GSXR Shock dogbone solution!! Cheap too!

[ChrisJuliano]

So ever since I wanted to swap my 2009 gsxr shock onto my ninja 250r, I was trying to find a dogbone that raised the ninja back up to stock height. I came across after tons of searching since Rexbo does not sell them anymore, a site called http://burkhartcycle.com/store/ which at first seemed like the only place selling dogbones that raise up the ninja instead of lower since the GSXR shock lowers the ninja a decent amount (for a light weight rider like me since my preload was set up the most the shock would allow), so I needed around a 1.25-1.5" raise on the dogbones to keep my suspension sag within spec.

I emailed him and he made me 1.25" raise dogbones, which put me at 26.5" total distance from the center of the chain tensioner on the chain side, to the highest corner most part of the rear side fairings where it meets the tail light/rear seat cowl.

This is exactly where I wanted it, which is very close to stock height with the gsxr shock, I am going to email him and see if he can make 1.25, 1.5, and 1.75" raise dogbones for us. If its not on his site soon email him and im sure he can make it happen hes very helpful and I have nothing but great reviews so far. And at $17 you cant beat it!


http://burkhartcycle.com/store/index...roducts_id=204


I could have washed it up before I took pic, oh well!

[sharky nrk]

That is really great!!!!

[ForceofWill]

Very nice to see some progress on this. I've got mine coming with 1" and 1.25". Looks like the 1.25" should work nicely.

[Aodrn]

Im curious about the rise with a stock shock. I wanted more ground clearance. I want to drop my forks the rest of the way to sit flush with the top of the triple. Then I want to raise the back to keep the geometry correct. I think I would need a substantial rise from the rear though. Any thoughts on how much is too much?
This is a great price, I may just buy in to experiment.

[ChrisJuliano]

If I had to order it again, I would go with 1.5" rise just so its a little more than stock.

They are so cheap I may just get the ones with multiple locations when he makes them.

If you guys have any ideas for parts for him to make message him (post up on here too so I can see what people come up with). He said he is more than welcome to develop parts if we have ideas I have been talking to him via email ever since I bought these parts and I am very pleased with his "small business attitude" and great customer service.

[Aodrn]

So it looks like I could drop the forks 3/8 of an inch. I wonder how twitchy it would be with a 1/4 raise up front and a 1" in back

[subxero]

glad to hear they worked well and they seem to be reasonably priced which makes this an even better budget mod.

If anyone else does the shock mod can you do some before and after measurements of some things so we are not just shooting in the dark here?

I am going to do it, but probably won't get to it for a week or 2 at best

[Xtina]

Urge to degrease rising.

[mania]

Originally Posted by Aodrn

So it looks like I could drop the forks 3/8 of an inch. I wonder how twitchy it would be with a 1/4 raise up front and a 1" in back

I think opposite of twitchy...Although I may be confused by what you wrote
First you said drop the forks then later raise the front so I am thinking you meant slide the forks down into the top triple clamp?

If so the opposite of twitchy/quicker steering because
sliding the forks up into the triple clamp changes rake/trail & makes the bike quicker steering which is something I dont care for myself.
Looses its neutral turn in feel & has a ledge where the bike goes from neutral feel to falling into turn at a different rate at some point in teh lean.

That of course is just my opinion of having raised the forks into the triple an extra 3/8" or so to accommodate some top side clip-ons.
I disliked it so much after two rides sold those clip-ons

But sounds like your going the other direction so I would "expect" slower steering.

http://bikearama.com/theory/motorcyc...ail-explained/

[ForceofWill]

Originally Posted by subxero

glad to hear they worked well and they seem to be reasonably priced which makes this an even better budget mod.

If anyone else does the shock mod can you do some before and after measurements of some things so we are not just shooting in the dark here?

I am going to do it, but probably won't get to it for a week or 2 at best

I plan on doing a full DIY with pics and measurements when I get mine in. Maybe this weekend since they should be here by Thursday.

