The R6 Fork

bd43

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If you're like me and are considering doing the R6 fork mod, here are some pictures of the right FZ6 (2007) fork leg beside the left R6 (2003) to compare for what lies ahead.

You can read about my R6 fork install here... https://www.600riders.com/threads/r6-fork-install-another-one.29543/

The R6 fork is on the left easily recognized by the anodized blue preload adjuster on the top of the fork tube while the FZ6 fork is on the right. The black section of the forks is typically called the fork leg. The shiny upper part is typically called the fork tube. Two obvious differences evident in this picture are the R6 fork leg is shorter, and the overall length of the FZ6 fork leg is longer.
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The FZ6 fork leg is longer by about a 1/2". I'm not sure how much this is going to affect the bike's geometry, but technically, this will probably decrease the rake angle and therefore the amount of trail marginally which will lead to a more nimble turning bike. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I would assume as the trail decreases, the less stable the bike will become.
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If you didn't need a front fender then the critical mounting points relative to the center of the wheel axle are the brake caliper mounts. These are the two larger mounts with holes closer to the bottom of the same side of the fork leg. Both the FZ6 and R6 legs in this regard have the same dimensions.
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Who rides without a front fender? The remaining two mounts with smaller holes on the FZ6 fork leg, one on either side of the leg are the mounting points for the stock 2007+ fender. Looking at the picture, we see the mounts are not in the same location relative to the center of the wheel axle or the upper caliper mounting hole. Some additional hardware is required to extend the mounting points for the fender on the R6 fork leg. A member on this forum provides this hardware, dako81, or if you know the dimensions, you can fabricate something up yourself.
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As a reference, I took two pictures of the fender on the stock FZ6 forks relative to the front wheel.


I would hopefully expect that after the installation of the fender on the R6 fork legs, this distance won't change, but because the taper of the R6 fork leg near the top of the leg is almost 3/4" lower than the FZ6 taper, this could present a problem. It would be interesting to see if anyone who has done this mod noticed that their front fender is closer to the wheel.
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Finally, there is the front axle. The silver color one is the FZ6 axle and the black is the R6 axle. The R6 axle is almost 1" shorter than the FZ6 axle. The inner face of the R6 axle hole of the leg on the left appears to be closer inward than the FZ6, which might make up for the shortness of the axle.
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This may be an optical illusion as the new spacer is 0.836" in width compared to the 0.707" FZ6 spacer. Wondering now how this R6 axle is supposed to work.



Anyway, I'm organizing to do this mod and preparation is everything for a job to go smoothly. Next step, get off my seat and get a move on it.
 
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zigzagg321

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yes, thanks for the pics and comparisons.

Is it just me, or does the FZ fork (shiny part) look thicker than the R6 fork (shiny part) ?
 

liquiddragon86

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what exactly will the mod end up doing for the bike? from what i read from you it ends up making the bike less stable? but what ultimately are you going for when switching the forks?

****EDIT**** Never mind i ended up doing a little bit of quick searching... spose i shoulda done this first haha.
 
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bd43

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You had me worried there for a second; both the FZ6 and R6 fork tubes are the same diameter of just under 43mm.

I’ll just share some final notes about the R6 fork. Since these R6 fork legs came parted off a 2003, I decided to change the fork oil. The Yamaha manual calls for “01” fork oil. The local dealership had Yamaha S1 fork oil which was twice as much as the Bel-Ray. It took some time with the service tech and then Googling for this, Yamaha 01 fork oil has the equivalent of 5wt, so I picked up a liter of Bel-Ray 5wt at half the price.

The oil that came out of the fork was a murky watery oil with sediment settling to the bottom of the container.


The Bel-Ray fork oil, dark blue in color, seemed a little thicker.


A couple things I forgot to do while I had the fork apart was check the springs for a couple of things. I didn’t check the spring free length or confirm that the smaller pinch of the spring was facing upward. I basically re-installed the springs the way they came out. I’m kind of kicking myself for not checking either of these so if you get a hold of some R6 forks and decide to open them up, be sure to check these out.


Fred and Pete mentioned this in their fork mod way back when about the length of the axle. I’ll just point out here, with the R6 forks installed on the FZ6, the R6 axle comes in short, roughly 9mm. Not sure what do about this.


