Total: $474.98 :rock: :boobies:

That's $474.98 you could put towards forks :sneaky

I dunno man, for me its hard to be so sensible.

 

Fark man, I was thinking about that too... I should just go for gold... Literally. :crash

So you have racetech gold valves now? If so, you are pissing in the wind by buying an ohlins piston kit. That would not be considered an upgrade.. It sounds like the shim stacks are your problem. Or if your talent is actually exceeding what your forks can offer you need to get cartridges..or full on ohlins forks.

I don't have RaceTech's gold valves. (RaceTech checked sag, double-checked my work) Just an Ohlins MKII (Graves spec) w\shims in the rear and the OEM SOQI 20mm forks :dunno I am debating on going Ohlins 30mm FPK over stock 20mm...

I know many riders on this forum are novice, but honestly, we wouldn't be having this conversation if it were only my ambition wanting to outperform my setup... :sing: I've logged many hours at Willow Springs and grew up in the socal canyons on my 600rr... Ohlins internals gave me that plush feel I wanted for that setup, but I'm not hearing any takers in the crossplane world... Everyone's going carts or forks for this bike... Even SpotbikeTrackGear.com posted a new youtube vid on doing the cart upgrade on an '09 :dunno

I'd move up the carts. They have more feel (IMO) and one ride with sag set you'll easily be able to tell the difference.

The 30mm NIX cartridge price (along with labor costs/or tools) isn't that far off from the 206's...

You need to change to a linear spring and scrap the progressive stock ones. Even if they are the same "size"

Yes, you are correct. Didn't think about the OEM springs being progressive... Damn. And this also increases my cost... Not by much (about $100), but it's making me lean towards the forks even more- Having full-range of adjustability and being able to swap springs easily while rocking shiny gold would be better bang for buck to me... Given my stock forks would've been eventually sold with an Ohlins FPK upgrade :dundun:

 

So you have racetech gold valves now? If so, you are pissing in the wind by buying an ohlins piston kit. That would not be considered an upgrade.. It sounds like the shim stacks are your problem. Or if your talent is actually exceeding what your forks can offer you need to get cartridges..or full on ohlins forks.

 

This... I thought the Racetech was preferable over the ohlins because of a wider range of adjustability. I know they were more expensive and Kent at GMD recommended them... I "settled" for ohlins guts in mine due to price (he had a used set too so I saved even more).

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I'd move up the carts. They have more feel (IMO) and one ride with sag set you'll easily be able to tell the difference.

 

You need to change to a linear spring and scrap the progressive stock ones. Even if they are the same "size"

 

Really? Cool... yea he set up my r1. I love it. He did my dads 88 fzr 1000 back when he was at cycle nuts and bolts. Dads the one who referred me. Kent's an awesome guy I recommend his work every chance I get.

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from the looks of it he has stated that racetech simply adjusted his settings but did not install anything. his front forks are stock, so i would say the FPK kit plus new oil may be exactly what you are looking for at the moment.

im going through this as well for my R6, im doing the FPK and oil for my forks and i have a TTX in the rear. i really wanted to do the full 30mil kit but at the time i cant justify it. later on i may upgrade but for now even with my bike being a pretty much dedicated track bike i dont need the 30 mil kit.

it comes down to your digression at the end of the day, i think this set up will give you the feel you want on the street for a fraction of the price. if down the road you decide you need more, well then id say two things A) chances are you should tone it down a bit on the street and start taking trips to the track and B) invest in forks or the 30mil kits and sell off the FPK kit to off set the price a little.

 

Oh... in that case I love mine. Maybe bump up a notch to the gold valves. I would have if I wasn't buying all my suspension stuff at the same time.

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Like he said you can always sell the forks with the upgraded guts if you decide to take it up a notch again later.

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if your talking buy once cry once then he may as well buy the black version for just a bit more then the gold ones lol

 

Even used Golds will make you tear up, a little :lol

 

Stock pistons are 30mm in the 09+. The spring are progressive. Get straight rate springs. The oil is too thin, in my opinion.

Make those changes and you'll be surprised.

Also, did you change any of the damping/preload settings when going from street to track? I change my settings all the time, but I'm a rookie rider.

