Pulled the trigger on R6 forks - a few questions

[FinalImpact]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

Look at this.... R6 Fork Install w/Pictures
Off hand it sounds like the two sides were swapped.
It would create the issue you speak of.

 

[KHarper4289]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

That is consistent with the way I had them on, which is nice to have confirmed. I did not see the left/right markers.

So, confirmed I had the forks on the right way, axle in the right way (it doesn't fit backwards), and which side the axle spacers were on was irrelevant. Still have a problem with the brake caliper spacing though.

Hopefully someone has had a similar experience and can tell me where I'm messing up.

Edit: Starting to second/third guess myself. When I got the calipers on the front tire wouldn't spin, and the rotors looked way out of center in the calipers. Maybe that's normal, but if I screw up my bike I don't have any way to get to work, so I stopped. Something seemed wrong, and I've learned to listen to that little voice the hard way.

Done this swap 3x now.

Something sounds WAY off - If the parts are indeed the correct parts, you shouldn't be having this issue which would make me believe you are assembling it incorrectly or your calipers are screwed up or you've been sold incorrect parts. The pistons aren't pushed out are they?

 

[zixaq]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

Done this swap 3x now.

Something sounds WAY off - If the parts are indeed the correct parts, you shouldn't be having this issue which would make me believe you are assembling it incorrectly or your calipers are screwed up or you've been sold incorrect parts. The pistons aren't pushed out are they?

The pistons were all fully recessed. It was so far off center that the rotor was actually all the way up against the metal flange on the caliper on the inside (inside brake pad fully pressed back against the caliper, and rotor pushing on it).

I have some time tomorrow. I'll **** around with it for a few more hours and see if I can figure it out.

If someone would be kind and willing, could they perhaps measure the space between the mounting surface on the R6 calipers and the center where the rotor should be? Mine's 9/8" (no metric tape at home . . . stupid imperial units).

It also looks like someone might have ground down the mount points on this rotor. Is there a popular mod for the R6 that would require that?


Edit: I'm pretty sure someone modified my calipers. The mount point for the lower bolt is 7/16" thick. Will post a picture in a second. Now I have to decide whether extra spacers are okay, or if I need to find new calipers. Pic below:

 

[KHarper4289]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

The pistons were all fully recessed. It was so far off center that the rotor was actually all the way up against the metal flange on the caliper on the inside (inside brake pad fully pressed back against the caliper, and rotor pushing on it).

I have some time tomorrow. I'll **** around with it for a few more hours and see if I can figure it out.

If someone would be kind and willing, could they perhaps measure the space between the mounting surface on the R6 calipers and the center where the rotor should be? Mine's 9/8" (no metric tape at home . . . stupid imperial units).

It also looks like someone might have ground down the mount points on this rotor. Is there a popular mod for the R6 that would require that?


Edit: I'm pretty sure someone modified my calipers. The mount point for the lower bolt is 7/16" thick. Will post a picture in a second. Now I have to decide whether extra spacers are okay, or if I need to find new calipers. Pic below:

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Hope this helps.

It does look like they've been ground down...

 

[zixaq]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

Okay! They're finally on. Everything seems to be working, except the front brakes are dragging a bit. Mechanic friend told me to not replace the seals in the calipers unless I replaced the pistons as well, and I listened mostly because I didn't want to do it and I was sick of having brake fluid on me. (I've had to clean 3 sets of calipers in the last two months . . .)

The blue brake lines aren't gaudy like I was worried they'd be. No apparent leaks anywhere. I did not drop the forks at all for now, until I have a chance to measure sag. That said, the forks eat up small bumps a lot better than the stock forks and there isn't much dive under braking, so I probably won't be respringing them anytime soon. The rear brake fluid was gross. I'm pretty sure it was the same batch from the factory.

I'll check the front brakes again today. If they're still dragging I guess I get to pull them off again and rebuild the damn things.

Update: Yep. Dragging badly still. Like 1/2 a rotation when spinning the wheel. God I am so sick of brake calipers. Glad I don't have to be anywhere for the next couple days.

 

[zixaq]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

Got the brakes off today and got those seals replaced and rebled everything, and now it works like a charm. Hooray! No more soaking my hands in brake fluid!

Bike feels great. I need to get the headlights replaced tomorrow so the front cowling will stop shaking itself apart, then I can actually hit the twisties and see how these new forks handle!

