R6 Shock

[xunedeinx]

Debating on leaving the Fox racing shock on my 04 when i sell it. Then get a nice new R6 shock for the new 06.

The fox shock is nice and feels good, but is old and has been sitting for a few years. Its nice i can pick up a nearly new R6 shock on the cheaper side as well

What do you all think, buy a new R6 or keep using the old Fox Racing shock?

Keep and rebuild the fox racing.

Its unique.

[burning1]

It really depends on what kind of technology is in the Fox shock, but unless you're getting a really killer deal, I'd probably revert the bike and hang on to the fox part.

[burning1]

BTW... Is the fox shock remote or piggyback reservoir? I may be interested - I noticed that there may be some clearance issues between my RGV Swingarm and my R6 shock. I'm hoping an 09 shock rectifies it, but if the Fox Shock is remote res, it might be a good alternative.

[fraze11]

Burning - sorry to change topic but I wanted to ask you something about adjustment for this shock given your racing/riding experience along with having this shock in your bike.  Is there anyway to tell where the settings are already and where they should be without mucking things up?  I assume the settings will have to take into consideration my weight and riding style, but I just want to be sure this thing is set right or atleast to a "normal" setting.  As you can tell I know nothing about this stuff but am trying to learn.  This video was kind of handy and the bike in it is an 09, so its literally the exact same shock I have in my bike now;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIazK4gGziA

I just get confused with the blue screw, the gold nut, and then the flat screw on the bottom...my collar adjustment is the same as the bike in the video, its at 4.  Any advice greatly appreciated. 

[burning1]

I'm waiting for a train at the moment. When I get a chance, I'll check the settings on the shock from my race bike (06 model,) take a look at the new shock (09 model,) and see if I can give you some rough numbers.

Dave Moss, the man in that video, is the guy who setup the shock I had on my race bike. I honestly never learned to adjust the suspension myself, since he's at all my race events, priced well, and incredibly talented. I can provide some general recommendations, but it may be worth doing some further reading.

You can record your current settings by slowly turning each adjuster to the full closed position, and counting how many clicks or turns it takes to get there. Use that as a baseline.

[fraze11]

Thanks for getting back and thats very cool you have access to someone like the man in that video.  It may be worth it for me to find someone in my area who knows about this stuff and do some research.  I'll play around with it and see where its at anyway and then go from there.  I suspect a good afternoon for me will be testing out each setting on a remote road to see what feels right/best.

[fleshpiston]

Is there anyway to tell where the settings are already and where they should be without mucking things up?  I assume the settings will have to take into consideration my weight and riding style,

I just get confused with the blue screw, the gold nut, and then the flat screw on the bottom...my collar adjustment is the same as the bike in the video, its at 4.  Any advice greatly appreciated.

Ok, so I'm not burning1 but maybe this will help? 

The video explains exactly how to tell what your settings are, just max out the adjusters and record the turns/clicks. You can even print out that fancy form they mention at the end. Then return the adjusters the same amount of turns and that's your base setting.

Compression damping (the blue and gold guys up top) control how quickly/slowly the shock compresses when hitting a bump. Hi speed (gold) affects how it reacts to sudden, sharp edge bumps. Lo speed (blue) will adjust how it reacts to more gradual undulations in the road.

Rebound damping (the bottom screw) controls how quickly the shock extends or returns to it's normal position. If you hit a bump and the rear compresses then bounces back too suddenly, you have too much rebound damping.

Clockwise = harder

Counterclock = softer


As far as finding an empty road to test, I'd suggest your regular ol' ride. Take the bike out on the roads you normally ride. 3 or 4 rides should be enough to get an idea of what you like/don't


If it's too harsh over sharp bumps, take a couple clicks out of Hi speed adjuster, etc. Just remember to record the changes you make from your base setting (the ones you recorded on that fancy form you printed out  )

Go for more rides and see if things improved or got worse, adjust accordingly, record your adjustments...... fun stuff! 






.

[burning1]

FYI: When counting clicks, you should count from full tight, rather than full loose. There's often a lot of free play at the loose end of the adjuster, which results in an inaccurate count.

Sorry for the slow responses... In the middle of a major house project, and I've been doing a lot of 12+ hour days.

[fraze11]

Flesh and Burning, thanks very much!!  This is exactly what I was looking for ... with the info you provided above you filled in the missing gaps. 

In addition to Flesh's info above, I found this to be a fantastic read on suspension setup and tuning; http://www.sportrider.com/suspension_settings/suspension_setup/146_0402_suspension_setup_guide/index.html

And Burning..I hear you...we did a complete kitchen reno and addition last summer and it was hell, but its worth it in the end 

[steezin_and_wheezin]

Snatched a 2011 R6 shock with hardly any miles, big thanks to all that added info to this thread. Not a single question of mine went unanswered!!

