The first thing I actually did was to throw the old shock away.  I was thinking that I had everything I needed with this new one. I am glad in a sense that everyone HAS posted the counterpoints, not to the affect of fueling any tensions. And I am glad I was able to dig the old shock out of the garbage just in case.

I believe both of you have very valid points and interestingly enough, I can't find the specifics on the stock GS Shock, (they may be there, I am just not smart enough to create the correct search string or too lazy to keep reading after a few hours) so if we can put some of the math to good use and get a specific bit of information that others may need down the road, that would be good.

Buddha: You bring up a good point. I wonder if the GS spring could replace this spring to provide a better "feel" if the R6 spring is indeed too soft? Lamoun mentioned that the spring might be softer because of the diameter and fewer coils on the R6 and I have seen the other posts online that seem to suggest that even at the highest settings on the R6, it just didn't provide enough preload to make the shock "feel" right. For lighter weight riders, this might not be a problem whatsoever. But with me being nearly 250, everything on this bike is probably going to wince under teh pressure. 

I know that swapping the spring over might be dangerous but just a thought.

Oh, well I thought I could swap the sv spring into my GSXR body ... I am yet to do that, but someone on the sv site has tried it and it has not worked like intended.
The 1 step up type of upgrade sometimes fails for the bike that is at the top of the respective food chain. SV650's love the 1000 shock. In effect, I would be destroying a $100 shock to try to save a 25 dollar shock if I ruin the sv 1000 shock.

Anyway, good you have the GS shock as back up ... 

In your situation, I'd find a local with a GS and enlist his/her butt for a few days, toss the shock in his/her bike and have him/her test it for you.

Then of course you can if they'd let you ride theirs ... simplest way to get it tested IMHO. Spring swap - maybe I can pull the spring off a GS shock and send you that ... Does the R6 one unscrew ... if so, you can fit it yourself.

Cool.
Buddha.

I remember I read that somewhere... cboling take a look at this thread, bottom 1st, and 2nd page.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=46393.msg526977#msg526977

ecpreston got this.

GS Stock rear spring ('02 model FWIW)
0.394 inches (10mm) wire diameter
2.44 inch (62mm) coil diameter
5 free coils
=8.7 kg/mm (487 lbs/in)

So you are probably a bit stiffer than the GS, not as much as the Katana though.
Mind you, I am 190lbs without gear, and I find the Katana shock (~10.9 Kg/mm) too stiff for my taste.
Hope you ride it soon!

Heh ...@ 230 lb, I feel I over load the kat.
I felt great on the GSXR one I had on the red bike recently ... though the damn side stand didn't work right, the center stand wasn't great either, the remote res kept breaking its zip tie ... etc etc etc ... Yea I had to shave everythign in sight to even get it on there .. swingarm, linkage ... everything.

These are all less than ideal, but if you want to really get one that has all the advantages (R6 experiment result pending) you may have to build one, or buy the haghon or other euro stuff.

I think the kat is a good compromise, as is the GSXR ... especially cos its near about bolt and run.
Cool.
Buddha.

Thanks lamoun. My valve parts are finally on the way so hopefully before the end of day Sunday, I will have a chance to try and crank it over to see if it will start.

Oh man, you put a R6 shock and it blew out the valves. Dayyyyyum that one serious shock.
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: joshr08 on July 11, 2009, 09:14:56 PM
just so you know after talking to some guys over on the kat page the R6 shock is junk for a swap because of a weaker spring rate so i have been told.

Uh huh, for the Kat...which has like, what; 50-75lbs on the GS. And I guess you guys forgot about my thread a few months ago when I mentioned it.  http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=47718.0

Well there you go. There really is nothing new under the sun.  Did you ever try the swap yourself? If so, did it work out in the end as far as ride and adjustments?

Average is running a kat shock and waiting for some magic parts to drop from the buddha's basket ... I have watched presidents die waiting for stuff like dat ...
Cool.
Buddha.

Any new update on this yet?

Not from mine yet. I am waiting on a shock adjustment wrench in the mail so that I can set the preload correctly. I just got the last parts in to get my bike running so hopefully by Sunday, I will have a happy running bike.

There was another user here that installed one but had some difficulty getting it in. I didn't have the same difficulty but I also had the brake stay arm off my swingarm so, that may have given me more room to maneuver. Not sure.

EDIT: Here is a link to the other user's thread.  http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=49270.0

Like the other one, I am bumping for info!!!

I am still trying to get my carbs to cooperate with me. Tore them apart to find a deteriorated o-ring so I gave up on it for a couple days while I am trying to decide to order a carb kit or just hunt down a tiny tiny o-ring and move on. I think I am going out this evening to find the tiny tiny o-ring (if possible) at the local auto parts or lowes.

So far, I think it will be a good shock however, I looked (while working on the carbs) and saw that the spring does seem to touch the swing arm. So that may be strike #1 on this one.

Quote from: The Buddha on July 14, 2009, 11:35:45 AM
Heh ...@ 230 lb, I feel I over load the kat.
...
Cool.
Buddha.

To tell you the truth, in theory the spring is just right for me  {35mm rider sag - 5mm free sag}, and riding on flat roads it feels nice.. but I feel it harsh on my "roady bumps".. 

Just an update.

I have finally been riding my bike (maybe half a dozen times.) Since I don't have the original shock to compare the new one to, I won't be able to give a really great review on this but what I can say is that this shock feels really nice. Now again, I am not a really reliable person to ask mainly because I don't have the experience to compare however, as for rough roads, bumps, humps, holes, and such that I have come across, it really feels great. And, I know right now I don't even have it set to it's maximum potential for my weight. So I believe it can only improve from there.

I recently purchased the Sonic .95kg springs for the front forks and again, didn't ride the originals. (Just fooling around in the parking lot, I could tell that there was waaaaaaay too much movement on the stock ones for my weight.) As many have said, these are absolutely a must. The feel of the bike with both updated shocks and fork springs really make this bike feel solid. Keep in mind, I am a solid 245-250 / 6'1.5" and with gear, probably pushing 260ish lbs.

It really is just an absolute treat!

After I saw posts by others about the spring hitting the swing arm, I did some inspection on mine and found that the swing arm does touch (and I mean just barely) the last coil of the shock. I haven't  ground down the swingarm on mine just yet and really don't feel any negative issues by not doing that. Eventually, I will take off the swingarm and grind that area just to be safe.

All in all, you will not go wrong with this shock but apparently, they have been harder to come by. At least, if you have to spend some dough on an after market, you can pretty well know that the R6 shock will work.

Cheers.
CB