Got it installed!

Lets see, drilled out the shock mount holes to 15/32", bought a pair of 120mm 12mm. fine thread bolts, 4- 9/16" nuts that are exactly 1/2" wide for use as dog bone spacers, 4 flat washers and it just about fell into place. I had to trim the plastic flap under the battery box, a trim with a long saw blade in the sawzall and no clearance issues at all for the reservoir and no rubbing!

The first test ride showed it was VERY firm. I spent about 45 seconds under the hood and took the rebound and hi speed comp from 1.5 to 3 turns out and it feels like the stock valving. Not bad for a minutes test ride and a second minute of tuning! I did a cold 20 minutes and it feels very good, it can only get better as I experiment with it, I haven't even touched the preload yet.

So, I'll play more with it and think the best thing besides all the adjustment will be just turning in some comp when I carry a passenger. We managed to bottom the stocker once in a G-out hit at 65 MPH. No harm and it was good enough but now I can tune for the extra weight.

 

Page 1.

 

It's done. I started a new thread so the info isn't buried so deep.

GSX-R Shock Install Step-By-Step

 

Is there a "best" year to shoot for on these shocks?

 

Na, but it is obvious. You identified the flap, right? Trim it at its base on the box. I was able to slide a long blade in a sawzall in from the side and trim it right off. Go slow, it is just plastic. A sharp knife/heat gun will probably do it in time too.

 

yes 600 and 750 parts are the same

 

here is my product list from mcmaster-carr for the shock install.



the spacers will be drilled out to 12mm, and i got the 10mm washers because the 12mm washers were actually 13.something ID. im just going to drill the 10mm out to 12mm for a precise fit plus the OD of the 10mm washer is more inline with what im doing.

then drill the upper and lower mounting holes of the shock itself to 12mm and open the clevis up a little bit with a file.

oh, and trim down the plastic flap. bought a 10 dollar dremel for that at harbor freight, but im going to wait and get a precise measurement.

 

We're all these bolts needed exactly? Wondering because that came out to be more than the shock itself! hehe. Also since you are done with install. How do you compare it to stock?

 

Still waiting on all of these detailed pics of the install lol

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD

 

OK. Got it installed today. Took quite a bit longer than expected, mostly because widening the clevis at the bottom of the shock took me a long time and I had to go to the store to get a better file.

I was thinking it might be good to write a more step by step install with pics if anyone is interested. For people like me something like this would have been invaluable. As it was, this thread was very helpful, but there a few unknowns I would have liked to have known ahead of time. Let me know and I'll put it together.

I set it up to all stock settings as outlined above, except for the spring preload, which I left where it was. I'm not sure if I need a new wrench to adjust or will the Kawasaki one do? I think you need two wrenches, right?

Impressions so far, it's good. More firm, more planted. Doesn't seem to dive as much in braking. Hit a couple mid-corner bumps that might have upset the stock shock and this one seems to take it well. I'm gonna have to learn about when to make adjustments and what they do to get more into that.

 

i was thinking it might be good to write a more step by step install with pics if anyone is interested. For people like me something like this would have been invaluable. As it was, this thread was very helpful, but there a few unknowns i would have liked to have known ahead of time. Let me know and i'll put it together.

please!

 

Delta, you ever write that guide? I'm interested in doing this simply because it's such a cheap mod, but I don't know if I can handle it to be honest (even though I've torn apart car motors before and worked on them).

 

I got my GSXR shock this past weekend. I'll be painting it first and then a few of us will be installing it sometime in the next couple of weeks.

I might snap some pictures and write up a quick guide if nobody beats me to it.

 

I didn't see your post Ilya or I would have started to think about this. There didn't seem to be any interest around the time I did the job so I decided not to bother. Let me start collecting mental notes and I'll see if if an write something up in the next day or so.

 

Please do- installing mine in a couple of days as well and everybody is saying it is more of a project than they expected. Thank you Sir!

 

Got the shock today. Length was right, but forget it going together with the stock link arms. I got it in place by simply trimming the flap under the battery box. The upper bolt would need a pair of thin bushings as the GSXR uses a thinner bolt, no big deal. The lower clevis of the GSXR shock needed to be widened by about 1.5mm, again, easily done with a slow hand on the bench grinder. I bolted the thing in loosely and the two arms hit the lower spring area on the shock before they lined up. Darn it! Off by a good bit too.

 

Ah-ha!!!! I found out how to finish the shock install!!! .5" spacers on each side to move the dog bones out to clear the shock and 15/32" bolts that are 5" long. Found it on a thread at ninjette forums after a google search. I've already drilled the shock upper bushing and lower clevis, I'll be bolt shopping and hopefully bolting it back in over the next day or two.

 

OK, the bottom shock mount hole needs to get drilled bigger too.

 

Do you have any pics of it you can post?

 

I copied & pasted my thread from another site to show this conversion. I've put well over 1000 miles on it now and it is awesome. The bike tracks better, it is firmer and more controlled. It is not more plush or gushy, as I prefer it to be firm and transmit alot of feel to me, I like to be connected to the road thru the bike.

It is completely adjustable, spring rates are available in a wide range if one needed, fully rebuildable and it can be revalved to suit the individual riders needs.

I am 210 and 6-01". The spring rate is within a tenth of a lb of the stock shock as I recall. It hit a good race sag number out of the box. I didn't have to adjust preload at all. I'll be trying more in the future...

The few spins of the adjusters I originally made have not been changed, though when the temps go up enough to get the tires sticky I'll experiment with them to really dial it in.

This mod leaves the forks feeling really inadequate, and they are! That is my next project in chassie tuning.

 

 

Here's a picture of mine.

 

Can i rise up the seat height with this shock? i wanna make it as tall as the ninja 636 and get me some rear sets `cause i`m dragging the side of my boost

 

did you upgraded to a gsxr shock also peanut?

 

how much did this gsxr shock lift the rear of the bike? if any.. these shocks are so cheap I think I need to pick one up

Will I need to get lowering links to bring this back to stock height??

 

Exact same height. Eye to eye is identical. It is a no brainer, I sold my stock shock for $80 to a 250 guy. It is a better piece for him, if only slightly, and fresh, so he was happy. Why he didn't do this GSXR swap we may never know. Lots of riders believe that stock OEM is the only choice and the best one.

It paid for both of my shocks, the hardware and a couple of steamy cups of coffee so no complaints!

 

I forget which ones are identical to the 07, there is a chart on ninjette somewhere about it. The 07 has the same length and is within .01 of the spring rate of stock. They are not difficult to find either.

 

Going bolt shopping today, should be able to start this mod next weekend as my shock will not get here until mid next week.

Either of you have a better pic on how much needs to be trimmed off the undertail??

 

would it be cleaner to notch around it or would that interfere with the adjustments? I cut cutting the entire flap off would just be easiest though haha..

I am picky for making things look factory... I can only imagine I will under cut it and file it down to a nice smooth edge hahha

 

You can't see it, even with my un-retouched saw cut. It just disappears.

 

Gotcha, guess I just need to drop the shock into place and see whats up..

With the pod filter mod part of the undertail hangs out past the frame, so I will probably remove this section.. Its normally covered by the air box lid and the opposite side trim cover.

Wont know for sure until I get most of the bike back together though..

 

Open air always looks better.