Suggested R6 shock settings

[olosh]

Hi all. I have been fortunate in acquiring an R6 shock as pictured https://imgur.com/a/RU48T46 which I hope to be able to fit easily. Of course I will need to fine tune it, but can anyone suggest some start-point reference settings for the myriad adjusters ? I am 180lbs with a moderate riding style. Cheers !

[ShowBizWolf]

Hiya olosh!

When I had the shock on my bike last year, I downloaded the R6's owner's manual and read about what each setting did.

IIRC, I set them all to how it's set from the factory, with the exception of the preload which I think I had set on 2 (I weigh ~150lbs). I had no idea if I was setting it all up correctly though, and I don't ride aggressively... so I've since sold the shock and swapped on the much simpler SV650 one lol.

Have a look at this thread here I made a while back:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=69391.0
I wanted to have a sort of collection of what people did to set up their suspension and I think you'll find at least a bit of useful info in there

[user11235813]

Here's a link to the 2008 and later shock settings...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5chs870fn41c1o3/R6%202008%20shock.pdf?dl=0


Hey SBW do you know if there is some secret method to adjust the preload after it is on the GS, I'm not sure if I need a tool or even if there's enough room. Did you ever manage to adjust it after it was installed?

[ShowBizWolf]

I actually did adjust it after I installed it! I think I was able to use the stock GS adjuster tool... but I know I also was able to use a long heavy straight screwdriver and tap it with a hammer to get the collar to move.

[olosh]

Cheers everyone. Nearly finished fitting it. Fairly painless...just need to modify the airbox position by a few mm and readjust the chain now. On stand I reckon the rear is a fraction lower than stock, maybe 1cm. Spring is just touching the swingarm when on center stand, but will be ok with a riders weight. Had to remove the airbox and dogbones to fit it, but no major hassle. Ang guess what, now it is raining for the first time in a month so no test ride....boooooooo

[ShowBizWolf]

The airbox removal step still confuses me a bit with these shocks. Granted, when I originally installed the R6 onto my bike, the tank and airbox were already off for some other reason... can't remember it LOL...

...but when I was messing around with adding the shorter dogbones and then had to take the shock off to grind the swing arm, I was able to pull the shock out of the bike from the side, after removing the heel plate and chain guard (hugger, in my case)... and re-install it that way. Same as with a month or two ago when I removed it to swap in the SV shock. Certainly was a lot faster than having to remove the airbox and other bits.

olosh, are you absolutely positive you had to remove the airbox? I see from your OP and the pic that you've got the style which has the wider top on it... (mine had the more narrow top)... I'm guessing maybe that's why.

All this might seem overkill but the topic of these shocks comes up fairly often... and I've been asked a handful of times on the fb group various questions about this... so the more info I have, the better I can help

[user11235813]

Ok thanks SBW, I think I have a GS adjuster somewhere, but the screwdriver sounds good too.


Regarding the airbox. I was reading on one of the long posts that it's possible to get the 2008 and later models in through the side but after struggling for a while I thought why bother, I've had the tank and airbox off so many times now that I can literally do it in the dark in about 10 minutes, and it was easier to just do that and drop in down the top rather than spend more time faffing around sideways.

There's some good youtube videos that explain the R6 compression and rebound damping settings in detail.

This one explains what is what but not how they work. https://youtu.be/dIazK4gGziA

Some good stuff here https://youtu.be/Ikjw4IheeF4

Just checked out the toolbox and found the gs adjuster and some other gs tools that I've never used and was able to put them all together to get a huge lever which made adjusting it, no effort at all!

[olosh]

Yeah, taking off the air-box (and battery box too, forgot to mention that) just seemed the easiest way, especially as I removed all the surplus vacuum hoses etc recently anyway. My new shocker is the one with the 2 separate compression adjusters which does have a pretty big reservoir. Don't know how it compares with the other (newer ?) variant with the combined compression adjusters, but I didn't see any hope of getting this one in from underneath or the side. Also, removing air-box etc gave much better access to the top shock and dogbones bolts, and in the end I had to grind part of the 'seam' off the airbox anyway as the shock was pressing into it.