[Aodrn]

Originally Posted by mania

I think opposite of twitchy...Although I may be confused by what you wrote
First you said drop the forks then later raise the front so I am thinking you meant slide the forks down into the top triple clamp?

If so the opposite of twitchy/quicker steering because
sliding the forks up into the triple clamp decreases rake & makes the bike quicker steering which is something I dont care for myself.
Looses its neutral turn in feel & has a ledge where the bike goes from neutral feel to falling into turn at a different rate at some point in teh lean.

That of course is just my opinion of having raised the forks into the triple an extra 3/8" or so to accommodate some top side clip-ons.
I disliked it so much after two rides sold those clip-ons

But sounds like your going the other direction so I would "expect" slower steering.

Raising the front would slow the steering, but I want to also raise the rear. The smallest raise on the rear is 1". Raise the rear 1" and the front 1/4" would give a steering effect of 3/4" raise of the rear. I just dont know how steep an angle I can have before the handling is too twitchy.

[mania]

Originally Posted by Aodrn

Raising the front would slow the steering, but I want to also raise the rear. The smallest raise on the rear is 1". Raise the rear 1" and the front 1/4" would give a steering effect of 3/4" raise of the rear. I just dont know how steep an angle I can have before the handling is too twitchy.

I do not think raising or lowering the rear has the effect on steering
Has an effect on chassis front/rear weighting I imagine.
But raising or lowering the rear does not change rake/trail afaik

Edit: Oops my bad
"Rear suspension – lowering it will increase rake and trail"

[Klondike1020]

This would be great for street fighter builds!

[sharky nrk]

Originally Posted by Aodrn

Raising the front would slow the steering, but I want to also raise the rear. The smallest raise on the rear is 1". Raise the rear 1" and the front 1/4" would give a steering effect of 3/4" raise of the rear. I just dont know how steep an angle I can have before the handling is too twitchy.

I have the rexbo dogbones on stock rear shock lifting the rear of the bike. It is great, not overly twitchy but even more responsive. I could have dropped the forks but I wanted to raise the bike slightly as well rather than drop the front for the geometry change.

[Aodrn]

Originally Posted by sharky nrk

I have the rexbo dogbones on stock rear shock lifting the rear of the bike. It is great, not overly twitchy but even more responsive. I could have dropped the forks but I wanted to raise the bike slightly as well rather than drop the front for the geometry change.

Rexbo made 1.25" rise didn't he?

[sharky nrk]

they were 156mm eye to eye, not sure off the top of my head what that amounted to in lift on the stock shock. I know that is was a lift even with the GSXR shock so they should be at least the 1.25 units, maybe even closer to the 1.5

[sharky nrk]

I know that even with the 156 mm bones, people raising the fork legs out of the triples so the 1.25 unit will NOT be too twitchy on the stock shock with stock fork height

[Aodrn]

Originally Posted by sharky nrk

I know that even with the 156 mm bones, people raising the fork legs out of the triples so the 1.25 unit will NOT be too twitchy on the stock shock with stock fork height

Well....now maybe I will bypass the 1" and go 1.25". Although my tire is the bigger 140 pirelli. That may make a difference as well. Maybe I will just get a gixxer shock and I can pretend I didnt jack this thread like it was in GTA.

[Xtina]

I was under the impression that the gsxr shock was the same height. No one else has mentioned it except this thread to my knowledge. I even heard in some threads it raises it. So how much lower is it actually?

[ChrisJuliano]

Mine is a 2009, and at my body weight (155) to get my sag within 1.5-1.75" I had to spin out all the preload (which lowers the bike, more preload raises it up), so if your a bigger person then it may actually raise it up.

[ForceofWill]

Alright so my shock came in today. Still waiting on the dogbones I ordered though.

This is the best I could get for now for measurements eye to eye. Mine's from an 06-07 600.





