The R6 Fork

bogdani0405

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Hi,

I posted this comment on the other thread, i'm posting it here also because I see the discussion here is still fresh.

So... Do you still have the FZ6 Forks and the 4 piston calipers? Do you sell them? If you do, how much would you want for them? I want to change the 2 piston calipers I have now on my FZ6 with 4 piston as I heard they break better, but for that to happen apparently I need to change the front forks too. Oh.. and... do you think that for the ABS version the calipers are "special"? It might be a dumb question but... I don't know everything.

Thanks
 
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afpreppie04

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Since mine is an 04 it originally had the 2 piston calipers, I installed the R6 ones with some stainless brake lines while I was at it. I sold off off the FZ6 stuff except the original brakes, no one wants those.
 

bogdani0405

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Since mine is an 04 it originally had the 2 piston calipers, I installed the R6 ones with some stainless brake lines while I was at it. I sold off off the FZ6 stuff except the original brakes, no one wants those.
Hi

I was asking bd43, but thanks for your answer anyway. Quick question though, did you find a massive improvment with the 4 piston calipers against the 2 piston ones?

Best luck
 
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bigborer

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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.
Did anyone find a solution for this? Is this really an issue?
 

FinalImpact

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Not an issue....
The engaged threads are greater than the bolts diameter and taking that in context with force applied is zero risk.
Bolt torque is 66ft/lbs.
Pinch bolts are 15 ft/lbs each...
Plus the pinch bolts basically lock the axle in place.

I wouldn't loose a second of sleep over it.

Grease everything so it doesn't rust!
 

FinalImpact

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Did anyone find a solution for this? Is this really an issue?

One thing I will add is that the tightening sequence is important. Try not to collapse RS outer pinch to a point of having no gap.

  • Snug RS pinch bolts (clutch side of bike) so the bolts have light tension applied.
  • Tighten axle bolt to spec. 66ft/lbs.
  • Tighten RS pinch bolts to spec keeping in mind the outer edge has NO axle for the last 8 - 9mm, so try not to lose the gap completely (leave a gap, 15ft/lbs leaves a gap).
  • Tighten LS pinch bolts.

Install brake calipers keeping mind they need 0.100" Spacer so the caliper centers over the rotor.
 

bigborer

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What if I split the empty space even? Wouldn't it be better to have a gap of ~4,5mm on each side, rather than having one side full and the other 9mm empty? It shouldn't be too difficult to machine the spacers accordingly...
 

FinalImpact

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I'm not sure that is possible with the product available. The point being the OD of the large end of the axle exceeds the permissible diameter of the left side spacer. Milling it 4.5mm deeper turns it into two parts rendering it ineffective at spacing the wheel in the center and providing a fixed axis for the seal to ride on.

Bottom line is why fix something that is not broke! Buy the kit, buy the forks and install them as is.
 

bigborer

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It might not be broke (and I'm 99,999% that it'd be fully functional), but there's (almost) always room for improvement :) .
The spacer from the larger axle length could be machined to have 2 IDs, and 2 ODs. This would probably mean there is only a tiny bit of material separating the small from the large part (or even turn it into 2 parts, as you said), but that could be solved by machining the exterior of the part in a cone shape, or by leaving a few mm of spacer with the small OD before the big OD begins (haven't yet taken off the wheel, but I'm assuming that a too large OD at the wheel side = rubbing with the outer wheel bearing race).

I got the forks but for now the axle is still in transit... As soon as the axle arrives, I'll measure exactly and try to design the spacers so that both the wheel and axle sit perfectly centered relative to the fork legs. Getting the spacers machined from stainless steel will probably only cost me $10-20 at most.
 

FinalImpact

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PS there was a CAD drawing on the server of the spacer by Dako. I may have it if you want it. I hear you about making it better, most of us would end up paying more than $20 for this tho...

That said I've got 5+ years and over 20K on them since install.

My bike is currently apart for lighting, fork oil, and front tire replacement but I left the axle with the bike so I can't measure it. You could make the outer edge larger and not run into the seal as it is against the fork leg which IIRC has room to spare in that area.

When you get it together verify the calipers center over the rotor. They need roughly 0.105" spacer to move them inbound.
 

bigborer

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The CAD file file isn't necessary as the spacers will be made on a lathe, however if you know please tell me how tight should the fit be... for eg if the axle is 25mm in OD, should I make the spacer 25.02mm ID?

About the low price for machining- don't worry, it was more than compensated for by the huge shipping fees I had to pay for the triple tree, wheel axle and calipers :)
 

FinalImpact

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FZ6 - R6 Fork Mod

link to all the files that you need... Good Luck!! cant wait to see the finished product!!

As for caliper selection; the fz and r6s have improved pad wear over the early r6 having its four equally sized pistons. When these are used the leading edge of the pad tips in and wears more making it wear at an angle. The FZ and R6S have slightly smaller piston on the leading edge which helps the pads wear evenly from leading to trailing edge.

If buying calipers, grab FZ or r6s...
 

bigborer

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FZ6 - R6 Fork Mod

link to all the files that you need... Good Luck!! cant wait to see the finished product!!
Thanks! I'll surely get back with the end result as soon as possible :)

As for caliper selection; the fz and r6s have improved pad wear over the early r6 having its four equally sized pistons. When these are used the leading edge of the pad tips in and wears more making it wear at an angle. The FZ and R6S have slightly smaller piston on the leading edge which helps the pads wear evenly from leading to trailing edge.

If buying calipers, grab FZ or r6s...

