HyperPro Springs installed

[Dennis in NH]

I got my springs coming in this next Friday... not sure if I will be able to do it myself (FZ6R) I only have a rear swingarm stand. From what Im seeing that wont work for either end will it? Even if I had front end adapters? Not sure how everything is supported when taking one fork off at a time, what is holding the bike up? What do you mean by weighing the back down?

I am doing the rear as well. How would I do that if I need to drop the swingarm and all I have is a swingarm stand?

For the rear spring:
Does the FZ6R have a center stand? when I did mine on my FZ6, I used the center stand. You cannot do it with the swingarm stand because you need to remove the OEM shock and the swingarm and swingarm stand will not be able to support the bike. It is the shock that keeps the swingarm from moving up toward the bottom of your seat. With a center stand, the rear wheel and swingarm will be suspended in the air for you to do your work.

For the front:
If you have a center stand, folks here say to weight the rear to get the rear wheel on the ground and the front wheel in the air. I've never done it and don't know how stable that is but others have and seem to think it's quite stable. Personally, I used a front stand that holds the front in the air via the steering head.

Bottom line is you need that center stand or some way to suspend each wheel you work on.

Dennis

 

[jspansel]

thanks,

i have no center stand damn... not sure what to do now. How will the shop do it if i dont have a center stand?

 

[jspansel]

For the front, what if I didnt change the oil? Could I just pop the top nut off and pull the spring out and put the new spring in, then do the other side? Bike has 8k miles on it. Not sure how long fork oil is good for.

Or went even more cheap ass and get a long syringe with a long hose and suck the oil out that way, then refill with the new 15wt? Would I need any type of stand on the front to do that?

I can get front end adapters for my swingarm stand to use on the front... will that work to do the front the right way? take one fork out at a time and dump the old oil out ?

I could then just have the shop that is putting my new tires on to do the rear while the wheel is off.

 

[Dennis in NH]

Hm... if the shop's doing it, I don't think that the lack of centerstand will be an issue as I'm sure they have some kind of bike lift complete with jack and straps just for this kind of thing. They'll probably just lift the bike by the headers or lift it up from the frame, etc. You should watch if you can -- it could be interesting.

When I swapped my springs (the day before selling my FZ6) back to OEM, all I did was use the swing arm stand, front fork stand, and a car floor jack under the headers (with towel and rubber hockey puck protecting the headers from the metal of the jack).

When you remove the front springs, you have to get weight off of the springs so that when you unbolt the fork caps, the fork cap and spring don't go "springing" out and hitting the ceiling . The floor jacket allowed me to jack up the front end a little (forks still resting on the front stand) enough that when I took off the fork caps, there was no drama. Now when you put the new spring in, you have to press to get the fork cap back on. There was too much spring showing so I had to jack up the bike even more to allow the springs to setting into the fork tubes. In fact, the forks were only slightly resting on the stand and I felt the bike seemed less stable than I would like. So I used one hand on the bike (to hold it steady) and the other hand threading the fork cap. What I mean is that if there's too much spring showing, you have to exert a lot of force to get them into the tubes to make it possible to thread the fork cap (and not strip it, etc.).

If you don't have all the equipment, I suggest you just let the shop do it. In my case, I bought a front steering head stand (maybe $120) so I could do it myself. It worked out because the shop wanted about $120 for labor anyway -- so I did the work myself and came out with a stand.

For the rear, you've got to get the rear suspended -- sounds like a job for the shop in your case.

Dennis

 

[kellybt1052]

Floor jack and Jack Stands supporting a 2x4 under the headers is the way I went on the front, worked well and it was stable. When front is done move the jack and stands back to a solid area under the middle of the bike and raise the rear end up using same process of stands and 2x4. Be sure to stabilize the front though when you do this to keep it solid. Should be fine. Good luck!!

 

[jspansel]

Floor jack and Jack Stands supporting a 2x4 under the headers is the way I went on the front, worked well and it was stable. When front is done move the jack and stands back to a solid area under the middle of the bike and raise the rear end up using same process of stands and 2x4. Be sure to stabilize the front though when you do this to keep it solid. Should be fine. Good luck!!

The headers can support that much weight without bending or doing something up at the manifold? And the FZ6R has that stupid exhaust muffler sitting directly under the bike. Prob just have the shop do it.. ugh.

How may hours do you think this is to do? They charge $60/hr. Hate spending money for other people to do the work on my bike. I'd much rather do it.

 

[kellybt1052]

Yeah the headers are really strong. All you really need is a solid point under the bike where you can run something across onto the stands. I have even seen some at the track that run a rod through the swing arm pivot (assuming it is large enough diameter then put on stands. Do the R's pegs fold? that is another potential place to put stands under. Finally a Pit bull or other front stand that supports from the steering head rather than under the fork legs. I would think a shop is going to say 1 hour minimum. If I can do it under an hour I would presume they could! let us know if you have any more questions, its a pretty easy job and you'll get some satisfaction (and dollars in the pocket) doing it yourself.

 

[rpereira]

Silly question, how did you all go with insurance after doing mods ?

Did it go up or stay the same ? Is it ok to mod your bike yourself and still keep your insurance ?

Regards

Russell

 

[Dennis in NH]

Silly question, how did you all go with insurance after doing mods ?

Did it go up or stay the same ? Is it ok to mod your bike yourself and still keep your insurance ?

Regards

Russell

Kind of off topic but still a little relevant, ...

At least for Statefarm Insurance, you don't have to change anything unless you change the motor (say to something bigger) -- I think that's it since last time I asked. If you wreck, they will value your bike (at current mileage) plus reimburse you for aftermarket parts (not sure at what value). I had a bike and it was totalled and for aftermarket parts, they gave me full price for what I paid (needed receipts) for my GPS, GPS mount, and Zero Gravity windsrceen.

