ninjette.org - View Single Post - DIY - GSX-R Rear Shock

ForceofWill · March 8th, 2014, 04:20 PM

So I just finished installing my GSXR rear shock and promised I'd do a write up. Here it goes.

Things you'll need:
06-09 GSXR 600 Rear shock
New dogbones ( http://burkhartcycle.com/store/index...dex&cPath=7_34 )

A drill press with vice and 31/64th bit.
2x M12x120-130mm bolts with matching nuts.
4x M14 Nuts (perfect spacers)
1x M10 bolt with nut (length rougly the same as the top shock bolt)

Something to grind with, preferably a bench grinder. I only had a dremel and it SUCKED.

Let's begin:
Put the bike on stands and remove the fairings to include the tail section. Then remove the black plastic dirt guard. To remove that plastic piece the battery is going to have to come out and so is the battery box. Then just disconnect all the wiring from it and it should pull out the back when you unscrew it.

Now you need to find a way to suspend the bike without a rear stand that uses spools. Since you're going to be taking the suspension out you can't use the swing arm. I used jack stands under my rear sets. If you still have the stock folding style foot rests you're going to have to use a jack under the motor.

Then shove something under the tire to support it. The rear seat works perfect for this as you can see.

Now you can start removing the shock. Start at the bottom and remove the three bolts on the V shaped piece that attaches the shock, dog bones and frame. Then remove the single top bolt and it pulls right out.

This is the V shaped mount I talk about.

The next part is where it gets tricky for us normal folks. I'm sure this was nothing to people like alex.s and Rexbo but I don't have a machine shop on hand. I actually bought a drill press and vice for this occasion.

The bottom part of the shock where the dog bones will attach is for an M10 bolt. Our V shaped metal piece I talked about earlier is sleeved for M12. So we need to drill out the holes on each side to 31/64th. The best way to do this was on a drill press with an attached vice. You could probably get away with a drill and a vice though.

The top mount for the GSXR shock is an M10 also. The metal sleeve in the bushing is not very thick in the first place and I really didn't feel comfortable drilling all the way through it with a 31/64th bit so that's where the M10 bolt comes into play.

After we've drilled the holes on the bottom mount of the shock to the correct size, it's still too narrow on the inside to fit our stock mount in. This is where we have to grind until it fits together. I ground down some of the steel sleeve, some of the stock mount and some of the inside of the GSXR shock mount until it all fit together. There's really no easy way to get this done, it just took a lot of grinding and trial and error until it fit in there.

That's really the hardest part and once you have them fitting together you can go ahead and re-install in reverse. The dog bones will not clear the GSXR spring without some sort of spacer though. The M14 nuts work perfect for this and they're cheap.

So when you put the bottom back together 2 of the three holes in the V mount will have the stock hardware. The one hole where the dog bones hook up will have to look like this.

Bolt-Dogbone-M14nut-mount-M14nut-dogbone-M12nut

You're going to do this on both ends of the dog bones and it should clear perfectly. You'll see my bolts are slightly long but 130mm was the closest I could find that would work. 120-125 would probably be fine as well. If you notice you can't get the shock to line up for the dog bone holes, remove the seat from under the rear tire. This will drop the swing arm all the way down and then you can use your foot under the tire to adjust while you line up that hole.

Since the top mount on the frame is drilled for M12 but the GSXR shock is an M10 and we're using an M10 bolt, there's going to be a little play at the mounting holes when you put it in. I'm not concerned about it because the metal sleeve in the bushing of the shock is the correct size and we are going to tighten down the top bolt with the suspension LOADED. That way any play in the frame holes has been pushed up to the top of the hole and rebound alone while riding won't move it.

All bolted up.

I'm sure I'll think of some other stuff and add to this later to clean it up.

March 8th, 2014, 04:20 PM	#1
ForceofWill Blind 250 Loving Whore Name: Tom Location: Chesapeake, VA Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2008 250R, 02 FZ1, '20 Fat Bob 114 Posts: A lot.	DIY - GSX-R Rear Shock So I just finished installing my GSXR rear shock and promised I'd do a write up. Here it goes. Things you'll need: 06-09 GSXR 600 Rear shock New dogbones ( http://burkhartcycle.com/store/index...dex&cPath=7_34 ) A drill press with vice and 31/64th bit. 2x M12x120-130mm bolts with matching nuts. 4x M14 Nuts (perfect spacers) 1x M10 bolt with nut (length rougly the same as the top shock bolt) Something to grind with, preferably a bench grinder. I only had a dremel and it SUCKED. Let's begin: Put the bike on stands and remove the fairings to include the tail section. Then remove the black plastic dirt guard. To remove that plastic piece the battery is going to have to come out and so is the battery box. Then just disconnect all the wiring from it and it should pull out the back when you unscrew it. Now you need to find a way to suspend the bike without a rear stand that uses spools. Since you're going to be taking the suspension out you can't use the swing arm. I used jack stands under my rear sets. If you still have the stock folding style foot rests you're going to have to use a jack under the motor. Then shove something under the tire to support it. The rear seat works perfect for this as you can see. Now you can start removing the shock. Start at the bottom and remove the three bolts on the V shaped piece that attaches the shock, dog bones and frame. Then remove the single top bolt and it pulls right out. This is the V shaped mount I talk about. The next part is where it gets tricky for us normal folks. I'm sure this was nothing to people like alex.s and Rexbo but I don't have a machine shop on hand. I actually bought a drill press and vice for this occasion. The bottom part of the shock where the dog bones will attach is for an M10 bolt. Our V shaped metal piece I talked about earlier is sleeved for M12. So we need to drill out the holes on each side to 31/64th. The best way to do this was on a drill press with an attached vice. You could probably get away with a drill and a vice though. The top mount for the GSXR shock is an M10 also. The metal sleeve in the bushing is not very thick in the first place and I really didn't feel comfortable drilling all the way through it with a 31/64th bit so that's where the M10 bolt comes into play. After we've drilled the holes on the bottom mount of the shock to the correct size, it's still too narrow on the inside to fit our stock mount in. This is where we have to grind until it fits together. I ground down some of the steel sleeve, some of the stock mount and some of the inside of the GSXR shock mount until it all fit together. There's really no easy way to get this done, it just took a lot of grinding and trial and error until it fit in there. That's really the hardest part and once you have them fitting together you can go ahead and re-install in reverse. The dog bones will not clear the GSXR spring without some sort of spacer though. The M14 nuts work perfect for this and they're cheap. So when you put the bottom back together 2 of the three holes in the V mount will have the stock hardware. The one hole where the dog bones hook up will have to look like this. Bolt-Dogbone-M14nut-mount-M14nut-dogbone-M12nut You're going to do this on both ends of the dog bones and it should clear perfectly. You'll see my bolts are slightly long but 130mm was the closest I could find that would work. 120-125 would probably be fine as well. If you notice you can't get the shock to line up for the dog bone holes, remove the seat from under the rear tire. This will drop the swing arm all the way down and then you can use your foot under the tire to adjust while you line up that hole. Since the top mount on the frame is drilled for M12 but the GSXR shock is an M10 and we're using an M10 bolt, there's going to be a little play at the mounting holes when you put it in. I'm not concerned about it because the metal sleeve in the bushing of the shock is the correct size and we are going to tighten down the top bolt with the suspension LOADED. That way any play in the frame holes has been pushed up to the top of the hole and rebound alone while riding won't move it. All bolted up. I'm sure I'll think of some other stuff and add to this later to clean it up.