R6 rear shock on the FZS600

[kebab19]

Haven't been around the site for a while but good to see others slowly embracing 21st century rear suspension 

'Dcurzon' - PM me if you still require the spacer for the 6 inch spring

[dcurzon]

getting there...
Shock - sitting in my garage.
Spring Spacer - on my desk.
Dog Bones - on my desk.
Spring - 725lb's ordered and waiting on it.
Whats left?  Drill the upper mount and get some 5mm spacers - nope! 
I'm attacking in a slightly different direction.  I'm going to sleeve down the M12 holes to match the shocks M10 fitting.  Advantage - I could refit the OE shock and still have a good, undrilled R6 shock.  Oh, and this should be easier than trying to fiddle about with spacers.  So the M12 bolt will be going and an M10 bolt fitted in its place.

[Fuzzy]

Nice one, I like that idea. Let us know how you get on and your initial impression of the new shock (and perhaps what settings you have if you have time) once you have it on, I would be interested.

Have you made any improvements for the front end yet?

[dcurzon]

nope. its my daily city commuter so when i do things, i have to plan in such a way that it'll be off the road for as little time as possible.  The shock is going in for its 50,000 mile birthday.  I always have a 52l box on the back with weight in, so i'm not expecting to transform the handling into an R6, just improve it a bit.  When the shock goes in, i'll be removing the swingarm and linkages for a deep clean and grease up.  i was thinking of getting some powder coating done, but to be honest its pointless, so a good scrub will be the better and cheaper option.
The R6 shock that i have barely has any mileage on it at all - the bike was briefly ridden before being race prepped.

Front end needs a good strip down at some point, i'll probably go as far as painting the lowers and putting 15wt oil in (i had sponsorsip from Silkolene and then Castrol, pretty sure i have a selection of unused fork oils laying about somewhere), doubt i'll do anything too dramatic though.  Think i read on here about some cheap emulators, i'll look more into that after the shock's done, which i doubt i'll get finished until late february.

[Fuzzy]

Yes, I use my bike in the same way so I know it can be awkward to find a good time to get major work done - especially if you have to work outside and need decent weather!

I have a Wingrack (heavy thing) & 52L topbox like you and it's an improvement believe me. Taken panniers and pillion ontop of that and it was still miles better than before so you won't regret it. Not too awkward to adjust the preload either.

If you can find the time to do the cartridge emu mod, do it! It's fantastic and the fact that it's so cheap to do is a bonus. Best results are with springs matched to your weight though.

Ontop of the above, I've dropped the yokes by 3mm and it's perfect for me, don't think I can do much to improve the bike now (apart from cleaning off all the winter crap)

[dcurzon]

Made in steel, should do the trick quite nicely... Anyone know what length the upper mount bolt is?  I'm guessing 65mm, so i just need to pick up an M10x65 and i'm ready to go...
oh, not quite... spring should be with me on monday, would a set of these do the trick, or am i likely to lose an eye/rib/hand?
http://www.screwfix.com/p/coil-spring-co...tid=195528

[kebab19]

Nice spacers 

I think those spring compressors are for cars (?) and a few people (such as some coil spring compressor vendors on ebay) have claimed they are too big & therefore of limited use.

e.g. Ebay item # 201019989805 "If you have ever tried to use car spring compressors on a bike spring you will know how easy it is to do irrepareable damage to the shock unit with oversize compressors"

My own compressors are the same design as that fella & they worked well in conjunction with a half-decent vice & a 2 foot breaker bar to turn them

[dcurzon]

Got the spring fitted. Taking a long time as I'm suffering injury!

The Faulkner isn't a great fit, but should be ok

[dcurzon]

Done. Whilst the missus was at the park with the kid. Took the swingarm off for a good clean and grease up whilst I was at it.

I was nearly stumped as I needed an m10 x 75 bolt for the upper fixing, but found an m10 x 80 in wickes which fitted. I'll probably hunt down a high tensile bolt for that at some point.

Top hat spacers (cad design further up this page) did the job nicely.  They had been turned slightly out of spec so had to take about quarter mm off each side to get the shock in. Can't grumble as they were knocked up for a pint!

