GStwin.com GS500 Message Forum

I ordered some RaceTech 0.85 kg/mm springs last fall to deal with the crazy-soggy front end.  I got them and put them on the shelf, hoping to do the install over the winter.  While I was wandering around the internet, I came upon these preload adjusting fork caps (http://www.ebay.com/itm/261622012461), so I ordered them.  Then, as usually happens with me, I realized that if I'm going to be in there replacing springs anyways, I should just get the RaceTech Cartridge Emulators.  So I ordered those too (and a valve shim tool).

I was really surprised how much longer and beefier the RaceTech springs were than stock.  I was also really surprised how teeny the emulators were given how much they cost. :icon_eek:

(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135340-c0aa2761-2s.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/131/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/_data/i/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135304-227353bf-2s.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/128/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135239-c5200131-2s.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/126/category/1)

Springs & Emulators (and other junk)
I put her up on the ghetto jackstand and tore out the forks and broke them down in preparation for the build out.  Just like with my carb rebuild, I couldn't help but be anal here.

(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135327-e6db70de-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/130/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135404-930c6d31-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/133/category/1)

One of the first steps is drilling out the compression damping holes.  When I picked up the damping rod and started looking at it, the holes didn't look factory - apparently they're ~1/8" stock? - so I grabbed a 1/4" drill bit; lo and behold:

(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135414-030dd20b-sm.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/134/category/1)

Note that I haven't drilled anything yet - that's how they were when I bought the bike - so basically, this bike has had ZERO compression damping since I bought it.  Thanks a ton, Douchebag Previous Owner! :2guns:  ...Does make me wonder if this had emulators at some point though.  Hmm...

Anyways, I decided I was just going to leave the existing ~9/32" (~7mm) holes and drill two new ~7mm holes.  Without a drill press, because that's how I roll.  So I drilled teeny-weeny holes, then bigger holes, then my ~7mm holes.  Then I deburred them with a something-bigger-drill-bit a bit.
   
(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135438-562c1a7a-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/136/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135452-8001c1f3-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/137/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135503-2f5b92e1-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/138/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135541-9af79d2f-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/141/category/1)

Turned out just fine, thanks.  Definitely would have been easier with a drill press, but ... meh.

Once the damping rods were drilled and cleaned, I reassembled the forks and got read to refill them.  I built the most fabulous fork oil level tool out of some vice grips, a syringe, some aquarium tube and some brass fuel line.  It was both ridiculous and perfect.  :D

I also had bought reload's fork brace, so I installed that too.  It's ridiculously beefy.  Very impressed.
   
(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135604-da5f021f-2s.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/143/category/1)  (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135706-c0e14b92-2s.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/149/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135626-82e3053d-2s.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/145/category/1)

I installed the preload caps and set the sag (details below).  I also replaced the bars with Bikemaster Clubmans and added Bikemaster risers like a week before; without those, the adjustable caps would not have fit.  I'm actually quite impressed with the adjustable preload caps.  The only issue was that the cotter pin that holds the plate is too big to properly fit inside the RaceTech High Performance Spring Spacer (aka sched 40 PVC pipe), but this was easily solved by cutting off some of the pointy end of the cotter pin, and bending up the round end.  Forgot to take a pic of that part.  Sorry.

(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135635-a9e06887-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/146/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135645-0c186e93-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/147/category/1)

R6 Rear Swap
I am a bad person and forgot to take many pictures of this.  Oops.

It's my shock in a box:

(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135718-049ba405-sm.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/150/category/1)

I watched slipperymongoose's video - and was prepared to do all that - but I also saw mention of someone who had done the swap without removing the cushion lever and dog bones, so I was hoping I could pull that off since mine are so goddamn greasy.  I will need to eventually tear it down and repack the bearings though...  But not that day, thanks.

I put the bike back up on the ghetto jackstand and removed the rear tire so I could get the swingarm to droop as much as possible - I was originally going to replace the chain and sprockets too, but I discovered someone had already done a 15-tooth swap, and my replacement was a 16-tooth, and the sprockets and chain actually aren't in bad shape, so I decided to wait on that one.  I unbolted the stock shock top and bottom and it came out the bottom just fine.

(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135805-a45d48fc-sm.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/154/category/1) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135743-1233c671-sm.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/152/category/1)

The new shock had to slip in from the top - I'd already removed the tank and airbox, as the tank needed new bushings anyways - and once I had enough droop in the swingarm, it went in fine.

(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135856-e700bdff-sm.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/158/category/1)

The swap was actually quite easy; most of the time was spent dis- and re-assembling the bike.

Since I didn't take enough shock pics, here's one of the tank mount bushings I swapped out - the top is what I had, which was half a bushing with no sleeve - and the bottom is OEM.  The tank used to rattle so bad I thought it was going to fall off, or my balls were going to disintegrate; after the new bushings, it's dead quiet.

(http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/i.php?/upload/2015/01/11/20150111135848-6ad0ea58-xs.jpg) (http://snapshots.floatinglomas.ca/picture.php?/157/category/1)

Settings
I've been reading/watching a bunch of Dave Moss stuff, so I thought I'd try bouncing her to see how the damping responds.  Keep in mind that I'm not very good at this bouncing thing - I almost dropped the bike at least once on camera :flipoff: - and this is very cold oil, but I think it looks like the damping is reasonable and well balanced front to rear.



That said, I might try a heavier fork oil; since the front rebound looks about right (I think) with cold oil, it's probably too fast with warm oil.  I'll know better the more I ride her, I guess.

Fork Oil
I used 15 weight Bel Ray fork oil.  RaceTech's website says to use 15 weight.  And I got a gift card for a local shop and they sell Bel Ray fork oil.  So I used 15 weight Bel Ray fork oil.

