Shock Swap with 99-02 R6

[Formula390]

Just a quick FYI...

Here is an example of the lever style compressor I mentioned, this one from Race Tech about 3/4 down the page in middle...

# TSSC 01

Tools

I have more info I will check tonight, And yes F390 thanks for researching, I was already eyeballing a spare FZ600 unit I had laying around but the R6 unit would be much nicer! already asking around from various R6 folks I know....

Yup yup. Looks just like the one the suspension shop I used back in my racing days used. I'll probably go the ratchet straps method. I looked online more and looks like you are completely correct. No need to pull the eye to remove the spring. Yay! I have to admit I'm a dyed in blue Suzuki guy generally. This is my first KTM, and I've never owned, nor likely ever will own, a Yamahahahaha. But I'm quite happy to use the shock off one!

Shipping taking shows the shock should arrive Friday... So I should have news for all how it fits this weekend it's looking like. :-D

 

[Ryanthegreat1]

I though Yamahaha's were Blue and Pukeazuki's are Yellow? And we all know Honduh's are Red.

This is also my first Keep Throwing Money, never had an Orange bike before.

 

[Fasteddy]

Interesting, just went and looked at what I have...

2003 YZF600R Red OEM for sure, 1986 FZ600 both installed and spare shock springs are black, pretty sure a guy I work with has an R6 with a blue spring OEM but I will look around just to see because now you have me curious.

I must be a glutton for punishment taking on another orange project bike, 07 990 SD....

 

[Formula390]

Interesting, just went and looked at what I have...

2003 YZF600R Red OEM for sure, 1986 FZ600 both installed and spare shock springs are black, pretty sure a guy I work with has an R6 with a blue spring OEM but I will look around just to see because now you have me curious.

I must be a glutton for punishment taking on another orange project bike, 07 990 SD....

I've got a few donor springs laying about as well of various colors... Most I know what they came off of. To correlate color to rating however don't you NEED to know the manufacturer? I'm not aware of an industry standard all follow for color x == y rate. If such a standard exists across manufacturers I'd like to shown the errors of my ways!

 

[mr-fabricator]

Well my r6 shock came today

Only had half an hour but i have the following to report .

Standard shock 300 ( possibly 302mm) eye to eye , r6 is 305 so perfect .

Removed stock shock and r6 slips right in , u will need a 1.5mm packing washer top and bottom as the r6 is a little narrower, 66 bottom needs a bush / sleve making to take the ktm bolt or the swing arm mount drilling out to take a larger bolt .

you rea k y couldnt get a much closer match for an oem shock

Spring was yellow on the r6 .

Will call my local suspension guy and ask how much to rebuild it for me ..

Happy days even bog standard and 14 years old its an improvement from stock .

Formula390 , big up yourself dude ...

 

[Bagwell]

Well my r6 shock came today

Only had half an hour but i have the following to report .

Standard shock 300 ( possibly 302mm) eye to eye , r6 is 305 so perfect .

Removed stock shock and r6 slips right in , u will need a 1.5mm packing washer top and bottom as the r6 is a little narrower, 66 bottom needs a bush / sleve making to take the ktm bolt or the swing arm mount drilling out to take a larger bolt .

you rea k y couldnt get a much closer match for an oem shock

Spring was yellow on the r6 .

Will call my local suspension guy and ask how much to rebuild it for me ..

Happy days even bog standard and 14 years old its an improvement from stock .

Formula390 , big up yourself dude ...

Got some Pictures?

 

[SPG]

Lee, how long is the spring on the R6 shock? I am hoping it is 2.25 id and 7 inches long, if so it will match the new springs I bought for the stock shock
Thanks!
-Sean

 

[Formula390]

Well my r6 shock came today

Only had half an hour but i have the following to report .

Standard shock 300 ( possibly 302mm) eye to eye , r6 is 305 so perfect .

Removed stock shock and r6 slips right in , u will need a 1.5mm packing washer top and bottom as the r6 is a little narrower, 66 bottom needs a bush / sleve making to take the ktm bolt or the swing arm mount drilling out to take a larger bolt .

you rea k y couldnt get a much closer match for an oem shock

Spring was yellow on the r6 .