[dcurzon]

Pic of test fit with the swingarm off
All fitted

My photos not so great though

I can't get the c spanner onto the pre load, so resorted to old fashioned long chunky screwdriver and rubber mallet.

[Fuzzy]

Lookin good, glad it fitted with no dramas, I like the top mount spacer idea. Let us know how you get on with the shock on the road and what settings you are using if you have them to hand, would be interesting.

[dcurzon]

Can barely walk at the moment never mind ride... Prolapsed disk in the spine.  Still, it looks pretty

I set all the rebound, hi/lo speed compression before fitting but damned if I can remember what I set them to... Somewhere around middle

[Fuzzy]

Sorry to hear that, I wondered about your injury but didn't think it'd be as serious as that. Wish you a swift a recovery as possible. On the upside, it's a opportunity to fettle your bike so you have more to look forward to once you're back in the saddle 

[dcurzon]

I was concerned that my plan to remove the swingarm for a good scrub and regrease whilst i was at it might be a bit too ambitious for the back, but I was surprised and marginally alarmed that the nut came undone fairly easily.

I can ride.  But as the injury affects the left side of my body, I cant absolutely guarantee that when I come to a halt, i'll be able to put my foot down and support the bike.  I'm sure 9 times out of 10 it'll be fine, its that 1 time that bothers me.  sometimes when I'm walking the left leg decides its having none of it... always a laugh that one!

Am off work this week   maybe i'll take her out tomorrow

[Fuzzy]

Yeah, take it easy but let us know how you get on. Reminds me of when I had to ride my bike with a broken collar bone, turning right was ok.... turning left wasn't.... journey took longer than usual  :lol

[wezdavo]

Pic of test fit with the swingarm off
All fitted

My photos not so great though

I can't get the c spanner onto the pre load, so resorted to old fashioned long chunky screwdriver and rubber mallet.

If you take out the upper peg hanger bolt and crack off the lower bolt you can push it to one side making the preload adjustment a doddle with the c-spanner...

[Fuzzy]

Yes, as above - or you could try from the offside of the bike instead.

[dcurzon]

I could get the c spanner in, I just couldn't get it hooked up... I'll just knock it around, once it set it don't need to move no more

[dcurzon]

Faulkner 725lb
Dog Bones were 127.5mm (I think)

I'm roughly 85kg geared, plus I usually carry a load

Preload position 3
Rebound 13 out
Low Speed 13 out
High Speed 2 out

Took it for a ride today, only a 25 minute ride.  It immediately felt much better.  I didn't give it the beans, because the tyres are still fresh (I laid the bike up 50 miles into a new set).  Also because I'm not confident that the bolt I used for the top mount is really up to the job, it was a normal Wickes M10x80, not high tensile.  I'm going to replace it with a high tensile or Ti bolt for peace of mind. We did hit speed limit +/- 10% on some country roads though.

More importantly, I was able to assess my own ability to safely ride.  It was hard getting on the bike, it was hard getting off the bike, and in all honesty, it was hard transferring my weight around to properly ride.  So I think I need to wait a little longer.

On the plus side, the bike started first click of the button after a month laid up

Next job - adjust the clutch cable at the engine end.

[Robbus]

Just a quick note to say mine's fitted and has a few hundred miles on it now. Currently running default settings from Jeff:


"Setting the high/low compression damping at 4 turns out from full hard on the yellow high speed adjusting nut, and 16 clicks out from full hard on the low speed compression blue screw worked well for me, and my weight. Rebound damping i have set at 16 clicks out from full hard, and that worked well, also.


Preload is set midway, I haven't properly measured sag yet but I've not bottomed out yet so it can't be far wrong. Running a 675lb spring, I'm a couple of pounds over 14st when fuller clobbered up.


Impressions are it's a very worthwhile upgrade, even though I spend 75% of my time on motorways the old shock was still bouncing around in a rather undamped fashion, things are nice and smooth now. I've also got EMUs fitted to the forks and I was wondering if they actually worked but it turns out the old shock was so bad it was masking the front. With the new shock I can actually feel the front working properly which is a bit of a relief.


Cheers,
Rob