Bottom line is you have to justify your purchase. How you do that is up to you, not us. And knowledge is your friend. The more you understand the dynamics, the better you can tune your bike or talk to someone who is trying to do it for you. I can assure you that there is no one "by this and all your suspensions woes will go away" product as of yet.

 

Stock pistons are 30mm in the 09+. The spring are progressive. Get straight rate springs. The oil is too thin, in my opinion.

what do you recommend for fork oil? finally got my RAceTech cartridge holding tool, rebuild time! :sneaky

So what do you guys think? :crash No one ever really came out and said they have an 09+ with the Ohlins 30mm FPK installed and have any real reviews about it... (Minus Baccus40's plans to install the kit)

wow, how did i miss this thread!?? yes i'm finally getting a ROUND TUIT! its very pretty, n' shiny!! :hammer:

sorry for the delay, I had to find a fork cartridge holding tool which Yamaha does not manufacture any more.!! hahaha

at least none of the dealers i talked to could get one, closest they could think would be down in Texas..

alas, I found this one!!@

RACE TECH FORK HOLDING TOOL TFCH 04A - 09+ R1
{TFCH 04 is listed as Yamaha R6, but i believe they are the same thing..}

i took a chance and ordered from POWERSPORTJUNKIE as they are on sale @ $75.47 SHIPPED

PSJ is new to the market, been around for just over a year or so... great customer service, they had to order
the tool from RT directly, so it took an extra 4 days, but it is exactly what i need to finally install my OHLINS FPK!

maybe i'll drop 'em in and take the bike out for a rip before i do the rear shock... we'll see...

but yeah, sorry took so long.. i'll get a review up as I am able to.. :lol

 

hey thanks for the quick response, i had this very conversation with some of the locals and they were all afraid to switch up the weight...

Most were trying to tell me it would not work with the Ohlins FPK, and i would probably mess it up... I could not understand how that could be possible,
all it really does is slow the damping noh!??? glad i asked, i'll try n' find some Maxima tomorrow... i went with 4wt last time and i really didnt like it..
I could not put my finger on it but it felt as if having proper RT springs on there just brought out the worse about the stock damping.. thank god for Ohlins!

great news everybody! we're under way!.. i'll post up some pics of the process once i get it all going...

 

great news everybody! we're under way!.. i'll post up some pics of the process once i get it all going...

:jump ill bet there are quite a few that are looking forward to a 'how to' thread for this. :thumbup :sneaky

 

no worries, i had a little chat with Ben, we both think its time we had a proper write up...

1st time i rebuilt them with RT springs, it was a touch and go kinda thing... i'm pretty sure we can get it right this time around..
i'm actually doing the forks just so i can get my head around the shock build! :lol

 

Kudos to you bro... I'm very mechanically minded and do all my own work but the suspension I pay for. You got bigger balls run me!

 

to be honest, it really isnt all that complicated, bolt off, bolt on... as long as you pay
extreme attention, its all very doable..

helps that my buddy is a machinist, but it could be done if proper tools are bought...
i just new we could get it done for dirt cheap... i'm very glad i took the leap of faith..

rebuilt forks got me all the way down to San Francisco and back... without a single issue.. i had to learn to work 'em so i can swap oil out every season... so :dunno


i've grown up with a mechanic for a father though, and so did he, so i gues it kinda runs in the blood :thumbup

 

Thanks for hopping in this thread DanQ and Bacchus40!!! GL with the fork rebuild! Take lots of pics and let us know how it goes :yesnod

 

no worries mate, you've got great timing... i'll see if i can get out to my buddy's place
and take care of it tomorrow...

 

all is well, that ends, FVCK!!! D'oh!!!


unfortunately, I have bad news... just finished up COMPRESSION SIDE

while we were busy having fun, and not paying the utmost attention,ahahha..
we were dropping the final spring and washers that make up the tail end of the Ohlins valve pack... and wouldnt you know it.!!

the Check Valve Shim, it was not centered properly with the rubber sleeve thats supposed to sit right on the bottom of the valve itself... :cryin
and of course we ended up cutting into it when we tried to bolt the whole thing in..

part number OHLINS CHECK VALVE SHIM 01115-26

of course there is another one of those on the REBOUND valve so
we just used that one to slap together the rest of it!!


it kinda blows but whatevs... right? COMPRESSION {LEFT FORK} IS done!!