My ruler ends just before the eye. Seems to be right at the bottom of the lettering.

So +/- 2 mm I'd say

[ForceofWill]

~315 ish mm

[quarterliter]

How different are the pregen bones to the new gen ones?

[sharky nrk]

Originally Posted by ChrisJuliano

Mine is a 2009, and at my body weight (155) to get my sag within 1.5-1.75" I had to spin out all the preload (which lowers the bike, more preload raises it up), so if your a bigger person then it may actually raise it up.

Either way it seems the bike benefits from being propped up on its nose a bit, both with the stocker and gsxr shock

[Somchai]

Originally Posted by ChrisJuliano

...which put me at 26.5" total distance from the center of the chain tensioner...

Chris wouldn't it be better to measure from the center of the rear axle because that's the reference point from where the bike touches the ground? Just my guess...

@sharky nrk, thank's for the information and with that what @Rexbo said I see that my quick drawn picture was not so much wrong, because I've got 10mm where Rexbo has the measured number of 9mm (shock vs dog bones).

[ChrisJuliano]

I didnt know where everyone measured so I just used an easy point of reference so others could measure theirs and determine what setup they want to order.

[subxero]

Here two more helpful threads regarding the GSXR shock. Figured it is nice to have some of this stuff in one location

Cheap things to do to make your gsxr shock better
http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=126734

dialing in your gsxr shock
http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123572

another potential useful link
unit conversion chart
http://www.huskyclub.com/springs.htm

[subxero]

just sold a few things on ebay, money should clear in a day or two and then I am going to start buying everything to rebuild my suspension front and rear.

Game plan for now is, springs and emulators for the front, gsxr shock for the rear, new rear spring for my weight, and the doggy bones to make it work.

Should be pretty solid when all is said and done.

@ForceofWill how are things going with the shock?

[ForceofWill]

Haven't got the dog bones yet. Paid him Saturday but no shipping confirmation yet so dunno. Once I get them I'll be starting.

[ChrisJuliano]

When it came to shipping I got nothing, basically ordered it and got no email.

It took him about 2 weeks to get mine, but then again he also did have to make mine custom, not sure if he made a bunch yet or not.

[ForceofWill]

Ok cool thanks. I'm hoping its soon since he has the measurements now.

[subxero]

@ForceofWill did you give this guy measurements for your dogbones you want, or measurments on shock ect...?

Once you get your dog bones from this guy do you think you could gets some measurements on them for me?

[ForceofWill]

Just got the dogbones in today from him. I'll get the measurements. He said he had them already for 1" and 1.25" raise so I just ordered it like that.

[ForceofWill]

So the +1.25 look right at 156mm middle of eye to eye and the +1 look like 158.5mm to me.

[ChrisJuliano]

Good info!!!

[ChrisJuliano]

I have been riding on mine recently, its raised up a little from what it was stock feels PERFECT! 1.25" raise

[DCMoney]

Originally Posted by ChrisJuliano

I have been riding on mine recently, its raised up a little from what it was stock feels PERFECT! 1.25" raise

Thanks for the update!

[subxero]

I'm gonna cut and drill some 1.25" riser dogbones probably this weekend for my gsxr swap mod. After I do some measurements I might make mine a little shorter eye to eye ~2.5mm = ~1/4" in height change so I might drill 157mm eye to eye time will tell

I should have enough T6 for at least 2 sets, meaning an extra set if anyone is interested shoot me a PM I could let them go pretty cheap and ill send them priority so you will get them in a few days and not have to wait. Given I don't ef up the first set

Now keep in mind these won't be show piece material, nothing fancy here, they will be cut, drilled, deburred and painted black.

[ForceofWill]

Just measured mine, sitting right at 26.5" from the bottom of the swingarm to the tip of the tail fairing pieces. You said you're at 26.5" from the middle of the rear axle?

[ChrisJuliano]

Mine was measured from the middle of the chain tensioning bolt.