Some final tid bits of information.

The FZ6 fork has a 130mm (5.1”) travel. The R6 fork has a 119.4mm (4.7”) travel.

The FZ6 fork leg weighed 4.145 kg (146.2 oz). The R6 fork leg weighed 3.548 kg (125.2 oz).
 
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(none)

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Do you know off hand how much oil the forks take? I put my R6 forks on over the winter and haven't gotten around to changing the oil yet...
 

CCHOUSEKY

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You got it right, afpreppie. The FZ6 axle slides through one fork leg and then screws into the other one. The R6 (R6S) axle slides through both fork legs and has a bolt on the other end that screws into the axle.

I've had my R6(S) forks on for 3 seasons now and absolutely love them. I've had no problems with stability, as I think they actually make the bike MORE stable (once you get them dialed in to the correct preload, rebound, etc.).

One thing I haven't done is change the fork oil and I should. Mine are off a '07 R6S, so they're obviously much newer than the same forks from a '03 R6 (although it's the same forks, model-wise). I need to do some research and change that oil next winter.
 

y0s_bikey

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cool, I'll get a R6 axle as the fork that I bidded doesn't comes with it.
Lets say if we mount up a R6 fender, is there any problem?
 
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CCHOUSEKY

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That's what I did. The forks I bought on eBay didn't come with the axle, so I had my dealer order one. I think it was like $17. Very inexpensive.

Here's the problem with the R6(S) fender, even when used with the R6(S) forks on a FZ6...wheel size. The R6 uses a 160-55-17 front tire...the FZ6 uses a 170-55-17 front tire. What's that mean? The FZ6 front tire is taller than the R6. Because the FZ6 tire is taller, it means you're decreasing the space between the fender and the tire and could potentially encounter some rubbing problems. I wouldn't recommend it.
 

y0s_bikey

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That's what I did. The forks I bought on eBay didn't come with the axle, so I had my dealer order one. I think it was like $17. Very inexpensive.

Here's the problem with the R6(S) fender, even when used with the R6(S) forks on a FZ6...wheel size. The R6 uses a 160-55-17 front tire...the FZ6 uses a 170-55-17 front tire. What's that mean? The FZ6 front tire is taller than the R6. Because the FZ6 tire is taller, it means you're decreasing the space between the fender and the tire and could potentially encounter some rubbing problems. I wouldn't recommend it.

Cool, Thanks for the information. In that case I'll just stick to the Fz6 fender. I was still thinking to change to the CF R6 fender as R6 parts locally they are easily available rather Fz6 parts.
 

afpreppie04

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I have an R6 fender on mine and am actually going to pick up an 07+ FZ6 fender to replace it. Yes, the R6 fender is a lot easier to fit and it looks better than my 04-06 fender did, even matches my frame, but as mentioned it runs a LOT closer to the tire. Aside from the fact that R6 tires have a lower profile, their triple trees are also not as wide, so when you put the R6 fender on the FZ6 triple it stretches (and in turn lowers) even more. I elongated the bolt holes to let me move the fender up a little bit but even so there is only a couple mm gap between tire and fender. I can take a picture of it tomorrow if you want.
 

y0s_bikey

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That will be great! Bro. I liked to clarify another thing, say I'm getting the spacers from dako. I will be replacing the R6 collars with the spacers from dako right?
 

y0s_bikey

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That's what I did. The forks I bought on eBay didn't come with the axle, so I had my dealer order one. I think it was like $17. Very inexpensive.

Here's the problem with the R6(S) fender, even when used with the R6(S) forks on a FZ6...wheel size. The R6 uses a 160-55-17 front tire...the FZ6 uses a 170-55-17 front tire. What's that mean? The FZ6 front tire is taller than the R6. Because the FZ6 tire is taller, it means you're decreasing the space between the fender and the tire and could potentially encounter some rubbing problems. I wouldn't recommend it.

That's a very good price! I check from yamaha genuine parts website, it actually cost $52.49. But locally I can get them at SGD$32.
 

y0s_bikey

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haha can't wait to get my butt in the track real soon... its been ages since my last entry to track.. Have u received your rearset? After u have install do let me know ya! Let me have a look at the beauty! that will be coming soon after the remaining mods upcoming...
 
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