Will call my local suspension guy and ask how much to rebuild it for me ..

Happy days even bog standard and 14 years old its an improvement from stock .

Formula390 , big up yourself dude ...

Excellent. Mine should be here tomorrow. Will head up to the post office first thing in the AM and pick it up. I was hoping a bushing wouldn't be necessary. That's being necessary for the bottom is going to make it more difficult for the non-machinist to easily fit. I can turn one fast and easy enough on one of my metal lathes, but not everyone is going to have one of those. Finding a bushing shouldn't be TOO terribly difficult, but it also means it's not a bolt in and go. The packing washers on each side is no big deal... anybody can swing by their local hardware store and pick up a couple of washers to fit. I -=THOUGHT=- I had read that both eyes were 10mm also tho, so what size is the bottom, a 12? Hopefully that's the case as those bushings are pretty easy to source without having to make one, probably for less than $5 for a pair. The replacement spring will probably run around $100-120 from somebody like Racetech. Changing out the oil (probably a good idea either way) to something fresh should allow us to easily get the damping correctly set and we should be able to find a decent range of oil viscosity based on rider weight. I'm not sure what stock viscosity is, probably 5w tho. If so, that would easily allow one to go to 3w or 7w to fit their riding needs if the basic adjustments at 5w don't prove sufficient.

There should be some additional height adjustment (+4mm to -2mm) with the adjuster on the bottom of the shock. The 305 looked good, but 310 seems to be more what the racers are looking for due to clearance issues. At 320 they are having interference issues, so that was my absolute upper bound... so if with the adjuster it can be moved up to 309mm that seems like it's perfect for all. Racetech also makes an adjuster for that shock for threaded preload, as well as the ride height adjuster on the bottom. I don't know if the threaded preload is required or not if you use their springs. I was planning on calling them to discuss it all once I had the shock in hand and had confirmed that it fit.

Overall tho, awesome! I'm glad it fits! It looked like it would and all my measurements seemed to indicate it would be a good fit... but until you've got parts in hand, you can never be sure!

I think this will overall turn out really well for the community in general and be an excellent option for those who don't want to go the $1000+ aftermarket shock ranges. Even fully rebuild, respring, and revalved, it should still be easily half that cost I would think tho.

 

[mr-fabricator]

The stock ktm spring is bigger in diameter but just from visual , length i dont know . The ktm spring may fit .. the ktm C Spanner for preload adjustment fits the f6 shock so thats a bonus .

I couldnt find a height adjustment on the r6 shock ?? Compression screw at top and rebound adjuster at the bottom .

My rebound works from pushing the bike but compression i felt no change , needs a road test .

Whats the stock r6 spring specs? ?

Yes bottom bolt will be a 12mm so drill the swing arm mount or use a sleeve , if u want to get clever u can turn a new needle bearing bush the same size as r6 but with a 10mm through hole .

Pushing the rear is now damped so after a rebuild, spring and valving it should be sweet . The front is in comparison hourendous !!!!!!! Springs and 7wt oil possibly 5wt for colder climates .

 

[SPG]

Stock R6 spring is 9.3 Kg/mm. On my RC, I just put on a 12.4 and it seems like it should be pretty good. I'll know more after next weekend.
-Sean

 

[mr-fabricator]

Thanks Sean, any idea what the stock RC is rated at ?? I know its a progressive spring but ball park comparison to straight rated spring ?

What weight are you ?? Im 73 kg ( 160lb) without gear , say 180lb sat on the bike

 

[Ryanthegreat1]

~2.25" ID and ~6.25" length installed in the shock with the preload on the middle setting.

I too got my $17 R6 shock today.

Amazing how cheap these things can be had. Need to find me a bushing for the lower. Looks like the lower bearing race slides out, just a matter of finding something with the 10mm ID.

 

[Formula390]

The stock ktm spring is bigger in diameter but just from visual , length i dont know . The ktm spring may fit .. the ktm C Spanner for preload adjustment fits the f6 shock so thats a bonus .

I couldnt find a height adjustment on the r6 shock ?? Compression screw at top and rebound adjuster at the bottom .

My rebound works from pushing the bike but compression i felt no change , needs a road test .

