Major maintenance: bearings, spark plugs and fork oil

[elus1ve]

I have a S2 model and I'm planning to change the seals next year. Just can't afford them now. Planning to do some cleaning of the pistons only for this year.

Re the brakes, when I referred to using brake grease, it was on the pins/bolts (if S1) the calipers ride on that need cleaning and fresh grease..


What year bike?, S1 or S2?

If S1, it works the same as the rear, the caliper floats and SHOULD center itself for even wear.. Similar maintainance..

If S2, the caliper is hard mounted (4 pistons), to the fork. The 4 pistons come out as the pads wear. Un-even wear for the S2 is usually due to the calipers needing a rebuild. The rubber seals inside harden up, stick and don't retract as they should with no hydralic pressure. Yamaha recommends seal replacement every TWO YEARS..

I've found between my old FJR and current FZ (same ft calipers) you can get 4-5 years before they need replacement.

You should be able to get approx ONE FREE SPIN (with the ft end lifted) spinning as hard as you can by hand. Before I rebuilt mine, I got maybe half a turn. Its been about two years since the rebuild, the ft wheel spins at about 4-4.5 revolutions...

 

[FinalImpact]

How would you go about taking measurements in this situation given the previous springs and spacers aren't of the same length. Ideally it would be to cut the spacers gradually until we get the proper loads but I don't have the tools for that. I'm going to get the directions for the spring install online right now.

I was thinking of getting a slingshot fork cap adjuster on eBay to replace my caps and then start doing finer adjustments on my own. That's assuming that the spacers aren't cut too short. If it's too long I can go to a shop to get it cut again.

I may still have some time until he does the cutting. Should I tell him to cut it longer than measured?

Basically you throw in what you have and get an initial value. Some folks grab PVC water pipe as it cuts easy and its cheap.

W/the forks fully extended the caps are typically loaded during initial contact and then its guessing game for your weight. But figure the springs should be about flush w/the stanchion tubes and then install the caps and test with your weight. Begin the process of dialing in what you want.

Rough guess:
32 - 37 mm Rider + bike
5 - 10 mm bike only

PS - dial the back in first and see what you get. My preference is to have a little more sag in the front than the rear.

Please have him follow the directions supplied with the springs. If later you wish to add the adjustable cap, most are deeper in dimension and will require a shorter spacer. If you get it close now, the math for the new cap is pretty simple.

 

[elus1ve]

The spacers have been cut already so not much I can do now

He said he planned 10mm of preload and I went to read the race tech instructions and they also indicate a 10mm preload value. I am not convinced how accurate his preload measurements are by comparing to the current spring and spacer but again not much I can do at this point.

The sling shot adjustable cap is 7-21mm deeper than the oem cap so in case the preload is not enough, the adjustable cap should be able to compensate.

Will report back when it's done.

Basically you throw in what you have and get an initial value. Some folks grab PVC water pipe as it cuts easy and its cheap.

W/the forks fully extended the caps are typically loaded during initial contact and then its guessing game for your weight. But figure the springs should be about flush w/the stanchion tubes and then install the caps and test with your weight. Begin the process of dialing in what you want.

Rough guess:
32 - 37 mm Rider + bike
5 - 10 mm bike only

PS - dial the back in first and see what you get. My preference is to have a little more sag in the front than the rear.

Please have him follow the directions supplied with the springs. If later you wish to add the adjustable cap, most are deeper in dimension and will require a shorter spacer. If you get it close now, the math for the new cap is pretty simple.

 

[FinalImpact]

As for the caliper cleaning so you get even wear; take a look at this. Using a fat shoe string to clean the pistons. It works great. Just pump them out a bit and lock them as shown. Read on....

