can someone show me a pic of a r6 shock that will work on a gs

[NorwayGT1]

I have noticed there are a few different models out there i did notice a few differences in them, so i wanted to know if you guys can show me the exact one that will work on my 05 gs

[Kms254]

Here is a picture of the 2009 r6 shock that I used in my 2004 gs500.

[burning1]

06-09 R6 shocks are known to work. R6S shocks will not. Check the bottom end of the shock to be sure; clevis means it'll work, eye-bolt means it will not work.

To install the shock properly, you're going to need the lower spacer, bolt, and nut from the R6. If you can find a good shock with a linkage, those parts will be included, otherwise you can order them from a yamaha dealer fairly inexpensively.

[NorwayGT1]

that is frikin sweet man! thank you guys so much!

[Phil B]

06-09 R6 shocks are known to work. ..

Excellent. wiki updated

PS: could you explicitly say if this is a tweak(cutting/welding/whathaveyou)free swap, or whether there is additional work involved?

[Kms254]

It required only simple hand tools. Bolt off old, bolt on new. I would suggest finding a shock with the linkage so you can use R6's  spacers. It might be a tad tight installing it but It will go in. I have not done any grinding and have not noticed any rubbing.

[shadow247]

Does this raise the ride height of the bike at all?  My wife rides this bike and I don't want to make it hard for her to flat foot it!

[NorwayGT1]

and to add to his question ^^^^^^^^^^^^

how much of a difference is there from stock to r6 as far as handling and etc??

[Phil B]

It required only simple hand tools. Bolt off old, bolt on new. I would suggest finding a shock with the linkage so you can use R6's  spacers. It might be a tad tight installing it but It will go in. I have not done any grinding and have not noticed any rubbing.

Now, according to your sig, you have only replaced your REAR shock. Which I find odd.. because I would think that the FRONT shock would be waaay more important, and that the rear would not do that much at all. or at least not without first replacing the front one.

[Adfalchius]

For more info on the R6 shock:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=51306.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=51739.0

NorwayGTI: To answer your question about the difference of the R6:

The R6 shock has a much stiffer spring than the stock shock (~30%) and is going to be much better suited to the weight of most riders. The internal damping design is also significantly better - the R6 is a piggyback type shock, where the stock GS is an emulsion type. The R6 shock is rebuildable, well known, and the shim stack can be easily modified. It's externally adjustable for high speed compression, low speed compression, rebound, and pre-load.

IMO, though... The front end is the biggest  weak point of our bikes. You really owe it to yourself to install some sonic springs and change the oil... It's a pretty straightforward job; not much more difficult than swapping a wheel. It's cheap too... The springs and oil can be had for $80-$90.

You also owe it to yourself to have that shock properly tuned - it'll provide a more comfortable rider, better grip, better handling, and it'll make your tires last longer. If you have a local suspension expert, please ride over to see them. Best money you're going to spend on your bike.

shadow247: If I remember correctly, this did raise the the bike seat height- couldn't tell you by how much.  I had to put lowering links on mine.

-K

[Kms254]

It required only simple hand tools. Bolt off old, bolt on new. I would suggest finding a shock with the linkage so you can use R6's  spacers. It might be a tad tight installing it but It will go in. I have not done any grinding and have not noticed any rubbing.

Now, according to your sig, you have only replaced your REAR shock. Which I find odd.. because I would think that the FRONT shock would be waaay more important, and that the rear would not do that much at all. or at least not without first replacing the front one.

I'm 6' 1" about 210lbs and I am not sure if my rear shock was bad or if I was just to heavy for the original shock. I could never get it to sit right with my weight on the bike with the original shock. . The OEM shock felt to soft and sagged a lot when I got on the bike and road around. I would prefer to feel more connected to the road and less bouncy(almost like all the dampening was gone). I happened to come across a good deal on eBay so I bought it. The front springs seem quite soft to me as well. They will be upgraded as well. Should I have done that first? Maybe, but a deal came up on the R6 so I went ahead a purchased the r6 shock and installed while I was working on running new fuel lines. I have planned on doing both the front and back springs so I figured order didn't matter. For my weight the R6 shock was a big improvement on the rear end of the bike.

I get my suspension tuning knowledge and "ideas of what feels right"  from riding full suspension mountain bikes, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I am new to motorcycles and motorcycle riding. So I am just transferring my likes and dislikes from off road cycling. Whether or not that is correct I guess I will find out as I gain more experience and learn from the wisdom of others.

[burning1]

At 210lbs, you're probably too heavy for the stock shock. You can try increasing preload to maximum, but it's probably best to upgrade. Fork upgrades will also greatly benefit you.

Check to see if the stock shock is leaking, if the chrome rod looks pitted or damaged. Push on the tail of the bike, and listen to hear if it sounds like the shock is sucking in air. Pay attention to how fast the shock compresses, and how it rebounds - if it feels like it shoots back like a spring, you have a failed shock. If it comes back in a somewhat controlled manor, the stock shock is probably okay. If it overshoots and bounces around a bit, definitely bad shock.

