Value of suspension mods

[mcteague]

First off, I don't race but love twisty roads and don't do any knee down riding on the streets. Still, I wonder if mods like RaceTech's cartridge emulator for the fork would be worth it. At 160lbs both front and rear springs are right on the money according to RaceTech's website.

A nearby suspension shop quoted these prices for the fork and re-valving the rear. Seems a bit high and I wonder if the improvement is worth it. I know cost\benefit is a subjective matter but would like to know if anyone has gone this route and how it turned out. I have searched and mostly find threads about the R6 fork swapout.

Front
Emulator $150
Service $180
Seals $20 (if needed)
Oil $28
Forks removal $90

Rear
Valve $150
Service $180
Shock removal $120

Tim

 

[Willard]

I had emmulators and straight rate springs installed on my FZ6. One of the best upgrades that I made. Certainly tightened up the front end and made for more precise control. The front wheel now sticks to the road and the front end is much smoother. Would like to get an Ohlins shock before next spring.

You could save yourself $90 by taking the forks off yourself. Put that $90 on a set of straight rate springs.

 

[Wolfman]

My suggestion is get Ohlins fork internals for a start...i have one FZ6 with Racetech fork internals, and one FZ6 with Ohlins internals, and the Ohlins just leaves the Racetech for dead!

As for the rear shock, i would suggest replacing it with something with full adjustability, which will give you much more flexibility, and finesse when tuning it...Like Ohlins!

:thumbup:

 

[Kilbane83]

Removing the front forks and rear shock is about as easy as it gets. You could save yourself $210 right there for about 30mins or work.

As far as advantages, having a suspension setup correctly for your weight is amazing. Everything about the bike will feel more planted in corners and predictable. Not to mention smoothing the ride out.

You can usually find R6 forks for around $160 on ebay if you're patient enough. Another $45 or so for calipers.

As far as the rear goes, less options there. Respringing/revalving the stock shock won't do very much for you. It's designed to cover a wide range of weights, for 160lb I'd say a 4 would probably be about right.

The options for adjustable rear shocks are a ohlins which runs $700+ or a revalved/springed pre-03 R1 Shock. You can find these on ebay for ~$50.
This place: 35 Motorsports | Motorcycle engine and suspension service, supersport & superstock engine builds has been quoted as doing the whole revalve and spring for $271.95 +s/h. It is a direct bolt on mod, but some cutting of the plastic undertay is required, so alot of people shy away from this mod.

 

[chihuahuastud]

All depends on how much spare cash you have and how hard you ride. I did springs and oil for $110 and that was the best money I have spent on mods so far!

 

[DefyInertia]

Your 2008 shouldn't need new fork seals.

 

[urbanj]

First off, I don't race but love twisty roads and don't do any knee down riding on the streets. Still, I wonder if mods like RaceTech's cartridge emulator for the fork would be worth it. At 160lbs both front and rear springs are right on the money according to RaceTech's website.

A nearby suspension shop quoted these prices for the fork and re-valving the rear. Seems a bit high and I wonder if the improvement is worth it. I know cost\benefit is a subjective matter but would like to know if anyone has gone this route and how it turned out. I have searched and mostly find threads about the R6 fork swapout.

Front
Emulator $150
Service $180
Seals $20 (if needed)
Oil $28
Forks removal $90

Rear
Valve $150
Service $180
Shock removal $120

Tim

they are well worth the money. I don't know if you've bought some pipes for your bike but they are something i'd do before forking (no pun intended ) out cash on some pipes and a pc3.

Looking at those quotes I'm not understanding the "service" for $180. What is included for that? and adding $90 for fork removal??? That should be included in the labour quote which I would expect to be included in the "service". to me it looks like a double dip.

It may be more economical to pick up a set of R6S forks and just get the oil changed. Only change the seals if there are signs of a needed replacement.

I got mine for about $250CAD and that was when our dollar wasn't doing as well as it is now. Also if you have tools, you will in fact be able to do the swap yourself with the help of us on here. Many people have been walked through a bunch of jobs, post by post, on here.

Oh and you don't need calipers if you get the R6 or R6S forks since the 07+ FZ6 are the same as the R6.

 

[RJ2112]

I'd suggest suspension improvements as the best thing you can do to the FZ6. (right after turning on the second headlight. The light is easy and cheap..... the suspension mods make the bike far more effective)

I had a suspension place re-do my fork, and install an Ohlins rear at the same time. The fork, they modified the valving on, changed the weight of oil used, and installed .9 Kg straight rate springs. The static sag is now where it should be, 20 mm or so instead of the 2 inches that occured before they worked on the bike.

The Ohlins on the back has very similar sag, and I had the ride height adjusted 'up' by 10 mm to make the bike a little more 'nose heavy'.

Now, I have the full length of the suspension travel to work with when cornering, stopping, hitting rough stuff, etc etc. It's not luxury car smooth; I know what the wheels are doing, and the chassis stays planted.

The OEM rear shock is pretty useless, by my view....... I rode the thing maxed out on preload, that was the one setting that didn't let the bike wallow around in corners. The OEM spring was too weak in my view.... and the valving was set up to match it. On full hard preload, the damping was pretty bad.

If the shop can put a new spring on there, and revalve the thing, I'd give that a try before I 'sprang' for the Ohlins.

Take them the shock and the fork legs, and let them do the hard part. Installing them back on the bike is not that bad. Saving the $200 they'd charge for that is a lot of fuel!

 

[mcteague]

they are well worth the money. I don't know if you've bought some pipes for your bike but they are something i'd do before forking (no pun intended ) out cash on some pipes and a pc3.

Looking at those quotes I'm not understanding the "service" for $180. What is included for that? and adding $90 for fork removal??? That should be included in the labour quote which I would expect to be included in the "service". to me it looks like a double dip.

It may be more economical to pick up a set of R6S forks and just get the oil changed. Only change the seals if there are signs of a needed replacement.

I got mine for about $250CAD and that was when our dollar wasn't doing as well as it is now. Also if you have tools, you will in fact be able to do the swap yourself with the help of us on here. Many people have been walked through a bunch of jobs, post by post, on here.

Oh and you don't need calipers if you get the R6 or R6S forks since the 07+ FZ6 are the same as the R6.

No aftermarket pipes for me. I HATE loud bikes and the FZ6 already has more than enough power for the street.

The "service" charge is doing whatever work is required. They have a seperate charge if they have to remove the fork\shock as many customers send them in already removed.

Never having ridden a bike with better suspension I just wonder how much bang for buck there is. I got the bike for $5400 this Summer as a left over 2008. I really don't want to put thousands into it as who knows what I might want in a year or two. Getting your mod money out of a used bike seldom happens.

Tim

 

[Hellgate]

You'll like the mods you've listed. The stock FZ suspension it simply terrible.

 

[urbanj]

Hmm. It depends on how much you want to spend now really. I only have my fronts done and my preload set for appropriate sag in the rear. Many have done it this way. it's not optimum but it works.

There aren't too many options for the rear though. you can do it up through the suspension shop or buy a nice aftermarket unit. Depending on the budget i guess you can do the rear shock and just add thicker oil and shims up front or do the front and leaving the rear alone.

i personally feel that the front is more important if you had to choose only one.