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HOW TO: 05/06 wheels onto 03/04 zx6r without a kit!

38K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  MiguelAngel 
#1 ·
So this is my bike with the 03/04 zx6r 3 spoke rims. I wanted to upgrade the looks as well as functionality of my bike by utilizing the 05/06 zx6r 6 Y-spoke rims. From here on out, I’ll refer to my bike as the 04 and the wheels I’m adapting on as 06. There has always been quite a lot of interest to get the newer wheels on, but a lack of adapter kits available (i.e. Royce’s kit). With this how-to, I’m hoping I can help the community to do this modification much easier with more accessible parts. I will assume at this point that you know how to remove and install the two wheels. I will also suggest that you have a torque wrench, front and rear stands, and a decent set of sockets and ratchet. If you don’t know already, you will need a front axle nut removing tool (craftsman 13/16 spark plug socket works great from sears plus an extension) and a 32mm socket for the rear axle nut.


To start off, we need to make quite a few measurements to determine exactly what we need to do. I know there are various people who have done this mod before and posted up some various numbers, but I explicitly wanted to make sure the measurements were indeed correct and take pictures of the measurements as well to make this how-to. For this modification we’ll go ahead and split this up into front wheel and back wheel. For the front wheel, it has been confirmed that to utilize the 06 wheel with 04 rotors, there needs to be no additional spacers period. The 04 rotors and 06 rotors have the same bolt pattern and are interchangeable. In fact, I am still running the 04 rotors until I find a good deal on some 06 rotors to swap. When the time comes then, I will need to use 4 spacers that are 10mm in length (one for each caliper mounting bolt) and 10mm longer bolts as well. This accounts for a 20mm larger overall diameter for the 06 rotor as opposed to the 04. The picture can be seen below from royce’s thread. These spacers, however, not necessarily need to be machined. High grade nuts that have the correct inner diameter and measure 10mm tall will work just as well.


For the rear, it is slightly more complicated than the front. The following pictures will show some of the measurements that I measure to determine what needs to be changed for the use of the 06 wheel.

From the end of the 04 wheel bearing hub to the edge of the swingarm is 12mm. This will be used to confirm that once we get the 06 wheel on, the sprocket will be in line as before down to the mm. But for the most part, the 04 and 06 wheel hub on the sprocket side is identical and should mount up exactly the same as long as the spacers on the right side are made appropriately.


On the rotor side, the rotor disc sits 29mm away from the inside swingarm edge.
(sorry forgot to take a picture of this)

Now to determine the total width of each year’s wheel, I used the 04 axle along with all the wheel spacers and measured the remaining visible length of the axle. Look at the pictures to see how I did it. Just fyi, the 06 axle is much shorter in length. So including the 04 wheel spacers on the 04 wheel, the remaining length is 96mm. The 06 wheel with the 04 wheel spacers has 111mm. So the 04 wheel hub is roughly about 14 to 15mm wider.
04 wheel = 96mm
(forgot to take a picture of this sorry).
06 wheel = 111mm


Coincidentally, if you take one of the outside chain adjustment square blocks plus the washer that goes on top of it (outside of the swingarm), it comes up to about 15mm. If you take this and stack this on top of the 04 wheel spacers with the 06 wheel, the remaining length on the 04 axle then comes up to the same even 96mm.






Let’s try mounting that up to see how that’ll work. I didn’t include the washer on it because frankly it wasn’t enough clearance to get the axle through and mount the wheel. I’ll address this later.


Looks pretty good besides the brake rotor being set back. This is because of the much shorter hub on the 06 wheel. You can testfit the caliper on and see the gap missing.


Let’s measure approximately how much the gap is = 11-12mm.


The rotor also sits at about 41-42mm away from the edge of the right swingarm


So it seems we need a spacer on the axle approximately 15mm and spacers on the brake caliper mounting bolts of approximately 11mm.

So kwak-636 came up with the idea to use a brake caliper bracket to make both spacers using one piece, essentially just stacking a second caliper bracket next to the first. He had his machined to 11mm thickness for both and although it worked (because the axle nut will tighten down the swingarm anyhow so a difference of a couple of mm wont make a big difference) I really wanted to just follow my measurements to be as exact as possible. Here’s another stock brake caliper bracket.


Both parts are much more than the needed mm.




This is where either you can get it machined at a local machine shop to the right lengths or you can use your own patience and time to do it with a bench grinder. When you grind this bracket, you will need to shave down the right (swingarm) side of the axle hole so that it will sit flush with the original caliper bracket. For the caliper brackets you want to shave down on the OPPOSITE side (left; closer to rotor side) so that again it sits flush against the original caliper. Also shave it down as uniformly as possible to get a flush fit.


This is the bracket partially shaved down and also next to the stock one. Be sure to take some sandpaper or a dremel and sand down the edges of where the bolts and axle go. If you don’t, it will make the axle through much harder and possibly even make cut marks into the axle.






