What do I need to install R6S forks?

[turbodan]

On my newly acquired 06 FZ6 I have it apart for fork seals. I discovered that the front fork tubes are slightly bent. I'm not on a performance mission but used FZ6 forks are going for what I consider to be unrealistic prices on ebay right now. They're not that good, seems like they should be cheap. I see some R6S forks available for much more reasonable prices but I believe I need brake calipers and probably wheel spacers as well?

The other option is a new set of upper tubes, Partshark lists them for about $145 each. Not bad, as long as they are still available. I may go that way too depending on what I'm looking at for an R6S front end.

For today I guess I'll try setting up some wooden blocks and beating on these ones with a hammer. That will have to do until I get some straight legs to put on this thing.

 

[Gary in NJ]

Hmm. If I had to replace the forks on my FZ, I wouldn’t use FZ forks. I would take the opportunity to upgrade to a cartridge type fork. The R6 forks are closest to plug and play, requiring some custom wheel spacers. Others have had luck adapting R1 forks (actually entire front ends) but that requires some additional custom work (head bearing and steering shaft). The bottom line is the forks are the weak link of the FZ6, this is a good time to fix the crap that Yamaha gave us.

 

[turbodan]

Some mid stroke damping would be nice. I don't mind the stock forks for street riding though. I could go either way. My main objective here was to keep the fork oil off of the front brakes.

I really went wild on these bent tubes. Supported on wooden blocks with another one on top to deliver the blow from the hammer. That didn't really get the job done. The right leg was bent worse than the left, now they're about the same.

 

[cowbasa]

On my newly acquired 06 FZ6 I have it apart for fork seals. I discovered that the front fork tubes are slightly bent. I'm not on a performance mission but used FZ6 forks are going for what I consider to be unrealistic prices on ebay right now. They're not that good, seems like they should be cheap. I see some R6S forks available for much more reasonable prices but I believe I need brake calipers and probably wheel spacers as well?

The other option is a new set of upper tubes, Partshark lists them for about $145 each. Not bad, as long as they are still available. I may go that way too depending on what I'm looking at for an R6S front end.

For today I guess I'll try setting up some wooden blocks and beating on these ones with a hammer. That will have to do until I get some straight legs to put on this thing.

to swap to r6s fork you will need besides fork tubes, 4 spacers for brake calipers (I believe 06 fz6 has the same size calipers as 07 and 07 calipers fit the r6s forks, but I can be mistaken), 2 special adapters for a wheel and r6s front wheel axle. just keep in mind that fz6 front fender will not sit on r6s fork, so you have to cut it a bit and make adapters as holes for screws do not line up at all. as an alternative you can buy r6s fender, but the problem is that r6s tire profile was lower and fz6 standard tire does not fit, so you will end up buying a new front tire
I did the swap over a year ago and still have an old fork fully serviced and upgraded with race tech springs which make it performing better over stock ones. was too lazy to put it on ebay, but can sell it. PM me if still interested

 

[cowbasa]

R6 Fork Mod Instructions Revived

UPDATE: There is currently no shims available for this mod so if you plan to do this mod, then do not do so until someone else decides to get involved in making them. This is the best I can do at explaining what is involved in doing the R6 fork and brake mod. If I don't do a very good job...

www.sportbikes.net

FZ6 - R6 Fork Mod

here are links with detailed instructions how to do the swap, if you decide to go that way. this is what I used as a reference. enjoy

 

[trepetti]

to swap to r6s fork you will need besides fork tubes, 4 spacers for brake calipers (I believe 06 fz6 has the same size calipers as 07 and 07 calipers fit the r6s forks, but I can be mistaken), 2 special adapters for a wheel and r6s front wheel axle. just keep in mind that fz6 front fender will not sit on r6s fork, so you have to cut it a bit and make adapters as holes for screws do not line up at all. as an alternative you can buy r6s fender, but the problem is that r6s tire profile was lower and fz6 standard tire does not fit, so you will end up buying a new front tire
I did the swap over a year ago and still have an old fork fully serviced and upgraded with race tech springs which make it performing better over stock ones. was too lazy to put it on ebay, but can sell it. PM me if still interested

As @cowbasa mentions if you have 4 piston front calipers, then you just need spacers for the brakes. I have an 05 which had the 2 piston calipers, so I purchased two 07 calipers which I rebuilt and installed on my R6 fork install.

If the 06 has the wrong calipers and you need to purchase replacements, make note that the early R6 caliper pistons are all the same size while the FZ6 S2 and R6S have smaller leading pistons to promote even pad wear from end to end. If you need up change calipers, the R6 calipers are better than what you have, but the FZ6 S1 and R6S calipers are MORE better......er.

 

[turbodan]

This 06 has what I believe are the S1 calipers. The later calipers have the large five pointed torx plugs, mine are solid cast aluminum on the back side. They do have the two different sized pistons though. They're great brakes, no issues there. Quite a contrast to the front drum brake on my 74 DT360. That thing works so poorly it's not even really safe on the street.

 

[trepetti]

This 06 has what I believe are the S1 calipers. The later calipers have the large five pointed torx plugs, mine are solid cast aluminum on the back side. They do have the two different sized pistons though. They're great brakes, no issues there. Quite a contrast to the front drum brake on my 74 DT360. That thing works so poorly it's not even really safe on the street.

I was never unhappy with the S1 brakes, not until I installed the S2 4 piston units. Much better feel and control.

I don't think you have any options if going to R6 forks..... you need S2 or R6 calipers.

 

[LERecords]

Here is the link for the spacer / fender tab cad files if you go the R6 fork route. You will want the first set of pictures for an 06. These all have to be machined (minus the brake spacers) and I would get a few quotes. I have seen anywhere from $50 to $250 for a set. http://www.lerecords.com/fz6/ . Good luck!

 

[turbodan]

I went with cowbasa's S2 forks. The S2 brakes are nutty. Considerably more power than the S1 setup. Definitely one finger brakes.

The brakes were dragging a bit on the test ride. They are thoroughly bled, no air trapped, so I figured I would manually compress the pistons into each caliper just to make sure they are all free. Hope that fixes it. Wouldn't be a big deal to disassemble and clean them, I'd just rather not.

 

[turbodan]

Went with EBC organic pads for these S2 brakes. The stock sintered pads bite hard with little input, on or off. Might be fine once you get used to it but it would take surprisingly little effort to exceed the amount of traction you have available.

The organic pads are rated "GG" just like the sintered OE pads but they have a much more progressive bite. More linear. The power is still there, just not all at once. I recommend them.

 

[trepetti]

Went with EBC organic pads for these S2 brakes. The stock sintered pads bite hard with little input, on or off. Might be fine once you get used to it but it would take surprisingly little effort to exceed the amount of traction you have available.

The organic pads are rated "GG" just like the sintered OE pads but they have a much more progressive bite. More linear. The power is still there, just not all at once. I recommend them.

I will show a little bias here. The only mistake you can make in buying EBC brake pads is to decide NOT to buy them. The rest is a 'Vanilla vs Chocolate' argument. I LOVE the sintered pads, have run nothing but them since 2012. So I can tell you 2 things:
1 - You definably use them progressively and modulate them effectively
2 - You MUST use equipment that gives YOU confidence, not me nor anyone else. Confidence in using your controls is the most important part of your connection to the bike.

I recall reading a Keith Code article where he says that, with confidence, you start thinking WITH the controls instead of thinking ABOUT the controls.

Glad you have a setup that you trust, you will be a better rider for it.

Ride Safe