I just picked up a '06 ZX6R from my future bro-in-law and he did mention it had lowering links and the handlebars were dropped. Well, I bought stock dog bones and brought it to a shop to slap in and raise it up. Turns out they think my forks were cut? And there's still "something" keeping the rear low. I'm not sure what else it could be. The shock/spring in the rear looks stock...the forks-fine I'll take his word on that. I tried to research the lowering process in hopes to reverse engineer what else I need to buy to bring this back up to stock but I'm kind of stumped at this point. Could the rear shock/spring been manipulated too? Any advice is much appreciated. I'm not familiar with this bike at all (clearly). Also, new to these forums. Hello.
heres my two cents...
-forks could be cut
-seat could be shaved
-Removed/Shortened preload spacers on top of forks springs
-added spacer to under damper rod
-a lowering triple tree clamp
-machined spacer rear lowering blocks
-hack job to rear shock springs and tightened preload
-low air pressure
-possible you weigh less than previous owner so its preloaded spring/sag won’t compress under your lighter load?
-possible your bike is possessed?
Haha, these responses crack me up. The dude is 5'0 and I'm 6'0. Just realized the kickstand was cut and welded too. Geez.
Anyway, this is all theory crafting at this point. I did bring it to a reputable shop in my city but the tech who worked on my bike was just throwing ideas at me as to why it's so low. He just simply said "he must've done something else to it as well possibly cut the forks...I don't know why it's still so low-it feels like a 250." I've never heard of that but I'm kind of rookie to these bikes and everything I could find from googling the crap out of the internet was links and leveraging a lower triple tree-that's it. After the new links were installed I can still have my feet flat planted on the ground with a slight bend in my knee. Maybe that's normal for a 6-footer? I know he also swapped out the seat to some Corbin-brand seat which is clearly lower but overall this bike still feels like crap in the corners (took it Thunder Hill for a lap then parked it). What should I be measuring? The handlebar height and the seat height?
Sorry-super rookie, and here's the pics I have of the ZX-6R sitting next to my slightly lowered 335i for reference (if that's even helpful-probably not). I also had my homegirl sit on it before I put the stock links on and raised the triple, she's 5'4.
The chassis height above the ground, is the principal measurement you need. Most suspension sites should offer something to tell you what the OEM numbers are intended to be.
Everything about the suspension is affected by the chassis attitude.... how it is angled, with respect to the ground, how high off the ground the steering neck and the swing arm pivots are. The plane between those points is supposed to have a specific angle with respect to level ground.
The angle of the steering neck (rake) is critical to how the bike steers. I would expect the stated number for your bike should be in the vicinity of 25°. That's 25 degrees off of vertical. 1,2 degrees make a very large difference, especially if the fork becomes more vertical. It will become more and more twitchy the steeper the angle.
A stock shock and linkage from eBay should be cheap. With that installed you will know the rear is correct height unless the mount on the frame was messed with. You should be able to see if your rear shock spring was cut. For the forks, there are specs in the manual that will lead you to the spring length. Not sure about the spring spacers bUT fork sag measurement when you are on the bike should be approx 30-40 mm. The fork tubes should not protrude more than 10mm through the top of the triple tree. Hope this helps.
I purchased the stock links from ebay along with the mounts and stuff, they were cheap-$40 or so. Guess I'll pick up a rear shock too. Not sure if I should invest into a 2012 ZX6R rear shock/spring since supposedly they fit and work a bit better? I read a few posts here and other forums where it's a viable option. They're also even cheaper on eBay (average is like $20-$30).
Put a real shock in it, i.e. Elka, K-Tech, Ohlins, Penske, et al. You will not regret spending one cent!
People (guys) are reluctant to spend the money on suspension, 'cuz it's not as sexy as a new exhaust, shiny spikes, or some other bling. Just like a magpie. :nerd
I have not yet, right now I'm just focused on trying to get it to a stock height. Damn, that's at least an 1" or more higher. Is it possible this previous owner cut the forks? I asked the shop about adjusting that rear spring he said that won't modify height at all. This thing has no "bounce" to it at all, it's hard as a rock and super hard to ride. Dude couldn't have been more than 130lbs, I float between 185-200 depending on my workouts/season. Maybe my best bet is buying a new rear shock/spring on eBay and a pair of used forks?
The shock in the picure looks like it has little to no preload. That will make the rear sag way too much. Read a bit about setting sag and do it. A good shock is expensive. I believe it's worth it but I shred canyons. You may not need it if you are just gonna ride around town. A newer shock is better than an old one but milage is the most important indicator of use. Elka shocks are great and cheaper than Ohlins by far. If money is tight consider an Elka.
Personally I would have sold the bike to a short person at a premium and bought a different bike. Probably worth it to someone to not have to spend a lot of time and money to lower it. Setting up a bike for a 5ft rider is hard work.
Yeah it's not that close but I could see that happening. I am leaving as is since it's decently ride able for daily commuting but I have new forks and a nice new shock coming this week
Just received a new set of forks today. It's a good 5" where my fingers are. I know there's no load, but it looks way taller than what I have. Currently bike is being borrowed but will measure ASAP.
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