Busted Knuckle Garage Presents: Raceteck Fork Springs

[reiobard]

I was lucky enough to be the first responder to Eric's post about needing to sell his brand new Racetech 1KG for Springs (Which are exactly the spring rate that is suggested for my weight). So i scooped them up

Oldfast007 and Jody.adams and FZ1inNH met up for a mod meet with my bike at center stage.

Eric's garage has been dubbed "The Busted Knuckle Garage":

Shortly after i got there (late of course) my bike started getting torn down:

After getting the fairing, headlights, and handlebars removed, it was time to remove the forks (Note: Pictures Get scary to me here ):

Continued...

 

[reiobard]

removing the old oil was definately an eye opening experience. after 16k miles the water that they call oil from the factory was well work and looked nasty:

After measuring out the spacer bars for the racetech oil it was time to measure out the new oil (15w) and install the springs and oil:

and then came time for the re-assembly, I am surprised that it all went back together without incident, but very happy that it did

 

[reiobard]

After that we decided to line up the best of Yamaha (from right to left)

oldfast007's FZ6 (1st gen), My 07 FZ6 (2nt Gen), Mrs.FZ1inNH's 09 FZ6R (1st gen) and FZ1inNH's 09 FZ1:

And... i am not sure, but i think it might be a little while before Cadence is ready to take the FZ out for a spin on her own

 

[OZXJR]

Great shots mate and glad it went well for you guys,you especially Rob ,yep scary pics of the front end !


Who is hiding behind the bike holding your daughter up ,lol

 

[reiobard]

and all of this was not done without some fun too...(and... yes.... i AM wearing my fairing and swinging a samurai sword....)

 

[oldfast007]

No one, it rides so smooth now it can put a baby to sleep!

 

[reiobard]

Great shots mate and glad it went well for you guys,you especially Rob ,yep scary pics of the front end !


Who is hiding behind the bike holding your daughter up ,lol

I was holding her up




It was an awesome days, Thanks to Eric for use of his Garage, it was great to see him and Michelle again and it was great to meet the rest of the family. And the Food was awesome, I can't wait to do it all again!




Final review:

Everyone should go out and do this, the front end feels way more planted and much more stable through the corners and over bumps. The braking is even improved and i get much less dive in when i have to brake hard.


I will post more once i get to hit some more aggressive turns, but the on and off ramps of the highway on the way home felt much more smooth and the bike felt like it was stuck like glue to the road the whole way. Now i just have to re-spring the rear as well as new oil in there since now that feels weak in comparison!

 

[oldfast007]

Thanks for the great pics Rob, nice to hear that the mod was a success, I loved the pics of Eric gett'n knee on the C3

 

[gearheadstu]

Nice trick there using a paint can under the headers. :thumbup:

 

[mxgolf]

Great photos! This winter will be my time to do the suspension. I have done all the cosmetic things for my baby and next is suspension and exhaust. This will be useful when the time comes. What about the emulators for the forks? I take it you did not do that? Thanks for the instructions. :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[FZ1inNH]

Awesome shots! Thanks Rob, for coming, trusting our help and for getting all the great shots of the experience! I'm glad that everyone's mods were a success and no one had any problems along the way.

The big bonus was meeting with Keira again and Cadence for the first time. She is SOOOO sweet and a great baby( until diaper change!).

I cannot wait to host another Mod Fest here at the Busted Knuckle Garage!

 

[FZ1inNH]

Great photos! This winter will be my time to do the suspension. I have done all the cosmetic things for my baby and next is suspension and exhaust. This will be useful when the time comes. What about the emulators for the forks? I take it you did not do that? Thanks for the instructions. :thumbup::thumbup:

No emulators for Rob this time. With the spring rate change from the stock progressive to the new Racetech 1KG and 15W oil, I'm not sure the cartridges are needed. Having ridden an FZ6 for some time, this change was so dramatic that the bike felt like a whole new ride!

Great upgrade! And Rob will find it a major boost on the next track day. :steve:

 

[Bates121]

Great pics it looks like you guys had a lot of fun working on your bikes this weekend:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::rockon::rockon:

 

[reiobard]

nope, no emulators, IMO,if you have the internals right then there is no need to adjust them


still looking forward to a longer period of no rain to get a better feel, but as of now all i want to do is drop the front of the bike a bit more on the front forks ( I have always felt that the front end is a bit high)

 

[Speedygonzales]

From the pics I can see you lowered your front. ( fork higher in the clamp )
Do you have a reason to do this?

I did a spring and oil change as well, but the yam manual say's that the top of the fork should be at the same level als the top clamp.
You change your geometry by doing this.
Does this have a pos effect?

 

[reiobard]

From the pics I can see you lowered your front. ( fork higher in the clamp )
Do you have a reason to do this?

I did a spring and oil change as well, but the yam manual say's that the top of the fork should be at the same level als the top clamp.
You change your geometry by doing this.
Does this have a pos effect?

It does change the geometry of the bike but i like it better that way, I am actually going to probably lower the front a bit more as i have always felt the front end to be a bit too high on the FZ6, almost like riding a dirt bike. I find myself wanting to lean back in agressive turns so dropping the front will shift a bit more weight to the front and give me a more neutral feel.

 

[necrotimus]

Ummm why didn't you just drop the forks out instead of removing everything? Maybe it is different but that is what I plan to do when I switch to the R6 forks.

 

[reiobard]

Ummm why didn't you just drop the forks out instead of removing everything? Maybe it is different but that is what I plan to do when I switch to the R6 forks.

was intending on doing the steering head bearings at the same time, but we checked the existing ones out and they were still perfect, so no need.

 

[necrotimus]

was intending on doing the steering head bearings at the same time, but we checked the existing ones out and they were still perfect, so no need.

Makes sense. LOL was getting worried I'd have to pull all my stuff off.

 

[keira]

Makes sense. LOL was getting worried I'd have to pull all my stuff off.

I think they also had a bit too much fun tearing everything apart!!