Front Suspension Upgrade Questions

[DeepBlueRider]

I'm a perfectionist person, I want fine handling both low and high speeds. I know it's not possible if I change only suspension oil
I want to gain more compression resistance without losing rebound latency, so if I change both susp oil and springs will I gain my wants?

I'm an "experimantor" person type, so I don't mind playing with different settings.

You won't be able to set the suspension way you described without changing settings. Suspension in FZ6 is not perfect. This bike was designed to pleasure riding. It looks like you're looking more into performance (not necessarily in speed terms).

There is couple ways you might want to explore. One is change frontend to R1 forks. Other is to get to the suspension pro to do pro suspension tuning. Most likely it will include different oil, springs, spacers and valve emulators. Pretty tough job to tune everything to work as one perfect machinery.

"Easiest" (kind of) way would be playing around with oil and springs. You can get very close to top performance if you get to the sweet spot settings. Thing is on R1 forks most settings are tunable so it's easier to get to right place by just turning couple screws.

That said, if you haven't adjust your suspension yet, I would go with sag setup, springs and new oil to see what difference it makes and take it from there.

For me change from 10W to 15W was noticeable, but I haven't notice a lot of difference in how bike handled. Sure, it dived less, it felt little stiffer but around corners it seemed pretty close.

 

[motojoe122]

I'm an "experimantor" person type, so I don't mind playing with different settings.

You won't be able to set the suspension way you described without changing settings. Suspension in FZ6 is not perfect. This bike was designed to pleasure riding. It looks like you're looking more into performance (not necessarily in speed terms).

There is couple ways you might want to explore. One is change frontend to R1 forks. Other is to get to the suspension pro to do pro suspension tuning. Most likely it will include different oil, springs, spacers and valve emulators. Pretty tough job to tune everything to work as one perfect machinery.

"Easiest" (kind of) way would be playing around with oil and springs. You can get very close to top performance if you get to the sweet spot settings. Thing is on R1 forks most settings are tunable so it's easier to get to right place by just turning couple screws.

That said, if you haven't adjust your suspension yet, I would go with sag setup, springs and new oil to see what difference it makes and take it from there.

For me change from 10W to 15W was noticeable, but I haven't notice a lot of difference in how bike handled. Sure, it dived less, it felt little stiffer but around corners it seemed pretty close.

I agree with your suggestion of adjustable forks, but he may not need to deal with the hassle of R1 forks. R6S forks are a direct swap aside from the fender bracket issue. Sure, you dont have the high speed adjustment, but if you are not at the track full time do you really need it?

 

[ozgurakman]

I agree with your suggestion of adjustable forks, but he may not need to deal with the hassle of R1 forks. R6S forks are a direct swap aside from the fender bracket issue. Sure, you dont have the high speed adjustment, but if you are not at the track full time do you really need it?

I wonder to buy r6s forks but it costs me about $750 without spacers and fender brackets (~450 dollars for suspensions on ebay, ~220 dollars for shipping to Turkey and 20% customs tax)
probably I'll have to buy a new fender because my bike is 2005 so fender is old type.

There is couple ways you might want to explore. One is change frontend to R1 forks. Other is to get to the suspension pro to do pro suspension tuning. Most likely it will include different oil, springs, spacers and valve emulators. Pretty tough job to tune everything to work as one perfect machinery.

"Easiest" (kind of) way would be playing around with oil and springs. You can get very close to top performance if you get to the sweet spot settings.

That said, if you haven't adjust your suspension yet, I would go with sag setup, springs and new oil to see what difference it makes and take it from there.

For me change from 10W to 15W was noticeable, but I haven't notice a lot of difference in how bike handled. Sure, it dived less, it felt little stiffer but around corners it seemed pretty close.

so I'll swap susp oil to 10w first, if I'll not satisfied I'll change springs. If I'll not satisfied them all? Will I have to buy emulators?

 

[DeepBlueRider]

I agree with your suggestion of adjustable forks, but he may not need to deal with the hassle of R1 forks. R6S forks are a direct swap aside from the fender bracket issue. Sure, you dont have the high speed adjustment, but if you are not at the track full time do you really need it?

Right. I've always mix that up. Thanks for pointing that out.

You're also right on high speed adjustments. 90% of people doesn't even use 1/2 potential of their bikes. It's easier to blame machine than our skills, isn't ?

 

[Carlos840]

Well, i have just ordered myself some RaceTech fork springs!

I went with the 0.90kg... At 185 lbs on a heavy day the spring rate calculator recommended 0.88kg for street and 0.92kg for Road racing.
With the 0.90kg i am right in the middle!

I have already done the fork oil a couple months ago so it should be a pretty fast job. The 10w oil already helped tame the diving under braking, but i couldn't get the sag right with the stock springs, and it just made more sens to do it right than to keep trying to make the wrong spring work.

I have read a lot of threads on the subject, but cannot find a real explanation of the method you use to get the new spacer cut to the right size...
Is it in the manual form RaceTech?

I was also considering emulators, but since i already have brand new fork oil i didn't want to tear everything down again, so i will start with the springs, and if i feel the need to do more after next summer i will carry on with the emulators.

 

[LERecords]

R6S forks are a direct swap aside from the fender bracket issue.

That is not really true, you will still need a wheel spacer kit as well as the fender brackets. Just want to clear that up so people are informed correctly :thumbup:

if you need the drawing for the spacer, I have them up for free !!!

FZ6 - R6 Fork Mod

 

[FinalImpact]

Well, i have just ordered myself some RaceTech fork springs!

I went with the 0.90kg... At 185 lbs on a heavy day the spring rate calculator recommended 0.88kg for street and 0.92kg for Road racing.
With the 0.90kg i am right in the middle!

I have already done the fork oil a couple months ago so it should be a pretty fast job. The 10w oil already helped tame the diving under braking, but i couldn't get the sag right with the stock springs, and it just made more sens to do it right than to keep trying to make the wrong spring work.

I have read a lot of threads on the subject, but cannot find a real explanation of the method you use to get the new spacer cut to the right size...
Is it in the manual form RaceTech?

I was also considering emulators, but since i already have brand new fork oil i didn't want to tear everything down again, so i will start with the springs, and if i feel the need to do more after next summer i will carry on with the emulators.

With a progressive spring its a bit of a guessing game. In short, pull the caps, add a material to force the spring down and get the sag desired. When done, measure the stack of whatever was thrown in there and make it out of a suitable material. Some have used PVC and that may be ok. I'd prefer aluminum myself.

This is likely a repeat but, 185 lbs w/out gear gave 44mm sag on stock springs. That's too much!

LE good point about the axle spacers!
What did you do with yours anyway?

 

[motojoe122]

That is not really true, you will still need a wheel spacer kit as well as the fender brackets. Just want to clear that up so people are informed correctly :thumbup:

if you need the drawing for the spacer, I have them up for free !!!

FZ6 - R6 Fork Mod

Good point! I didnt type that part out, kind of included it with the bracket issue.

 

[LERecords]

LE good point about the axle spacers!
What did you do with yours anyway?

I ended up selling them a while back to another forum member. Didnt have the money at the time and i have learned to live with the stock setup. I have had the FZ6 for going on 9 years. at the 10 year mark i am thinking of upgrading to the fz-09 :thumbup: