Somethin Black

[FinalImpact]

Oh -
Ball park is this:
$50 R1 used shock shipped
$70 preload adjuster
$105 labor to tear the shock down, minor valve tweaks, fresh oil, install pre-load adjuster, re-charge.

Full meal deal is $180 for added valving to improve it for a fraction the cost of name brand. What we discussed was go try it as is and see what works, what doesn't and then lets dial it in.

So I'm gonna test drive it for a bit and decide. :thumbup:

 

[darius]

I have good guy that I bring work too and he does stuff like that for free but I hear ya. I once had a place to do everything but it went away. . . Things take a little more time now. . . Its all back together now. Waiting for the RAIN to stop!!!! Preload adjustments have been optionalized for a test drive! I'll get back to it!

So what have you done? Did i miss a thread somewhere?

A bunch of stuff:
Hyperpro springs front and rear
Cee Bailey windshield
Renthal Road Med bar
Oxford Heaterz grips
the2wheels adjustable levers
New clutch cable


I might post a 6 month review of the FZ6. But I feel like I'm still "getting to know it" as I've only just fixed the suspension and had just one good long ride since then.

I really like the bike. I've got a lot to learn from it.

 

[FinalImpact]

R1 Rear shock ride = 35miles I have to say this changed the bike. For one the spring settled and lowered the bike a tad changing the rake which changes the feel into the corners and lightens the steering. The sag is out of whack therefor it changed the ride significantly. Turn in feels good but not as comfy as I was used too. Almost like it was able to push the front tire and I don't care for that.

As for the shocks ability to control the bike; Goal was to see if the usable settings would provide proper control. For this I ran out of time and the roads were a mess. Rebound 1st: As it was, I stopped at about 7 clicks from seated and it was not packing down or staying low after harsh bumps and it didn't seem to be kicking like the OEM shock either so it must be close to right for me. Although when hard on the brakes I had more nose drop so thats a tell tale sign i may need to slow the rebound rate down some more to maybe 5 clicks out???? It has some 32 clicks and I've got 7 left before it fails to meet my needs for rebound control. . . From here I made abrupt compression adjustments to try and match the forks rates I'd ran most of this season. I got it close but ran out of time to dial it in.

When all was said and done I the travel rates were in the rear were quicker than those of the R6 forks so it wasn't balanced well over crisp bumps (back was too soft). That's not to say the forks are in the ideal setting as they may need to be quickened up a tad in their rates. But I like how the front feels and want to get the back dialed in better before changing them.

The rebound; try to set i first. Goal, don't go overkill so it holds the bike down (packing down over repeated bumps and not coming up), but not soft like a rocking horse on a spring either. Once you get this right, go after compression rates. Set the compression for firmness. How much jolting can you take, how much can the bike take. Average out the worst bumps you'll hit the most often and set it so it doesn't bottom out by compressing too quickly. Its OK to use the travel but you never want to bottom out a shock in a corner. Think of this as a comfort setting.

I'm going to leave it at that for now until I get some more time to fiddle. As a starting point for others; I'd start with 10 to 8 on the rebound and 12 to 10 on the compression with the stock FZ6 spring and see how it goes.

Tired - read this again in the AM and see how it looks.

 

[jrevans]

re: R1 shock installed

R1 Rear shock ride = 35miles I have to say this changed the bike. For one the spring settled and lowered the bike a tad changing the rake which changes the feel into the corners and lightens the steering. The sag is out of whack therefor it changed the ride significantly. Turn in feels good but not as comfy as I was used too. Almost like it was able to push the front tire and I don't care for that.

Did you end up putting it together with the modified stock R1 adjuster collar, or did you get a shop to put your racetech part on?

I wonder why the spring settled and the bike lowered more than the FZ6 shock. I thought that the measured lengths were the same?

Do you think that changing the R6 fork position in the triple clamps would help even out the difference? Mine are currently sticking out 10mm.

As a starting point for others; I'd start with 10 to 8 on the rebound and 12 to 10 on the compression with the stock FZ6 spring and see how it goes.

Thanks for the tip. You knew that I was going to ask, didn't you?

 

[FinalImpact]

Re: R1 shock installed

Did you end up putting it together with the modified stock R1 adjuster collar, or did you get a shop to put your racetech part on?

I wonder why the spring settled and the bike lowered more than the FZ6 shock. I thought that the measured lengths were the same?

Do you think that changing the R6 fork position in the triple clamps would help even out the difference? Mine are currently sticking out 10mm.



Thanks for the tip. You knew that I was going to ask, didn't you?

A pic worth a few words perhaps?

Notice the ramp is right on the body; no means of adjusting. It ended up being 1.5mm shorter and sadly that small amount cost the tail nearly an inch of ride height. When you top out the shock it needs good load on (like a spring) as once pressure is applied it continues to move. NOTE TO SELF: put a mark on the SHOCK BODY and measure from that MARK for both distances. i.e. the lower landing and the upper retainer. This way you're not just measuring the spring landing. you're measuring from a fixed point.

Plastic cutting = next to Nil! To be able to make rebound adjustments to the top I had to cut out thumb sized half circle in the plastic. On the huger I had to drill an angled hole (just over the brake hose mount in the swing arm) to the shock compression damping adjustment.

And no, I don't want my bike any lower so I'd opt not to slide the forks up any more than they are. Temps are now in the 30's around here. Its likely the bike will get parked soon.

 

[motojoe122]

From the pic I assume you didnt mill the ramp down. As per our previous conversation, I have the collars at the machine shop. They will be milling the ramp flat from the 4th setting on. The 2 nubs on the upper collar will be milled down 2-3mm. Do you think this will put it in the middle somewhere?

 

[FinalImpact]

From the pic I assume you didnt mill the ramp down. As per our previous conversation, I have the collars at the machine shop. They will be milling the ramp flat from the 4th setting on. The 2 nubs on the upper collar will be milled down 2-3mm. Do you think this will put it in the middle somewhere?

The 1st and 2nd flats in are merged as one.
View attachment 45588

And I'd simply try it. Honestly that top retainer does appear to have step worthy of couple mm. So you may try swapping the FZ steel retainer on there if need a bit more room.

 

[motojoe122]

OK, now I understand what you did. Did you not go with the adj. collar?

 

[FinalImpact]

OK, now I understand what you did. Did you not go with the adj. collar?

O' i see you just scan the pics!!!! No Reading eh? :spank: :spank:

This was an informal test and the goal was to keep it cheap until you know if it works as AN ACTUAL IMPROVEMENT, NOT JUST A PLACEBO! Yes, I got excited when I thought I could solve my problem with $money$ but then it wanted more money I didn't have. So I threw it together. . .

I suspect our implementation of this shock to our bike is going to consume 95% of the shocks ability to work as intended valve action wise. I've already used up most of the rebound trying to match what I had.

 

[motojoe122]

O' i see you just scan the pics!!!! No Reading eh? :spank: :spank:

This was an informal test and the goal was to keep it cheap until you know if it works as AN ACTUAL IMPROVEMENT, NOT JUST A PLACEBO! Yes, I got excited when I thought I could solve my problem with $money$ but then it wanted more money I didn't have. So I threw it together. . .

I suspect our implementation of this shock to our bike is going to consume 95% of the shocks ability to work as intended valve action wise. I've already used up most of the rebound trying to match what I had.

:BLAA: I read it too, just didnt click til I saw the picture.

 

[jrevans]

Sooo....

Being that I'm arm-chairing this discussion, and haven't touched my R1 or FZ6 shock yet, I am a bit confused.

Here's my take on what is going on:

• As shipped, R1 shock and FZ6 shock are the same eye-to-eye length.
• Spring rate on R1 spring is wrong for our non-linkage equipped FZ6.
• We want to put the FZ6 spring on the R1 shock to correct the spring rate, but the FZ6 spring is longer, although the FZ6 travel length is shorter.
• To compensate for the longer FZ6 spring, you guys are grinding stuff away from the preload adjuster (and leaving out a part).
• We may still have issues with the longer travel length of the R1 shock.
• Trying to adjust the R1 shock to use the FZ6 spring is putting us at the limits of the R1 shocks adjustability.

Is this an accurate view of the situation?

If so, would it be easiest and maybe cheapest to just order a custom R1 spring with a spring rate that matches the FZ6, and hope that the extra travel length doesn't cause problems?

 

[FinalImpact]

Re: Sooo....

Here's my take on what is going on:

• As shipped, R1 shock and FZ6 shock are the same eye-to-eye length. (TRUE)
• Spring rate on R1 spring is wrong for our non-linkage equipped FZ6. (TRUE, plus FZ ~ 50lbs heavier)
• We want to put the FZ6 spring on the R1 shock to correct the spring rate, but the FZ6 spring is longer, although the FZ6 travel length is shorter. (TRUE, but mostly irrelevant as its not enough to stack the coils).
• To compensate for the longer FZ6 spring, you guys are grinding stuff away from the preload adjuster (and/or leaving out a part). (TRUE, as test of its viability, I want to cut to the chase, does it work?)
• We may still have issues with the longer travel length of the R1 shock. (False, I don;t see this as an issue).
• Trying to adjust the R1 shock to use the FZ6 spring is putting us at the limits of the R1 shocks adjustability. (Potentially True, but not 100% verified and it will vary depending ON rider preference and fork setup. Example; matched against STOCK FZ6 forks, it would be mushy and fine!).

Is this an accurate view of the situation? (YES, pretty fair)

If so, would it be easiest and maybe cheapest to just order a custom R1 spring with a spring rate that matches the FZ6, and hope that the extra travel length doesn't cause problems? (One could do that). My thinking was/is, we have a spring of the correct rate, its very close to being usable as is while in a "fact finding mode". Remember, I'm not sold on this being "an upgrade" or we wouldn't be the first to swap springs and keep them on for more than test drive.

As best I know, not everyone has reported this shock install as being "WOW, I bolted it in and found a night and day improvement." With that notion I want to know if it can rival the OEM part as is. What I found is that a typical R1 owner of 170lbs would typically have the rebound controlled at 14 clicks out from MAX damping setting. It does not appear to rival my OEM shock at 7 clicks out. My concern is that the added strain from the non-linkage application we threw the shock into may consume all of its damping ability and still not control the motion properly.

The question I ask is how many really felt an improvement upon installing this shock on our bike OR is it simply a change and some bling??

While riding I found the compression setting I had controlled launch squat but wasn't so stiff as to prompt an easy wheelie. What I didn't like was after the bike settles on the rear tire from heavy braking, was that it kicked me in the rear. That tells me it needed MORE rebound damping. However, as said, I ran out of good weather to "adjust it" but it clearly needed more rebound control than it had at 7 clicks from the MAX setting (MAX = 1 click).

Please keep in mind my bike has R6 forks and is setup very firm. I want to see this setup match that and maybe get TOO FIRM. Then I know I have usable range to work with.

 

[DHoback]

AND! 2 months later, and my R1 shock is amazing. Didnt have to mount it backwards, or upside down(like the Verses guys). Didnt have to hack it up and eiminate preload. Cost me a total of $54 and my time for a vast improvement over the stocker. Guess Im just lucky. Or Im completely full of Shiz!

 

[motojoe122]

AND! 2 months later, and my R1 shock is amazing. Didnt have to mount it backwards, or upside down(like the Verses guys). Didnt have to hack it up and eiminate preload. Cost me a total of $54 and my time for a vast improvement over the stocker. Guess Im just lucky. Or Im completely full of Shiz!

No.....You're a....

:BLAA::BLAA::BLAA::BLAA::BLAA::BLAA::BLAA:

 

[DHoback]

Well, you know what they say Joe...., Sometimes size DOES matter!!

 

[FinalImpact]

Well, you know what they say Joe...., Sometimes size DOES matter!!

Ouch! whole'E thread deRail!!!!

AND! 2 months later, and my R1 shock is amazing. Didnt have to mount it backwards, or upside down(like the Verses guys). Didnt have to hack it up and eiminate preload. Cost me a total of $54 and my time for a vast improvement over the stocker. Guess Im just lucky. Or Im completely full of Shiz!

As for this; so we have 1 in 25, 1 in 50??? :spank: :spank: :spank: :BLAA:

 

[motojoe122]

If I can get my collars back by friday, I can get the shock in next weekend.

 

[DHoback]

And Joe will make 2 in 25 or 2 in 50.

 

[FinalImpact]

If I can get my collars back by friday, I can get the shock in next weekend.

Joe, any update?


Dho, it seems Joe took his off to do some "refining" which is pertinent to rider weight as not all of us tip the scales beyond half our Bikes weight and get the instant drop in solution, "as is". . . And do you dislike that I didn't hack up the frame or plastic when its not required?

I'll get a 30" ride in tonight and play with it a bit more. Then she's gonna get parked for a bit. . . Not a dirt nap, just a little hibernation!

 

[motojoe122]

Hopefully he was able to get to them today, I'll know tomorrow.