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2013 ZX6R Suspension

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28K views 47 replies 12 participants last post by  CJZX6RN00B  
#1 ·
Hello everyone, I'm rather new here to the forums and I've owned my new 636 for almost a month now. I'm 6ft tall and 225 pounds. Can anyone tell me if the suspension out of the box is ok for my weight or if I need to adjust it?

The ride is smooth and no vibrations or anything, its just its somewhat bouncy hitting bumps and when I apply the brakes aggressively, botttom line is it seems a little bouncy. Please advise. thanks in advance.
 
#4 ·
I'm about 200lbs 6'3. For mine, I was able to get a fairly solid setup for street riding with the stock rear spring by adjusting pre-load rather than replacing the spring. For the BEST setup, you'd want to replace the spring with something designed for your weight and riding style though.

Check out some of the suspensions setup vids on the Youtube channel OnTheThrottle.TV
 
#5 ·
I'm about 200lbs 6'3. For mine, I was able to get a fairly solid setup for street riding with the stock rear spring by adjusting pre-load rather than replacing the spring. For the BEST setup, you'd want to replace the spring with something designed for your weight and riding style though.

Check out some of the suspensions setup vids on the Youtube channel OnTheThrottle.TV

What is it set to out of the box? I'm reading the manual it its japanese to me! lol.

did you turn yours clockwise or counter to adjust to your needs?
 
#8 ·
its just its somewhat bouncy hitting bumps and when I apply the brakes aggressively, bottom line is it seems a little bouncy. Please advise. thanks in advance.
Welcome to the kawi suspension! in your owner's manual, it'll explain how you can adjust the suspension yourself. our bikes are known to have a pretty stiff suspension for the street. I softened up mine a little, still notably stiffer than my 2011 cbr 1000rr.

You probably should adjust the preload on the forks and your rear suspension.

and if the suspension is 'too stiff' aka bouncy, then try a 1/2 turn at a time, softer. ride, adjust as needed. also tire pressures make a difference too.

not sure how many bikes you've had, so I'll stop there.
 
#10 ·
Welcome to the kawi suspension! in your owner's manual, it'll explain how you can adjust the suspension yourself.
Yes it does, but I don't understand some of the terms and I don't know what to turn or adjust. all I know is I'm 6'0 225lbs and I feel that Kawi thinks I'm a 5'9 asian guy who weights 170lbs soaken wet. its just a little confusing right now as this-

Image



is greek to me.


our bikes are known to have a pretty stiff suspension for the street. I softened up mine a little, still notably stiffer than my 2011 cbr 1000rr.
Mine feels a little soft for the street. it bounces like mad when I hit the front brakes and when I go into nHoods just to practice countersteering and cornering, just on the straight roads I test the brakes and the bike nose dives hard..

You probably should adjust the preload on the forks and your rear suspension.

and if the suspension is 'too stiff' aka bouncy, then try a 1/2 turn at a time, softer. ride, adjust as needed. also tire pressures make a difference too.
Cool, I will give that a shot and see, but I must figure out how to do the adjustment to the back shock, it seems pretty simple on the fork with it being SFF.

not sure how many bikes you've had, so I'll stop there.
this is my first motorcycle ever.. I rode dirt bikes as a teen but they all belonged to someone else. anyway, once again I kindly thank you for your reponse.
 
#12 ·
The Greek bit doesn't matter. You'll need new springs the springs control where in the stroke the bike sits. If you don't have the right springs then you don't have a stable platform to start from.
 
#14 ·
i wouldn't be all that quick to buy a new spring for a brand new bike either. If you can't get the suspension dialed in the way you want because of the limitations of the stock spring, then maybe i'd consider it. I'm sure that new 636 wasn't cheap.
 
#17 ·
Maybe the service manual will help more. I've taken screen shots of the suspension setup pages. I highly recommend the service manual for anyone doing work on their own bike:

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Much Obliged. where did you find these? they look totally different from the owners manual, looks like the difference is the chart below the pic, that isn't in the manual which what you sent helps out more.
 
#18 ·
That's from the factory service manual not the owner's manual. I have a copy of the 2013 zx6r service manual on my computer. If you wanna PM me your email address I'll send it your way.


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#19 ·
That's from the factory service manual not the owner's manual. I have a copy of the 2013 zx6r service manual on my computer. If you wanna PM me your email address I'll send it your way.