More on topic, ... if you wreck, I'm guessing your front and rear springs would be still intact. And I'd either remove them or have them removed before giving away the totalled bike. But I'm guessing, they'd reimburse for both of them (not sure if they'd pay for labor).

Dennis

 

[Spideyrex]

I installed the Hyperpro fork springs I purchased from Dennis in NH (thanks again and he was a great person to do business with!).
It was very straight forward and the only tool I had to buy was a 24mm socket for the fork caps. I had the other tools for removing the front wheel already. I took a hybrid approach to lifting the front. I put weights attached to the back so the bike would tilt back while on the center stand. But I also used my car's jack to lightly lift the front via the headers. I used a phone book to cushon protect the headers.
I followed the directions in both the service manual and the Hyperpro installation guide, all very easy stuff. I hung the brake calipers to the raditort vis zip ties so they were not hanging. Of note the factory installed the original springs upside down (the service manual tell you to put the more tightly wrapped coils on top, but the factory did the opposite). Yamaha says to fill the forks with oil leaving 133 mm of air, while Hyperpro says 140, I went with 140 and used Motorex 15W fork oil (very pretty red matching my bike!). As expected, the oem oil was weird milky and gunky and the bottom (5300 miles). Pump the legs in and out to get the bubbles out as well. I installed the springs, washers and spacers according to factory spec, but I extended the fork legs to make screwing in the caps easier. I used a torque wrench to make sure all was up to spec and slid the fork up 5mm in the clamps per Hyperpro.
Results: Well it has been raining almost nonstop but I did go for a short ride and it felt great. The bike feels taller, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I also bumped up the rear to setting 5 (I weight 195+ gear). The bike felt very stable and solid, no longer pitching and moving at every control input or movement. Yet over some bumps that previously upset the bike, it just swallowed them up. I also braked hard and the dive was almost nonexistant. Fantastic. I'll give updates once i can go on some longer, more spirited rides.

Here are some photos:

 

[Dennis in NH]

Nice work.

So when you test the springs again, take an exit ramp that you normally take. Take note what is different -- don't worry about how fast you're taking the ramp (you'll be going faster but it won't feel like it). I found that there is more feedback from the front in such a way that it actually "felt" like it was more planted and took up bumps in such a way as to it "felt" like the tire stayed on the ground. This extra confidence allowed me to go faster on the ramp while maintaining my "70ish% skill level on the street" rule.

I also think the improved damping obtained from the 15wt oil helps the bike transition more smoothly from braking to back on the throttle when entering turns.

Now the bike will feel more focused on doing what it is you want it to do.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Dennis

 

[v1jay]

Nice post Spideyrex - i'm planning on changing mines today..... its always nice to have some visuals

Same springs, 15wt oil and new fork seals [as my right fork developed a leak after 25k+ mines]... ill prolly change my rear spring next week, as the weather here looks a bit flaky... and i'v got a feeling its gonna take us a bit longer replacing the rear spring...

Thanks again mate, cheers..!! :thumbup:

vj

 

[Spideyrex]

Thanks guys! Have fun v1jay. There is something about working on your bike that brings you closer to it.

 

[Motohead]

Using the headers to support the bike is potentially damaging. If I walked into a shop and saw my bike sitting that way, I and probably most owners would flip out. Hang it, brace it, anything but that. Also, installing stiffer springs without revalving or adjustment seems out of balance. I can see how for some body weights this can be an inprovement but wouldnt the rebound be way out of adjustment for most people?

 

[Spideyrex]

I agree about the headers if that is the main way to life the front end. I did at more as a backup support. As for adjusting the rebound, Hyperpro recommends chnaging the fork oil to 15w and it seems to do the trick quite nicely.

 

[stryken]

I also used the headers to lift my front with no issues at all. There is very little weight being lifted when used in conjunction with your center stand. Also when jacking it up I used a soft piece of wood and lifted on the joining plate area of the headers. Safer and less intrusive than some of the other options of lifting, especially when working with the forks off plus you probably already own what you need! :thumbup:

 

[SANGER_A2]

I agree about the headers if that is the main way to life the front end. I did at more as a backup support. As for adjusting the rebound, Hyperpro recommends chnaging the fork oil to 15w and it seems to do the trick quite nicely.

I sat on the passenger seat of mine with it on the centre stand and leaned back until it rocked back. Then I tied a rope from the rafters to the handlebar stem to hold it up. I also put some weight on the passenger seat to help with the weight on the rafters. I've got the lower fairing so I couldn't put a block underneath it - but I wouldn't put one under the headers even if I could get to them. It's massively expensive to replace broken exhaust studs!

 

[v1jay]

I used a paddock stand for the rear, and a jack to raise the solid part of the headers. I put a soft wood block in between the jack and headers - no problem.

Whilst i had it all apart, i replace stock springs with HP springs cause i had a fork leak... so though it was a good opportunity.

 

[DeadRider]

Took my FZ6 S2 today to the mechanic to change my front & rear springs...will let you know my feelings probably tomorrow...

 

[DeadRider]

WOW WOW WOW...what a change!!!!!!

Could not believe it...it's another bike. Front to back movement because of little to medium road imperfections is gone. Fork diving when breaking is normal now (probably 1/3 of what it used to be). Rear Spring set to 3 is like 5 with the old spring, and absorbs everything much better and smoother.

Please, whoever is "thinking" about buying these springs, stop thinking and do it. Best bang for buck suspension upgrade for "touring drivers" (maybe it is better to take the bike to racetech if you do a lot track)