DanQ to the rescue!! hahahah.. i guess i popped my SHIM CHERRY!! :shake

 

That's a bitch but a good learning curve I guess. :lol

 

yeah it was bound to happen i guess... i got away with it this far, no issues...

funny thing is my buddy was bolting it on while i held the fork leg, "snap... silence"

ahemm... what was that i says.. oh thats just the spring settling in.. hahahhaha... :1pok:

hugh!??? you sure.? i dont know dude... ohhh fack... :dundun::shake

basically, the rubber/plastic spacer is supposed to sit in a little cutout on the center of the valve,
then the check valve shim around this... unfortunately we did not realize this, as there is very little
room to see whats what {1st time around didnt help either}. as we tightened the nut, the plastic
spacer pushed on the shim and bent it out of shape... we did check to make sure nothing was left
behind and I think we're good, but i'm so anal about stuff like this we'll probably open it up once more
when i do the other fork and make absolutely certain nothing is gonna bind in there... everything went
back in really easy.

Fork Oil levels were measured with the springs out, 117mm + 5mm from the top of the outer fork tube
the extra 5mm was DanQs suggestion as i believe i did experience a little bottoming out once or twice
when i did dropped the RT springs last time {I went with 0.95 kg/mm springs instead of suggested 1.0kg/mm, 0.97kg/mm is
what a 200-225lbs rider would need, guess its a compromise but i think its a little more comfortable on long touring trips..
no need to run 5-10mm shim as suggested by some, which would have been placed as a base for the actual RT spring.
While allowing me to pre-load the spring, DanQ suggested this is not the proper way of doing things, as it would throw
everything else off and it will make it difficult to find the sweet spot once i start adjusting... another amazing tip by Dan the MAN!


I took a look at the pics from earlier but they're not very good, Nexus camera needs better light..
i'll try to get a couple better ones next time around... to be honest i did not find we had as much
time to document everything as we're always double checking things, moving from step to step
in a brisk manner so we dont miss anything.. the instructions in the service manual are relatively easy
to follow though, most of our attention went to keeping everything really clean, and not introducing
any dirt / particles into the tubes... i did at least find the RT cartridge holder tool will come in handy in the future.
There was a lot of old arse oil collected at the bottom of the cartridge, yuck.. most
definitely need to clean that up every season from now on... :fact

SERVICE MANUAL PAGE 4-60 TO 4-65 , forks section... pretty easy to follow

I'll get some shots of the tools and post 'em up with a description of what they do once i get the other fork finished.

 

i've got some great news! I just spoke to Mike Fitzgerald {Thermosman}, THanks for the heads up DanQ. Mike was very helpful! he immediately knew what i was talking about, the backing shim he says? :shake :yesnod

ohh thats not a big deal, while equally important as the shim stack, it can be replaced with ANY shim which matches the dimensions 8mm Inner Diameter {I.D.}, 18mm O.D. {outer, d'oh}, with 0.20mm thickness.

According to Mike, any suspension shop would have one laying around and I can probably get it for free! which is awesome, I know just who to call :bow :fork

i'm gonna play it safe though and spray out the cartridge with contact cleaner and blow it out /compressed air in a can. we cant be 100% certain a small sliver, how-ever tiny,
may have clipped off the shim and you know how buttons bounce, just my luck it probably plopped perfectly through the valve & bounced off the shim stack, into the cartridge... :cryin

at least its not a massive inconvenience, I need to go out to the shop in order to remove the shock spring {dont worry, i'll take pictures} anyway. :gengar:


i think i'll have to purchase one of his t-shirts!! in XXL of course hahahahha :hammer:

 

Glad you're on top of it. :thumbup

 

on top of it, beside it, underneath it... i'm sure i've got it covered... now i just gotta figure out how to raise the tail up in the air w/out
nocking the whole thing over.. looks like we misjudged the distance to the hoist....

hmm, maybe i'll just finish the forks b4 I touch the rear, what do you think? :dunno

:lol