onto the throttle cables or clutch cable. Before you so this on the throttle side just hold the cable and make sure the throttle action is ok.

YOU MUST ALSO MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT THE THROTTLE GRIP MOVES FREELY AND SNAPS SHUT WHEN YOU RELEASE IT.
Both the bar ends and how the power cables are tied can affect this.

Next mount the controller unit on the handle bars. Exactly how and where you do this is up to you. I personally think this is another area where Oxford is badly designed the cables are too short and the mounting bracket is useless. On my bike I made extension cables for the two grips and mounted the controller on the fairing. On Neos bike we cannibalized the control box mounting from my old grips.


When you have mounted the controller connect the two power leads from the grips.

The next stage is the interesting bit connecting the power cable to the bikes electrics.

Remove the seat. Remove or lift the tank to gain access to the wiring under the tank.

You need to connect the power lead supplied to a switched feed. The lead will need to be fused most come with an inline fuse fitted but if yours doesn't you will need to get one rated at 5amps (check with the manufacturers instructions).

There are two places you can easily connect to the switched 12V on the Fazer. One is in the junction box located under the tank.


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If you wish to connect to the feed via the junction box you will need to locate the main 12V feed wire. On Neos bike this is a brown wire with a blue strip that fits into a red connector block. Check you manual or use a circuit tester. You will need to securely connect you 12V supply wire to this.


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The other option (my preference and the way we did it this time) is the fuse box next to the battery. The fuse box is easier as you also have good access to a decent earth point the negative battery terminal.

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To connect to the fuse box, first remove all the fuses and put them somewhere safe. Then unclip the fuse box from the classis and gently pull it up to gain access to the underside.

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You will see that there are several wires going into the box. On one side of the box there are only two wires and one of them is thicker than all the others it has several empty connections points next to it. On Neos bike this was the brown with a blue stripe that also runs through the junction box under the tank.

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You need to connect the supply wire (red) for the grips to this wire.

There are many different ways to do this. Don't go for the bare the wire and wrap it around with lots of botch tape. If this wire fails you loose all power to your bike (including the engine management unit) which wont be fun in the fast lane of the motorway. If this wire shorts to the frame lots of blue smoke will start to come out of the wiring. Blue smoke is very expensive and getting it put back into the wires will cost a lot of money. Not to mention you will loose power and the bike may even catch fire.

Use proper connectors, preferably crimps.

If you can get access to a soldering iron then the best method is describe below.

You will need to remove the bus bar that the large feed wire (The brown and blue one) connects to. This is fiddly but not hard.

If you look at the top of the fuse box down where the fuses plug in you can see down inside the plastic boxing you will see that the bus bar is held in place with 4 plastic clips. The bus bar with the feed wire has only 4 connectors on it the fifth connector is for the back up supply for the alarms.


[NEED A PICTURE OF THIS - ANY FOCCER WITH A GOOD CAM?]

Using a very small screw driver release these clips and remove the bus bar.

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Clean on of the bays and solder your feed wire to this.

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Refit the bus bar and fuse box and connect the negative power wire (black) to the negative battery terminal.

Route the power cable from wherever you connected it to the controller. I tend to follow the bikes main wiring loom since Yamaha chose to run all there wires that way so will I.

Plug the power wire into the control box.

Using the remaining cable ties secure any loose cables and connectors.

So now you should have connected the feed wire, fitted the grips and the control box.

Refit your fuel tank (remembering to switch on the fuel).

Test it. (Do not run the engine in a closed space.).

Hope this helps.

A big Ride thru Wootton Bassett to say thank you to the people there who honour the fallen.

Can you confirm that this screenshot PNG opens to full size for you before I proceed.

Ta

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