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BP, dude, You Da Bomb! I cannot thank you enough. Sending you my address now, but just out of curiousity, how did you all get a hold of it to begin with?
 
#23 ·
They have a schedule of events on their web page. If you're fortunate enough to have one nearby, go for it. The nearest one for me is about 100 miles away.


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#24 ·
Be patient

I haven't been able to find any spring rate info yet and just set sag on mine. I'm 200lbs without track gear and even after getting fully geared up the front fork is plenty stiff. I shoot for a sag of 30mm and couldn't get closer than 25mm so it's stiff. I got the back dialed in to 30mm no problem.

So, more than likely the spring is good for 200+lbs but the stock compression and rebound is definitely off. I've just begun to tweak it. I took a 1/2 turn out of compression out of the back. The front will really need some tweaking. Go here for more info on what does what and how to tweak setup.
Suspension Setup Guide - Sport Rider Magazine
 
#40 ·
I haven't been able to find any spring rate info yet and just set sag on mine. I'm 200lbs without track gear and even after getting fully geared up the front fork is plenty stiff. I shoot for a sag of 30mm and couldn't get closer than 25mm so it's stiff. I got the back dialed in to 30mm no problem.

So, more than likely the spring is good for 200+lbs but the stock compression and rebound is definitely off. I've just begun to tweak it. I took a 1/2 turn out of compression out of the back. The front will really need some tweaking. Go here for more info on what does what and how to tweak setup.
Suspension Setup Guide - Sport Rider Magazine
Stock front springs are in the .90 range. Way too soft for anyone racing unless youra very slow Dani pedrosa. I tried to race with the stock front end.... I'm 175 w/o gear... And I was bottoming out even with tonnes of preload and compression. Also getting horrible tank slappers everywhere and that with an onlins damper cranked up. As for the rear I ha e an online ttx with 1.0 spring. Never rode with the stock shock and never turned a wheel on the street with the bike. Bought new and sent straight to a race bike.
I was struggle bad with the front end... If you want to push it with this bike I really suggest cartridges.... The single function isn't as good as the prior BPF. And I'm not a new by any means... Pro level club racer and I had Dave moss dialing in the suspension for multiple days....
 
#25 ·
More tweaking

This is what I've found helps the front end. Take out the compression damping completely by turning the right "com" adjuster counter-clockwise till it stops. Don't force it or you'll jack the adjuster. Then turn it 1 1/2 turns clockwise. This stiffens up the front plenty and may still be a little stiff for you.

If it feels like the bumps in the road are slamming up through you then it's still to stiff. If that's the case just turn it another 1/2 clockwise until it's good for you.

The rebound should be set at 6 turns from full (all the way clockwise then back 6 full turns). That seems to be pretty good.

Hope that helps!:thumbup:
 
#26 ·
This is what I've found helps the front end. Take out the compression damping completely by turning the right "com" adjuster counter-clockwise till it stops. Don't force it or you'll jack the adjuster. Then turn it 1 1/2 turns clockwise. This stiffens up the front plenty and may still be a little stiff for you.

If it feels like the bumps in the road are slamming up through you then it's still to stiff. If that's the case just turn it another 1/2 clockwise until it's good for you.

The rebound should be set at 6 turns from full (all the way clockwise then back 6 full turns). That seems to be pretty good.

Hope that helps!:thumbup:

I will give it a try. Thanks for your help. I need to buy a grapper so I can turn the preload up one notch for the rear, then I will do the same for the front and go from there.. this whole damping and compression can be a little confusing at times.!!!
 
#31 ·
So a punch is usually cylindrical which is then tapered to a dull point. You use a brass punch because its soft and won't damage the part. If you put the punch in one of the notches on the adjustment ring and hit it with a hammer the ring should loosen

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#32 ·
So a punch is usually cylindrical which is then tapered to a dull point. You use a brass punch because its soft and won't damage the part. If you put the punch in one of the notches on the adjustment ring and hit it with a hammer the ring should loosen

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Gotcha, I work at lowes PT and we don't have a tool called that, where can I find a brass punch?
 
#33 ·
Google it. I'm sure they have them at any hardware store like home depot or lowes. If you're gonna have to buy a tool you may want to look at the hook wrench like the poster referenced. That's probably the correct tool for the job. May be called a spanner or ford wrench.