As I mentioned above, it might be a little light, and I may end up bumping up to 20 for the next fork oil change.  Because I'm a follower, I set the level at 110mm as recommended by RaceTech's website.

RaceTech Emulators
I set them up with the yellow (64 lb/in) spring set to 4 turns in, and with the original two low-speed holes.  RaceTech considers 4 turns to be a 'race setting or for heavier riders;' I'm 215 lbs right now so my fat ass needs it.  If I up the oil weight I suspect I'll have to back it down a bit, but we'll see.

Fork Preload Adjusters
On the advice of a good buddy, I set sag at 40mm with the adjusters backed out all the way, and then cranked in ~5 mm.  Final sag measurement (without gear ... because I'm lazy) was 35.2 mm, with about 10mm worth of available preload remaining.

Free sag was 23.3mm, by the way.  A bit high, but not bad; that said, if I drop sag to 25-30mm the free should end up at 13 to 18mm, which is about perfect, so I think it's fine.

R6 Rear Shock
burning1 kindly sent me the settings he used on his race bike's R6 shock:

• 16 clicks of rebound from full clockwise
• 19 clicks of low speed compression from full clockwise
• 3 turns high speed compression from full clockwise
• Preload at position 4

I set mine at those as a starting point.  They happen to match Yamaha's 'Standard' settings exactly except for the low speed compression (16 clicks 'Standard'), and again, my fat ass needed more preload - I'm at 6 (of 9) to get my (lazy/non-geared) 34.7mm of rider sag.  Free sag is 14.8mm, which is also a tad high, but will also be pretty much dead on if I drop sag to 25-30mm.  These settings seem to be good so far, but I haven't had enough seat time to be sure yet.

Results
She is a totally different bike - not surprising given the damping rod problems - and I had an amazing ride earlier this week.  Instead of wiggling & complaining through the corners, trying to eject me every time I rolled off the throttle and bottoming out every time I looked at the brake lever, she just ... went.  Firm on the brakes - I can actually stop now! - and planted in the corners, comfy on the throttle, and running over bumps in the road now actually feels like running over a bump in the road instead of gliding across a fluffy pillow (which is a good thing). 

I can't wait for summer.  :icon_mrgreen:

@the video.

is that bondo I see on the bottom of your gastank?!  :icon_mrgreen:

Quote from: J_Walker on January 25, 2015, 12:54:20 AM
@the video.

is that bondo I see on the bottom of your gastank?!  :icon_mrgreen:

Why, yes.  Yes it is.

I had a pinhole leak in the seam that lifted off a bunch of paint.

Plus it looks cool, obviously.

Quote from: floatingLomas on January 25, 2015, 10:00:08 AM

Quote from: J_Walker on January 25, 2015, 12:54:20 AM
@the video.

is that bondo I see on the bottom of your gastank?!  :icon_mrgreen:

Why, yes.  Yes it is.

I had a pinhole leak in the seam that lifted off a bunch of paint.

its okay, I do the same on flaking paint chips on frames and such... until I can get around to masking the area's off and painting them.

Plus it looks cool, obviously.

The 15w fork oil should be fine. I prefer 120mm for the oil level, but the difference is very small, not worth bothering with.

Quote from: RichDesmond on January 26, 2015, 05:47:29 PM
The 15w fork oil should be fine. I prefer 120mm for the oil level, but the difference is very small, not worth bothering with.

What difference is there between 110 and 120mm?

The ziptie told me that I only used up half the fork travel (60mm) in my last ride, but I believe that's because I need to back out the emulators a turn or so.  It's also kinda harsh on the bumps.

This post has caused me to again wrack my brain as to why I can't get enough droop on the rear to get the R6 shock in...because I'm being a baby about the idea of having to realign the rear wheel adjusters.

Then it occurred to me removing the chain should allow the slack without removing the wheel (the master link isn't riveted). And here I was all ready to sell the R6 shock.

And now the 3 million dollar question: you're not having any clearance issues with the Yam shock?

Quote from: cWj on January 27, 2015, 02:38:03 AM
This post has caused me to again wrack my brain as to why I can't get enough droop on the rear to get the R6 shock in...because I'm being a baby about the idea of having to realign the rear wheel adjusters.

Ya, that might work.  Good idea. :).  If you disconnect the chain, you could just pull the axle bolt and not have to touch the adjusters anyways, so if you go chain first, you could pull it all and put it back exactly where it is now.

Quote from: cWj on January 27, 2015, 02:38:03 AM
And now the 3 million dollar question: you're not having any clearance issues with the Yam shock?

Not that I could tell - didn't check very thoroughly though. :P. When I pull the cushion lever to repack the bearings I'll have a look.

Ok, so I got scared and checked. :P  I couldn't get a good photo, but there's a mm or two of space between the coil and the swing arm.  It seems based on what I've read that each bike is different though.

I did the racetec front spring/r6 rear shock thing to my wife's gs500,new bike.... its actually fun to ride now :thumb:

Thanks for all the info!! I plan on doing these mods to my '98 around spring time.. my suspension is so soft its scary...

Unless your going racing, front springs,fresh oil and the r6 shock are all you will need. Oh ya try some Michelin street radials. :thumb: they work real good I say  :woohoo:

Yeah im not gonna do the emulators or shock caps. just seals, springs, and R6 shock.

Make sure u set your sag correctly or it's all a waste of time. You will have to play with the spring spacer to get it right for your weight.you won't  believe the difference it's going to make.No more scraping everything when cornering, front does not bottom on bumps, and the bike feels so planted in corners its like its on rails..... Enjoy