2003 R6 Would I be better of getting a complete setup from a newer bike, or have the stock forks valved? If it is better from a newer bike what would be the year getting them from, so I don't change the bike much from stock? I would assume I need to keep the forks in same location so rake is the same on the bike. And I also would assume some of the newer forks are longer.
Those bikes can be made to work really good with either a 20mm kit in the stock forks or a cartridge kit like the AK20. I wouldn't put a different front end on it.
a front end off a new bike likely wont be any better than your stock forks... unless u also revalve those or put cartridges in them. so the swap is just extra cost, almost wasted $$. when setting up a bike, its never a good assumption that everything should stay in the same location. racers often vary their fork and shock lengths a ton compared to stock. 20-30mm for forks and 5-10mm for shocks arent uncommon. find a good tuner that has worked with your bike, pay them, and then ull know.
if you are wicked fast, there may be some benefit to putting on the 2005 r6 front end on the bike. but it's seriously too firm.. i wont' even tell you what Jensen and Thermosman came up with to get more front feel out of the front of the 05r6 .. the 03-04 front end feel, with conventional forks, is fantastic. Why? cause the front end moves ! it's not crazy stiff. the only benefit to the inverted forks may be the 310 rotors vs 300mm rotors, but pretty sure you could get a braket to offset the caliper and get oversized rotors.. a 2005 or later front brake master cylinder and good pads (perhaps the ebc gpfa will provided more grab, i like the less grabby epfa pads..) will give more braking. the 03-04 master cyl is not the radial design and wasn't as good as the 05-current
What did you guys do geometry wise to these things? I also just picked one up. I've got an Ohlins rear shock coming in the mail this week and I was just going to do the 20mm generic Ohlins valve kit in the forks, unless there is a real compelling reason to spend four times as much for the 25mm carts. Fork height? Rear shock length? I'm talking ballpark baseline... My bike came with the clipons mounted above the triple so I was going to swap that when I pull the forks. I have .95 springs to go in the front and this Ohlins shock has the usual 105 spring on it. Hopefully this isn't too far off for 180ish lbs, but I'd like to know if I am wrong before season hits here in Arizona.
yes, as you suspected, you will have some fork tube showing above the clamp once you install racing clip ons.. thermosman would be able to tell you what to do with setup. i don't have notes on these bikes any longer.
Last notes I have are 12mm above the clamp and 302 eye to eye. The AK-20 are really nice in that bike, but even just a decent revalve works good. My 03 had tons of feel in the front. Then I twisted the forks up like they are made of butter, they are, that is why they have so much feel and I grafted on an 06 R1 front I had. Bike has been crap ever since. But I'm cheap and stupid so I just ride it like that, but I am consistently 4 seconds off my old times at the same tracks. Meh. I'm old enough to not care, as long as I beat the guys I work with. That isn't really working out either... But I'm smarter than them! Hmm, how did he just buy a new car.... A Porsche.... Fuck.
Thank you, that echos the whispers I've heard about rear height. Are you measuring the front level off where the clipon used to sit or level with the 'deck' of the triple? (I assume level with deck but gotta ask!)
Errr. I think it was where the clip on used to be. That is like a decade ago. Do you really expect me to remember your name? (LOL) I cant imagine I would never ever measure off of something that wasn't close. So I am totally going with where the fork enters the upper clamp and measure from the top. I like high COG for tracks in the south so....
The measurement reference? The spec reference in my notes, that made sense back then, or the swap of the forks to a modern upside-down variant? I didn't work on the 99-02 models so I can't provide direct input there.
Yes, keep the major OEM components in place. Factories do a very good job of making the bike the best it can be for that year and they do it as a package. A decade later better stuff shows up. Those are things that were never part of the original design specification and could change things for the worse. Upside down forks on the 03-04 R6 is a great example.
yup. took a prefectly balanced bike, from tip to tail, and made that thing mega rigid. tough to get feel from the front end.
I don't know, I loved my 05 front end (with AK20's) that I ran on my old 01 R6. The brakes were much better, actually I ran the 320 mm R1 rotors. I liked the geometry a little better, the 05 front end had less offset than the 01 clamps. The 5 spoke wheel is lighter than the 3 spoke as well. All positives, and it worked really well. I do remember guys running the 05's with their top clamp bolts loose, I guess Jensen or Fitzgerald started that. I thought it was fucking stupid, and never did that myself.
I'm simply running the 20mm Ohlins FPK (along with correct spring rate) and Ohlins 46PRXLS rear shock on my (identical to your bike) '08 R6s. I swear this bike is damn near telepathic. There's a reason that many low-cornering folks have frequently remarked that the second-gen R6 had one of the sweetest front-ends of all time........it just works so well with so little.
Weight, spring rates, rear shock height, and front length above triples? These are some of the numbers I've come across from some people in this thread and some time on Google. Front - 15-30mm above triple / Rear - 302mm eye-to-eye with 180 tire, 297mm with 190 tire Front - 11mm above triple / Rear - 305mm eye-to eye with 190 tire Front - 12mm above triple / Rear - 302mm eye-to-eye with 180 tire STOCK - 25mm above triple (note: stock front tire was a 120/60) / Rear - 295mm eye-to-eye with 180 tire