The calipers I bought from ebay seem to have one smaller and one larger piston on each side. Hopefully I got the right calipers, because I already also bought the OST 2877 TOURMAX caliper rebuild kit for 99-06 R6 (also claims to fit 01-08 FZ1, 98-01 R1 etc).
Please see picture of calipers and repair kit. Please tell me I didn't throw $60 down the drain on the repair kit...

kit-reparatie-etrier-frana-ost-2877-7172877-650x650.jpgs-l500.jpgs-l500.jpg

PS: do you have any ideas for lifting the front end? I planning on doing something like a saw horse http://pop.h-cdn.co/assets/15/50/1449777720-sh01-b.jpg from 8x8cm wooden beans to hang it from with ratchet straps.
 

FinalImpact

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If your bike has a center stand, simply push down on the back and slide a 7 to 8 in tall block of wood under the header.
No center stand it gets a bit harder. You'll need tie down straps up and over a ceiling joist, then loop through the bars. Some properly spaced short blocks under the header could offer stability.

In both cases you'll want to break all critical fasteners free before suspending the bike.

Sounds like a good time to start a new thread.

As for parts, if the seals are all the same size, they would not be compatible with the calipers... I can't tell from the picture.
 
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KB2WYL

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Looks like seals on the right are definitely smaller than on left, as with middle, they grow in size 4 from bottom middle are smaller vs. 4 from top middle. Anyways, a lot of the time these are "stock photos" and don't change with the actual product you are receiving. But, in this case, looks like you got the right ones, calipers and kit...
 

FinalImpact

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It might not be broke (and I'm 99,999% that it'd be fully functional), but there's (almost) always room for improvement :) .
The spacer from the larger axle length could be machined to have 2 IDs, and 2 ODs. This would probably mean there is only a tiny bit of material separating the small from the large part (or even turn it into 2 parts, as you said), but that could be solved by machining the exterior of the part in a cone shape, or by leaving a few mm of spacer with the small OD before the big OD begins (haven't yet taken off the wheel, but I'm assuming that a too large OD at the wheel side = rubbing with the outer wheel bearing race).

I got the forks but for now the axle is still in transit... As soon as the axle arrives, I'll measure exactly and try to design the spacers so that both the wheel and axle sit perfectly centered relative to the fork legs. Getting the spacers machined from stainless steel will probably only cost me $10-20 at most.

Finally reassembled the nose and noticed the axle depth. There is no way the axle is 10mm short of flush (not that we want it flush, that would defeat the purpose of the bolt).... It measured 6.2 mm deep from forks outer edge. Its not a concern as there is plenty of threads mated (more than diameter of bolt) and the axle is past the outer pinch bolt.

Also I installed 0.115" SS spacers which center the calipers perfectly over the rotor. The ones I had in there were 0.070" or so...

Maybe Brad improved the product over the years. All I can say is I'm glad he is making parts that allow this swap to happen!

Thanks [MENTION=15]dako81[/MENTION]
 
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bigborer

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One thing I can't find out for sure, and it's quite hard to measure with precision as my biggest caliper is only 150mm...

What is the total gap that needs to be compensated? The fz6 spacer is 1.805cm wide, and the one here FZ6 - R6 Fork Mod is 2.126cm wide. Subtract and multiply by 2 and you get a total gap to be compensated of 0.642 cm or 0.252". Another guy was selling kits with 0.09" shims to be added on each side next to the fz6 spacers, that totals 0.457cm or 0.18". [MENTION=15974]FinalImpact[/MENTION] you say the 0.115" shims made the caliper center perfectly, so that would indicate an overall gap to be compensated of 0.584cm or 0.23".

Perhaps I'm way overthinking this but I'd like to have the fork legs perfectly parallel. Between the smallest and biggest difference it's 0,185 cm, that's under 1mm on each so the deviation from parallel for each fork leg would be 0.1-0.3 degrees. Am I getting crazy?

Here is a drawing of what I will do, the fz6 spacers are in red, and in green the shim that I will get machined, with the r6 axle offset inwards for even distribution.

spacers.png
 

zixaq

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One thing I can't find out for sure, and it's quite hard to measure with precision as my biggest caliper is only 150mm...

What is the total gap that needs to be compensated? The fz6 spacer is 1.805cm wide, and the one here FZ6 - R6 Fork Mod is 2.126cm wide. Subtract and multiply by 2 and you get a total gap to be compensated of 0.642 cm or 0.252". Another guy was selling kits with 0.09" shims to be added on each side next to the fz6 spacers, that totals 0.457cm or 0.18". [MENTION=15974]FinalImpact[/MENTION] you say the 0.115" shims made the caliper center perfectly, so that would indicate an overall gap to be compensated of 0.584cm or 0.23".

Perhaps I'm way overthinking this but I'd like to have the fork legs perfectly parallel. Between the smallest and biggest difference it's 0,185 cm, that's under 1mm on each so the deviation from parallel for each fork leg would be 0.1-0.3 degrees. Am I getting crazy?

Here is a drawing of what I will do, the fz6 spacers are in red, and in green the shim that I will get machined, with the r6 axle offset inwards for even distribution.

View attachment 68100

I don't remember exactly what the Dako spacers that I used came out to be when I took calipers to them, but putting the wheel in between the forks is a very snug fit for me. It keeps the forks where they line up, or maybe just a mm or two spread apart.

Keep in mind the little recess in the left side spacer that the flange on the axle fits into, so the total extra spacing is reduced by that depth.

You could also measure the gap you need to cover by mounting the wheel with the fz6 spacers to the r6 forks (don't tighten the axle bolt) and measure the gap (if you can get your calipers in there).
 
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bigborer

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You could also measure the gap you need to cover by mounting the wheel with the fz6 spacers to the r6 forks (don't tighten the axle bolt) and measure the gap (if you can get your calipers in there).

I tried to do that but the measurement wouldn't be relevant without ensuring the parallelism of the fork legs before measurement. Just ordered each spacer 3mm / 0.118" wide, hope that goes well.
 
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