(seller's photo)

[fraze11]

Nice grab Steezin, that puppy looks brand new!  Once you get it installed do yourself a favour and tune it ... you'll be suprised at what happens

Oh..and post some pics when you're done

[steezin_and_wheezin]

for sure! was shooting to get one for ~50 shipped, ended up going a little over that but just by a bit

was willing to pay a bit more since the condition was better than any others i had seen. trying to convince the seller to toss in the knuckle and collars, but we'll see. going to try my local yama dealer if i can't get it. $5 bucks for a new collar, But 9.99 shipping

[fraze11]

for sure! was shooting to get one for ~50 shipped, ended up going a little over that but just by a bit

was willing to pay a bit more since the condition was better than any others i had seen. trying to convince the seller to toss in the knuckle and collars, but we'll see. going to try my local yama dealer if i can't get it. $5 bucks for a new collar, But 9.99 shipping

Yeah, I paid a little more than what others had paid and for the same reasons as you, I wanted a newer one with low to no miles which I was lucky enough to get.  But I have to say, I think the word is out on these because I popped on ebay and you cant get one of these now for under $60 bucks + shipping, the average price was about 70 bucks.  I don't know if thats demand or inflation?  Too bad you don't have a Yamaha dealer local  (9 bucks shipping is robbery, these parts are SMALL) I just went to  local dealer here and got the bottom mounting parts over the counter (which I recommend) putting in brand new opposed to used and worn.  I'm actually excited for you...you have to post your opinions after your first ride! 

[steezin_and_wheezin]

saw that as well! not sure why but prices have definitely gone up a bit. maybe since its getting warmer and closer to riding season?

seller wouldn't part wit the sleeves or knuckle for cheap. so i'll be heading to a local yama dealer to get a brand new collar.

shock will be here this saturday, but i'm still not sure what gs i'll be keeping. so installation will have to wait a bit. i'll be sure to update after i get it on and put some miles on it

[steezin_and_wheezin]

just trying to keep all the r6 shock info together for future tuning..

This isn't *exactly* related to the front suspension...but I've been watching Dave Moss videos for about 2 weeks now and reading suspension information regulalry.  I had NO idea how critical this stuff really was.  I was always under the impression there was a "standard" setting, but even for street riding as Dave has said in his videos that there are critical differences to how a bike will handle based on rider weight and settings.  I just didn't realize it was THAT serious, and started getting a little freaked out since changing the rear shock, I was affraid by doing so I had made the bike unstable.  I have progressives up front so short of changing fork oil weight I'm limited there as far as adjustment goes.  With my R6 in the rear I've spent several days trying to get it right as well as setting my sag.  What seems to be feeling good for me at the moment is;

I have 27mm of sag (Dave recommends 28-35 as a starting point for street use) and my shock is set accordingly;

Low speed comp = 15 clicks
High speed comp = 2.5 turns out
Pre-load = setting 5 on the ramp
Rebound = 17 clicks

I'm 5'9 175lbs and the above seems to be ok.  I get an "even" rebound when I push the bike down from the seat and the bars so it seems to be level.  Interesting stuff...

[slipperymongoose]

As requested here is my video on my R6 install, I had to grind my swingarm but honestly its just a preference thing I rekkon you could get away with not doing it but its only a small nip tuck with the grinder so yeah. Hats off to codajastal for discovering the trick to installing the shock without moving the battery box out of the way that saved us a heap of time with all the trial fitting with the grinding and time on the movie showing the removal and installation of the battery box. I've yet gotta take it for a proper ride and test it out good n proper but thus far it does feel different from the stock shock so next few weeks will be fine tuning it all to suit my style and comfort.

http://youtu.be/a_0gnFaONfY

[ninjeff]

As requested here is my video on my R6 install, I had to grind my swingarm but honestly its just a preference thing I rekkon you could get away with not doing it but its only a small nip tuck with the grinder so yeah. Hats off to codajastal for discovering the trick to installing the shock without moving the battery box out of the way that saved us a heap of time with all the trial fitting with the grinding and time on the movie showing the removal and installation of the battery box. I've yet gotta take it for a proper ride and test it out good n proper but thus far it does feel different from the stock shock so next few weeks will be fine tuning it all to suit my style and comfort.

http://youtu.be/a_0gnFaONfY

A 100% fantastic how-to video. Very well done sir!

[slipperymongoose]

Cheers no worries.   

[slipperymongoose]

Ok here is a question for all the R6 shock enthusiasts, ive jumped onto racetech's site and calcualted that I need a 10.129 kg/mm spring for optimal street use etc..... The stock spring rate is 9.8 kg/mm. im stuck in the middle of the two springs, there is the stock spring at 9.8, then there is the next spring at 10.7kg/mm. So my question is, for my commute/weekend fanger would it be better to go softer with the stock spring or upgrade to the harder than reccomended spring? What are your thoughts?

[comradeiggy]

Use one of each (if you can buy them separately.)