Initially I wanted to keep the whole bracket and just shave down the appropriate parts, but to have both brackets sit flush required much more shaving than I wanted, so I just trimmed down the bracket so it looked like below. It works much better I think.
 
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#2 ·
However once I tried to mount it, the initial 15mm was impossible to get it mounted with the wheel spacers. It was simply too close of a fit. So I ended up shaving down the axle part of the spacer down further to 13mm.




You will then need to get new bolts for the caliper mounting bolts to accommodate the extra spacer. I got mine at Home Depot for under a dollar. They are allen head metric bolts 8mm x 40mm long with 1.25 pitch. 40mm however is much too long, so again use the grinder or dremel or whatever you have at your disposal to cut the threads down. Initially I calculated they needed to be about 34mm long, but this was a little bit longer than I wanted and sat too close to the rotor for my comfort. I shaved them down to a final 32mm






Make sure you can barely feel them come out the other side of the caliper holes.


Once you tighten everything, go ahead and measure out the actual width you extended on the second caliper mounting bracket. It should sit 11-12mm away. Similarly, the axle part should be approximately 13mm spaced out. Then go ahead and measure out the 12mm from the swingarm edge to hub edge on the sprocket side from the first step. Your rotor should sit approximately 40-41 mm away from the edge of the rightside swingarm (29mm + 11 or 12 mm).


From here, you can go ahead and swap the sprocket back to the 04 sprocket on the new 06 wheel. Make sure to torque down everything back to oem settings and use blue threadlock on all bolts/nuts. Mount everything up and roll the bike on foot around to make sure you have enough clearance first before you get on and start riding. Make sure to also check tire pressure.
Both wheels axle nuts = 94 ft-lbs
Sprocket = 43 ft-lbs
Rear caliper mounting bolts = 18 ft-lbs
Front caliper mounting bolts = 25 ft-lbs
Front axle clamp bolts = 25 ft-lbs
Front rotors = 20 ft-lbs

Hope that wasn’t too long of a read, but at least it’s more convincing rather than just me telling you what to do or how many mm to make the spacer. Enjoy your new setup.



Disclaimer: I am not responsible for what you do or any such modifications on your bike. This is purely for informative purposes and I will take no liability for your actions. Proceed at your own risk.

Special thanks: kwak-636, jessdog, cajunltr.
 
#4 ·
nice write up ,

just to help here are the exact measurements, these were not taken with a ruler and are dead on the money to keep the geometry correct

if your using the 03-04 stock rear wheel spacers you will need to add a 14mm spacer and if your using the 05-06 ti. spacers you will need to add 16mm spacer (what ever you use the wheel spacer and the spacer you make should equal 30mm)

for the rear brake caliper you will need to space it in 11mm or move the rotor out 11mm

for the front you were right if your using 03-04 rotors you need nothing and if your using the 05-06 rotors you will have to space the calipers out 10mm
 
#6 ·
Quick question... Can I swap the current "collars" (I think that's what they're called) from my '03 wheels onto the '05 wheels if I get them out by removing the old bearings from the older wheels? I bought new bearings for the new wheels, but I don't want to spend $40 on collars if I don't have to. Anything Else I'm forgetting for the swap? Wheels, bearings/seals, spacer kit... thats it I think?
 
#7 ·
not sure why you need to swap over the bearings and seals. didnt your 05 rims come with those in it already? you just use the spacers from the old 03 set and youre set.
 
#8 ·
I bought my wheels OEM, brand new. Nothing installed. I bought the wheels, and the bearings, but there are these metal tubes inside the hub between the bearings that are called "collars", and I'm hoping I can use the one's I already have from the old wheels... or at least the front since the hub size it identical.
 
#11 ·
If you're going to going on the caliper bracket it would be safer to get them machined and make sure they are square and in 90 degrees from the axle plane. Or you will wear out your wheel bearings or cause other problems.
 
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#13 ·
I heard the 07-08 swingarm lines up perfect. Is this true? also if using 08 swingarm, 08 rear rim & 08 rear caliper? what else do i need, what chain and sprocket do i use? my bikes an 03 zx6r
 
#22 ·
Hey there, I'm new to bikes and don't have experience in customizing bikes. I have an 03 and there's everything I need to buy for swapping, but still not sure what you mean when you said this. Can you show a better picture with some arrows pointing or better explanation? And how do you shim it? How do you check to be sure?

On the RH side, remove the chain guide and cut a rectangle slot in the guide and trim the retainer as shown to clear the TAB on the inside of the frame/ pivot area. And (It may be necessay to shim the lower links 1mm-2mm to match the offset and prevent misalignment. Check to make sure.)
 
#18 ·
No mods needed if doin the 08 set-up right?
 
#20 ·
Well i defiantly would like to put 06 wheels on my bike but this just seems like a lot of work. Does anyone have a kit for sale. I found a decent set of wheels just would rather it be plug and play then grinding down another caliper bracket. Anyone?
 
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