Preliminary settings for the forks:
Preload: 4th ring
Rebound: 8 clicks
Compression: 6 clicks

 

[zixaq]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

Can anyone with an S1 Dako kit send me a pic of how your fender spacers went on? I had to "stretch" my fender kinda hard to make it fit. I don't think it's right.

 

[Giovanottojules]

Will the 2003 R6 fender fit on the 2005 FZ6 forks? I dont want to do a fork swap, just the fender. Please let me know thanks.

 

[FinalImpact]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

Can anyone with an S1 Dako kit send me a pic of how your fender spacers went on? I had to "stretch" my fender kinda hard to make it fit. I don't think it's right.

Did you get this resolved?
S2 was no stretching....

Look here W/pictures....
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/29543-r6-fork-install-another-one.html

New poster: compare the R6 forks in link above to the mount points on S1 forks. I doubt they are the same.
Likely buy an 02 03 fender for cheap and try it?

 

[zixaq]

Re: Halp! mod no werk.

Did you get this resolved?
S2 was no stretching....

Look here W/pictures....
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/29543-r6-fork-install-another-one.html

New poster: compare the R6 forks in link above to the mount points on S1 forks. I doubt they are the same.
Likely buy an 02 03 fender for cheap and try it?

The spacers for the S1 are completely different.

It works, the fender is on, but it just looks kinda wrong. There's way more tire clearance on the front of the fender than the back.

 

[zixaq]

Discovered yesterday that my fender is slowly cracking. Too much stretch, apparently.

 

[zixaq]

I can't figure out any other way to make these fit, but it still looks wrong. Any advice?

 

[FinalImpact]

Mine is an S2 but I think the forward mount is direct fender to fork and the rear gets the offset link.

FWIW: S2 install has no tension on fender.

 

[zixaq]

Mine is an S2 but I think the forward mount is direct fender to fork and the rear gets the offset link.

FWIW: S2 install has no tension on fender.

So I've taken the fender and brackets back apart twice now. There is no other way to fit them that I can figure out.

 

[FinalImpact]

Mount the fender direct to forks on the front.
Level it up so the leading and trailing gaps to the tire are equal. The link should go in the back and it should not be spreading the fender.

Any chance it's not an FZ fender? Did it fit the S1 forks properly?

 

[zixaq]

Mount the fender direct to forks on the front.
Level it up so the leading and trailing gaps to the tire are equal. The link should go in the back and it should not be spreading the fender.

Any chance it's not an FZ fender? Did it fit the S1 forks properly?

Stock fender, as far as I know. Fit the old S1 forks perfectly.

It will not fit directly onto the forks on the front. The plastic cutaway area ends up hitting the fork legs.

So the rear mounting holes have to be directly attached, because the front ones won't line up, and there's only one position the brackets can mount in. Would really like to have dako's input on this, but he doesn't seem to be on much anymore.

Unless there was some modification of the fender required? But I assumed the whole point of these spacers was to avoid having to do anything like that.

 

[FinalImpact]

[MENTION=1684]ANLR21[/MENTION] do you have any insight on the install using S1 fender?

Thanks

 

[ANLR21]

[MENTION=1684]ANLR21[/MENTION] do you have any insight on the install using S1 fender?

Thanks

The photo depicts the same setup as mine. I had no issues, no cracking and the fender doesn't seem to be under much tension. This may just be fork-to-fork variations, but the adapter on mine is "leaned" back more than this one, but due to the rear mount he may have had no choice. Zixag, you may want to trim a bit of the rubber fender spacer between the fender and dako's link to reduce the tension.

Couple of thoughts....any chance you got an S2 mount kit rather than an S1? Also, I assume you're using stock triples?

Took me a bit of head-scratching as well when I first received the adapter kit, this is only way I could make it work. Been fine for me.

Sorry I can't be of more help

ANLR21

 

[zixaq]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I'm definitely using the S1 kit (the S2 kit is substantially different, I think). It's not a ton of tension, but enough to cause a bit of a crack. Stock triples.

I suppose I'll just live with it. As long as the fender doesn't break completely.

 

[zixaq]

Welp, the fender finally broke all the way. Unfortunately it took the bolt and adapter with it somehow on the way home from work today.

Fender seems sturdy enough with three mount points, so I guess I'll just leave it?