FROM THREAD: Crisis takes to chattering, During Hard Braking that is.. .. ..
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-...s-takes-chattering-during-hard-braking-2.html

Pick up at section: OK - on to quick tips. Shoe String to Clean the Pistons:

<< SNIP >>

Those of you running the R6 / R6S forks might want to take note of this even though its not an issue I may make a minor adjustment just the same. I never took to the time to measure the caliper spacer on the rotor but its far from centered.​

CALIPER IS NOT CENTERED OVER THE ROTOR (PIC is Right Front)!
NOTE: The pads are pushed outward against caliper and the gaps are different!!!:

Although this is NOT ideal, I don't see this playing a role in the threads topic. The pistons are not over extended or bottomed. They are not centered so it may impact heat displacement but its NOT causing issues here. This thread has isolated the fault to Tire and Damping rates.

Should R6 equipped owners decide to fix this: Here this info we need to replace the washer and move the caliper inboard for better alignment. (Better angle)

From the milled landing inside the caliper (Outside):

From the milled landing inside the caliper (Inside):

Spacer most of us are using:

OK - on to quick tips. Shoe String to Clean the Pistons:
First, pull the lever a bit and get a couple pistons out. Then tie the lever down so it seals the bleed port. Now when you push in a piston, one or more will pop out as its NOT going back into the MC!

Wipe the brake dust off. A horse hair paint brush, cotton towel, and shoe string work great for this:

No you don't have to use your feet! lol :
Hold the Shoe String against the piston on one side (while holding the caliper in same hand) and pull on the string with the other hand. WALLA! That narrow crack covering the piston is now clean. If you must, saturate the string with brake cleaner and give it tug! It works great!

Crack the bleeder and push all four pucks in. Fit brake pads and release the brake lever.

Pump the pistons out to hold the pads, remove the pin and drop in in the anti-rattle clip. Insert keepers and its on to brake bleeding.

Just thought I'd share.
F/I

 

[elus1ve]

Thanks for the tips! Looks like a good one.

But what the hell man?! Even your brakes are sparkling clean.

As for the caliper cleaning so you get even wear; take a look at this. Using a fat shoe string to clean the pistons. It works great. Just pump them out a bit and lock them as shown. Read on....

FROM THREAD: Crisis takes to chattering, During Hard Braking that is.. .. ..
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-...s-takes-chattering-during-hard-braking-2.html

Pick up at section: OK - on to quick tips. Shoe String to Clean the Pistons:

 

[Hellgate]

As Final said P VC pipe is the was to go. It is very easy to cut.

On the FZ you can easy pop one fork cap off at a time to cut the pipe and adjust preload. You can also stack washers under the cap to increase preload.

Does anyone have the link to the suspension set article on Sport Bike for him?

Once you read the article you'll understand the process. It's pretty straightforward.

 

[elus1ve]

The front suspension is done! Finally!

It took two washers but the preload was 10mm as recommended by the Race Tech springs installation instructions. Didn't do measurements with my weight, but I will do that once I have the fork preload adjuster caps. Both forks are now level on the triple. It's not worth much but here is a comparison of the new v/s old spring and spacer.

With new front tires and still brand new brake pads, I didn't go about pushing the bikes on corners to test out the suspensions but there is definitely a HUGE improvement on braking dive. The front tire used to feel light on uneven road and now no more. It might be due to the new tire as well but I'm guessing the suspension is helping here. Without any sort of personal adjustments whatever, I am already a happy camper so far.

Didn't have time to clean the brake pistons. Guess I should keep some work for winter.

 

[elus1ve]

Oh, and we found the reason why the one fork spring didn't have any compression compared to the other. There was a washer missing in between the spring and the spacer and the spring had squeezed inside the spacer.

This means that since the last time the fork was rebuild, the front of the bike was basically being supported by one spring sounds horrible and it was. Hence the reason why I feel like the front end is a completely different beast now. I guess the OEM springs weren't so bad after all if both of them were providing compression.

 

[elus1ve]

Just thought of reporting that the new front suspension is great and as a bonus it fixed an issue of my bike leaning left when I don't hold the handlebar. I had checked the alignment, tires, etc and could never figure out why it was leaning left. Who would have thought it was the spring inside the fork...