R6 Shock

[Mauricio]

Hey folks,

Sorry to bug you with a question that has been asked before - can't find the thread where I saw this. Over the winter someone posted pictures of an R6 shock next to the stock 500 shock. If I recall correctly, this was a pretty straightforward swap. Does anyone remember what year(s) R6 shocks were the ones that swapped?

[Mauricio]

HA!

Wow, the search function works a treat... 

As you were, nothing to see here.

[burning1]

Post the link please. I'm interested.

[Junkie]

I'm looking at picking up a GS and have a Fox twin clicker for a 99-02 R6 that I'd be interested in using, do they work?

[burning1]

Not sure about the 99-02 shock. I did some more digging, and found that the shock mentioned above is from an 06-07 Yamaha R6. The good news is that the shock is rebound, pre-load, high speed compression, and low speed compression adjustable. The bad news is that the spring is a 9.0kg/mm unit, which isn't much stiffer than stock. Personally, I run something closer to a 11.0kg/mm unit on my race bike.

[burning1]

Junkie, any chance you're looking at this shock?

Unfortunately, it will not work on a GS. The GS requires a Clevis lower mount. The 99-02 shock appears to have an eyebolt lower mount.

[Junkie]

looking at? that's my shock... note the same username.

too bad to hear it won't fit. might be able to fab a lower clevice though...

[burning1]

Heh. I didn't notice the username.

I'm actually a user image oriented person. Whenever someone changes their icon it always takes me a while to figure out who the hell they are. Same deal in real life. I tend to remember faces, but not names.

[burning1]

By the way... I just ordered an 06 R6 shock off of ebay. I'll post information once I've had a chance to compare it to the stock unit and test fit it.

[Bluehaze]

you wont regret it. You may need to grind off a bit of the swingarm. search my name. i did a how to on this if you need some pics.

[burning1]

My shock just arrived. I'll post up some pictures and measurements against the stock shock a little later this evening.

[burning1]

No pictures for now. I'm off to AFM round 3, and don't have the time. I'll take the R6 shock to Dave Moss of Catalyst Reactions to see what he suggests.

My shock is an 06 YZF R6 shock, with the lower clevis mount, upper eyebolt mount, piggyback reservoir, rebound, pre-load, high speed, and low speed compression adjustment.

Initial notes:

The R6 shock is exactly the same length as the GS500 shock, so you can install it without affecting the overall geometry of the bike. The upper eyehole takes the same size bolt as the stock shock, and is exactly the same width - 30mm. So, it's an easy mount-up. The lower clevis mount is the same width as the stock mount, but it takes a bolt that is 2mm thicker than the GS. I'll either have to fab a spacer to take up the slack, or find someway to modify the GS linkage.

The lower spring retainer is taller than the stock GS retainer, and I believe it's also taller than the Katana retainer I have now. I haven't installed the shock, but I'm hoping that the spring will completely clear the swingarm.

The spring it's self is also a little smaller outside diameter than the Katana spring,  but that's going to be partially due to the spring rate. The R6 shock is sprung almost identically to the stock GS shock, which means it's going to be way too soft for race use. The new spring I install will have to be thicker than the existing R6 spring...

More later. My ride is here.

[Homer]

Did you find a part number for that inner race/spacer/a-hole of a part?
Kinda hoping I don't need to buy the entire d@mn bearing. 

[burning1]

Okay, we have the good news.

Here's the bad news: The rebound valving on the R6 shock is going to be too soft for race use, and probably too soft for street use as well... So, unlike the Katana Shocks, the R6 isn't going to be the ideal 'drop-in and go' race shock. Expect to spend $100 or so on a new spring, another $160 for the racetech valve kit* in order to make this shock work well.

* I'm guessing you could find a shim set for the stock valve at a lower price.

It seems like the R6 shock is a good platform for building up a super high performance suspension. But if you want an inexpensive 'upgrade and go' shock, the Katana shock is probably still the best bet.

For what it's worth, this weekend I was turning 2:02s around Infineon raceway. Engine is absolutely stock (all the way to the airbox and jetting.) Front end is stock fork bodies, with Emulators, Springs, Buddha's brace, and Fork oil. Rear shock is a 2001 Katana 750 shock, with a little grinding to fit. The Katana shock works *very* well on this bike - the rear end hasn't slid on me at all, even grinding my knee and pegs through turn 6, the carousel.

Did you find a part number for that inner race/spacer/a-hole of a part?
Kinda hoping I don't need to buy the entire d@mn bearing. 

The people I talked to recommended finding a set of spacers that would permit the stock size bolt to sit in the lower clevis of the shock... However, I'll take a look at the GS linkage to see if there is another route to mounting up the shock. IMO, that's going to be the most reliable and least fiddly approach in the long term.

I think, however... That it would be worth looking into installing the swingarm and wheel off a more modern bike. The stock GS rim/swingarm are *very* heavy. Lighter weight parts would provide a big handling improvement.

[Mauricio]

Thanks for the update.

Please do post pictures. I am thinking of doing both ends of the suspension this coming winter and I'd like to have all my ducks in a row.

[burning1]

I found a few of the threads you were talking about:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=49468.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=50116.0

It looks like the 08-10 model year shocks will work as well, and they would probably be a better choice, since the reservoir is physically smaller.

As far as mounting the shock up... Another post on the GS forum provides the best solution - use the R6 collar, bolt and nut when installing, rather than trying to shim the GS bolt, or weld the R6 shock.

So use this part: 90387-127W0-00
Instead of this part: 62684-01D10

I'll purchase these parts myself and report back on how they fit.

ok. so my  Yamaha nuts bolt and collar arrived.  Fits in PERFECTLY.

Here are the  yamaha parts number if you decide to use it.

90109-12011-00   --This is the Bolt
90185-12119-00   --Nut, Self-Locking
90387-127W0-00  -- Collar

[burning1]

By the way... According to Race Tech, the 08-10 R6 shocks have the same squishy spring that's on the 06-07 shocks.

[Mauricio]

I'm sucking at life. OK, not at life... but at getting this R6 shock buisness sorted. Paging burning1... burning1 to the white courtesy phone please...

[burning1]

Thanks for bumping this thread. I need to redact what I posted earlier about the spring rate being too soft - it was based on some bad info. Spring rate and rebound damping are actually great on this shock, and it should be a more or less bolt on upgrade for anyone in the 160-200lb range.

[Mauricio]

Thanks for bumping this thread. I need to redact what I posted earlier about the spring rate being too soft - it was based on some bad info. Spring rate and rebound damping are actually great on this shock, and it should be a more or less bolt on upgrade for anyone in the 160-200lb range.

Excellent news.

I will post pictures once I have it all sorted out. This will be an excellent upgrade, the forks have just been rebuilt with Ricor Intiminators:

http://store.ricorshocks.com/default.asp

Taken together it should make the bike handle a lot better.