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#34 ·
Google it. I'm sure they have them at any hardware store like home depot or lowes. If you're gonna have to buy a tool you may want to look at the hook wrench like the poster referenced. That's probably the correct tool for the job. May be called a spanner or ford wrench.

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Thanks for the heads up! I will see if lowes has it
 
#38 · (Edited)
Alright, I wrote the above at work after day one of tinkering. I have just finished tinkering again for about 5 hours today. I'm by no means an expert but I did learn a few things that might help.

First is, as you may have noticed, the owners manual and service manual speak about preload not really for the purpose of adjusting sag, but for increasing or decreasing the strength of the spring. In other words, the shocks are not linear, they're progressive. So, if you are working alone as I was today, if you raise the rear shock by say, 1/8th of an inch as the bike rests on its stand, that is not a realistic depiction of the sag you have adjusted. Its actually 1/8 times some x-value representing the progressive constant (I'm assuming its a geometric relationship - if so, that x-value would be a handy thing to know. But it might be an exponential relationship instead. Anyone know?) This is important to realize so that you don't over-adjust the rear or front pre-loads when setting sag -esp. when you're working without an expensive bike stand or working alone.

The bikes are unboxed for the proverbial 150 pound rider, so if you're bigger you will need to raise both the front and back preloads (clockwise adjustments). Experiment with it. Something to keep in mind is that you will want to maintain an angle that allows you to distribute your weight onto the back and front in some comfortable yet functional sweet spot. Too far forward and your wrists (if they're like mine) will fatigue after about 100 miles. Too much weight on the back and your front will shake and bounce as you go.

After you get the front and back preload right, adjust the damping settings on the compression and rebound in the front. In general, I preferred to have slightly greater dampness for rebound than for compression (the exact opposite of what I describe above). I was able to best achieve a "planted" feeling over bumps this way. For reference, I set my rebound to one and a half turns counterclockwise from the fully-damped position (fully damped is fully clockwise). Front compression is about 2 turns away from fully un-damped (the fully counterclockwise position). But, you will need to experiment to get it just right.

Same principle on the back. Slightly more damping on rebound than on compression. Possibly a lot more damping. It depends on how you ride I think.

One final thing. before you suit up and take your bike out for a spin to test your settings, go ahead and grab the front break, lift, and shove down on your front shock to see if you're even the ballpark of where you want to be. Same for the back. The bike should compress, then return and settle without bouncing within a second. If it returns and then bounces back and forth at the top, or is too slow to rebound, don't bother taking the bike out for a spin as you are probably quite a bit off from where you want to be.

P.S. Also, as you reduce damping on compression on your front forks, you will dive more under hard breaking. You need a certain amount of damping there just so you don't lose control in an emergency breaking situation.

edit: here's the service manual for 09-12 models anyway:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5pIzP28qdp-dWpaVVpSYzdNM3M/edit?usp=sharing
 
#41 ·
And as far as setting up the bike suspension for the street rethink what you bought the bike for.... Because I can guarantee out of the box is going to be perfectly fine as far as suspension especially if it is your first street. Even if you are a street rider you shouldn't be pushing the bike on the street to which suspension adjustment are important. Just my 2 cents
 
#42 ·
Nah, the first "mod" that should be done to the bike should be to set the suspension up properly for your weight by setting the sag. It's not a one size fits all kind of thing.
 
#44 ·
Why would it be important for the track but not on the street? You want the bike to to settle into corners better, you want it to absorb bumps and harsh road surfaces better and to keep it from ricocheting off of any obstacles you may encounter. Anybody who rides their bike spiritedly should set their sag up properly. It takes about a half an hour with a couple buddies and a tape measure and makes a considerable difference in how the bike behaves.


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#47 ·
I didnt notice 'the difference' between stock suspension set up and after someone adjusts it according to the rider.. after i went to the JenningsGP track, one of the suspension setup guys was there and he was doing the suspension setups for $40 bucks per bike and he adjusted mine.. riding on the track with stock suspension and after it being adjusted, i noticed HUGE difference.. bike was much more controllable, quicker response and i just loved it. leaving the track i did not ask to be set back to what it was stock, because i decided to get used to this suspension. i also own 2013 636 and i just love it. already got 12k miles on it, purchased in february. :) cheers, yall be safe.