With all that said, you probably spent thousands of dollars for your bike. Suspension is the difference between your GS feeling like a $10000 sport bike and a piece of crap. $300-$500 in parts will make a night and day difference in how much you enjoy your bike.

[Kms254]

At 210lbs, you're probably too heavy for the stock shock. You can try increasing preload to maximum, but it's probably best to upgrade. Fork upgrades will also greatly benefit you.

Check to see if the stock shock is leaking, if the chrome rod looks pitted or damaged. Push on the tail of the bike, and listen to hear if it sounds like the shock is sucking in air. Pay attention to how fast the shock compresses, and how it rebounds - if it feels like it shoots back like a spring, you have a failed shock. If it comes back in a somewhat controlled manor, the stock shock is probably okay. If it overshoots and bounces around a bit, definitely bad shock.

With all that said, you probably spent thousands of dollars for your bike. Suspension is the difference between your GS feeling like a $10000 sport bike and a piece of crap. $300-$500 in parts will make a night and day difference in how much you enjoy your bike.

If you are referring to me I had the stock shock set at 7 for preload(which I believe is max). The shock was leaking and you can hear it and it just bounced and bounced forever. I've experienced  this on mountain bikes so I knew it was bad. That is why I replaced it. I just bought this bike pretty cheap and I'm working on going through and fixing all the things the PO never did or broke and redneck fixed(i.e. A dime silicone in the front brake master cylinder view window). I'm the one that posted pictures of the stock shock and the r6 shock side by side in post number 2 of this thread. Also the pictures of the R6 shock installed.

My front end is quite soft as well so that is on the list of things to fix and upgrade as well. A simple oil change would probably do wonders but I might as well go to stiffer springs and emulators. I'm just focusing on one thing at a time right now.

I really don't think the R6 shock raised the rear end of my bike up any. I didn't measure but I have not noticed anything. Since I am above average in height I can flat foot the bike either way with room to spare.

Kevin

[burning1]

Hi Kevin,

Yes, I was referring to you. Sorry for not paying attention. Springs up front are absolutely worthwhile upgrade; they will make a huge improvement in the feel of the bike.

Yes, as far as I know, the R6 shock won't affect the height of the rear end; other than perhaps the difference in preload caused by the increased stiffness of the spring. If I recall correctly, it was exactly the same length as stock when I measured it out.

[NorwayGT1]

well here is a brain teaser for you.. what about a haybusa shock???

they look almost identical to the r6 and has the exact same mounts as the gs..... at least they look the same lol

i know for a fact that would be a good shock to go with because the busa  weighs a whole lot more then the r6 so if your looking for stiffness then i believe that would be the best way to go. But thats just my opinion lol

[burning1]

We would need to know the overall length of the shock; a lot of shocks are just too long for the GS500, including newer GSX-R shocks. Lower clevis is a non issue, since pretty much every sport bike uses 17mm bearings. So long as the clevis isn't too narrow, it will bolt on. Not sure about the top eyebolt mount, however.

Just eyeballing it, I bet the busa shock is too long for the GS.

[NorwayGT1]

hmm idk.. i was trying to compare them as well by eye some look larger then the others on both the r6 and busa 

and on top of that some r6 bottom mounts are dif then latter model r6 shocks lol im gonna have to look into this and get back to yall when i got some more accurate measurements.

what about the front end... are the r6 compatible with the gs???

[burning1]

Front end swaps are usually done at the triple clamps or steering stem. In my case, Bob Brussard pressed the GS stem into a GSX-R lower clamp, and machined a spacer so that the upper clamp would bolt on to the whole assembly. The same could be done for pretty much any front end.

Way more trouble than it's worth on a street bike, though. You'll have to work out a new mount setup for the front light, new bars, and a new mounting arrangement for the gauge cluster. For street use, it makes more sense just to install springs and emulators in the stock front end.

[NorwayGT1]

yeah i though that would be a pain in the a$$, thanks for the answers though man

[burning1]

It's not a bad project for a race bike, or if you're planning to do a custom job anyway. Biggest hassle of a complete front end swap is completely re-working the headlight, controls, and instrument cluster. My race bike has no headlight. I had already replaced the factory bars with clip ons, and the factory cluster with a Starlane GPS lap timer.

The machine work requires a lathe and a shop press, which is within the realm of the amateur home machineist.  Bob Broussard did the machining for me - pressing the GS500 stem into the GSX-R lower and building the spacer.

Overall cost wasn't bad, actually similar to the cost of building up the stock front end. My race front end probably cost ~500... I had...

- Emulators ($130)
- Racetech Springs ($120)
- Brace, oil, etc. ($60)
- Clip-ons ($120)
- SV 650 calliper ($40)
- EBC Extreme Pro pads ($100)
- Stainless Steel Lines ($80)
- The stock forks themselves ($200, came with bike obviously, but recovered when I parted them out.)

A complete GSX-R front end can be had for $500-$600. I also added stainless steel lines. Brace isn't required, and the factory springs were .90, which was near perfect for me. Stock brakes were good, but I replaced the pads, which would have cost $180 if I didn't get a killer deal.

Total cost for the GSX-R setup was probably $400 after I sold the GS500 forks.