Whats the stock r6 spring specs? ?

Yes bottom bolt will be a 12mm so drill the swing arm mount or use a sleeve , if u want to get clever u can turn a new needle bearing bush the same size as r6 but with a 10mm through hole .

Pushing the rear is now damped so after a rebuild, spring and valving it should be sweet . The front is in comparison hourendous !!!!!!! Springs and 7wt oil possibly 5wt for colder climates .

99-02 R6 Weight:
Dry Weight: 167.5 kg / 369.3 lbs
Wet Weight: 197 kg / 434.3 lbs
Stock shock rating: 9.8kg/mm

RC390 Weight:
Dry Weight: 139 kg / 306 lbs
Wet Weight: 154 kg / 339.5 lbs
Stock shock rating: variable 8.8kg/mm to 17.7kg/mm

Were you able to set your sag correctly with the stock R6 spring? How much do you weigh? ...and NONE of that wacky assed stone crap. LBS or KG only man! LOL I'm guessing if you were able to set your sag correctly without having to monkey around too much, that the spring on there may actually end up being sufficient.

I thought the height adjuster was the screw on the bottom of the shock... but maybe that's the rebound adjustment. I just saw that there was supposed to be a +4/-2mm ride height adjustment.

OK, so looks like a 12mm to 10mm bushing is the route to go... Most of those should come in either 10 or 15mm widths, so 2 or 3 of 'em slid in the existing bottom needle bearing and folks SHOULD be able to find those bushings quite easily online. So, progress made and we are still within the realms of it all being able to be done by anyone without a lathe or specialty tools. Excellent! Swapping out the oil and recharging the nitrogen may end up ultimately outside the realms of a garage wrench, but that's not a hugely terrible deal (my $0.02 at least) if they ended up having the shock rebuilt by a qualified suspension shop with new seals, new bottoming rubber bumper, and nitrogen recharge... Heck they could do that probably at the same time they would have their front end done for them by the boys at GP Suspension or similar outfit. It seems like the front end really is just going to need a set of cartridge emulators. Likely there aren't much of any cheap means around that. I'm going to TRY doing springs and oil first, but I don't anticipate that to ultimately be a viable solution for us Big Boys flogging Little Bikes(tm)...

 

[reenmachine]

I'd better grab one before you people drive the prices up!

 

[SPG]

Hi Lee, If memory serves, the stocker is like 9-18 progressive, so everything from a lightweight one up, to a heavier rider with passenger is (poorly) covered. I think th Cup bikes come with something like a 7.5N spring. I have re-shimmed my shock (a few times) and hope that I'll be pretty close for the races this weekend. I'm 150 w/o gear and my (heavy)_ gear adds another 20.

Matt, I think Barry at GP is working on some new shafts, valves and shims to drop into the forks. He has a set of my spares he is working on (Thanks Jokero for the forks!) So far, my stock front is holding up better than the back with .85 springs and 10wt oil.

-Sean

 

[SPG]

Also, Racetech lists a 2.25 x 7 as the stock spring for the old R6 (same as RC390). Finally, over the full suspension travel, I measured and average 2.8:1 ratio for the shock. This is why it needs such a heavy spring for such a light(ish) bike.

-Sean

 

[RoninJames]

Yep, sounds like we have a winner here. I'm shopping ebay now for one.
Thanks Ryan and Matt for doing the research on this! If you are ever in Philly the first round is on me

 

[RoninJames]

Just got one in really good used condition for $25 shipped. WIN!!!!
Cant wait to sort this out. I have the stock shock at setting 7 and as soon as it heats up its mush. gonna try going to 8 until fingers crossed this baby pans out!
Thanks again guys for doing the legwork and keeping us informed on what works!!!

 

[Ryanthegreat1]

Quick post from the garage.

R6 lower bearing race is;
ID: 12mm
OD: 17mm
Length: 30mm

Rc390
Length: 34mm - I have not pulled the shock just measuring between the mount points on the swingarm.

 

[Treachery]

Cant wait to sort this out. I have the stock shock at setting 7 and as soon as it heats up its mush.

That's been my experience too. How much like a** would wrapping the canister with muffler tape look like?