[jbreit]

Sooo...I put a set of Big Piston forks on the 2006...no pics, but I can add them later.

These are not that much lighter than stockers...just half a pound each...making them about the same weight as the ZX10R forks I put on my zx7r project. My goal on the swap was more of a handling improvement anyway....and to see if I could do it.

Here's a summary.
- The front end I aquired didn't include an upper triple clamp. So I took my stock upper clamp and bored it out the extra 1mm...so yes, that means the fork offset and spacing is identical.
- took my vortex clip ons and did the same thing....having machine shop access has advantages.
- I had to swap the steering stems since the 05-06 stem is ~3/8" shorter.
- bearings, spanner nuts, seals are all the same.
- the steering stop of the 09 lower triple works perfect.
- wheel with 2005/6 spacers goes right on.
- you'll need a 2009+ fender as the moved the mounting points.
- your old brakes will go on....or get newer Nissin's.
- the springs are .95kg/mm...which is great for my weight.
- I don't know if the 2009+ upper clamp will allow the 2005/6 ignition lock
- the 2009+ upper clamp might also make using their stock damper a possibility...?

here's the long one.
- the 2009 forks are ~7/16" shorter. So to maintain the ride height these are not going to stick out of the upper triple clamp nearly as much if you use the 2005/6 upper clamp like I did. The 2009+ upper triple is flat...not offset up like the 2005/6 (which will also impact clip-on position) The stock spec 2005/6 fork stick out is ~1/4"...so if you also run a 120/70 front tire and compensate for that height, you can get the stock rake angle/trail back and still have some stick out of the forks....this will vary slightly based on your brand/model of tire.


I haven't done a road test yet....Memorial Day it will be at Road America...so, we'll see how it goes then if not sooner.

 

[kazbek]

Awesome! I was looking into doing the same swap.
Looking forward to your riding impressions...

 

[joonyaboy]

no pics, no care



jk. looking forward to the ride report.

Have you only ridden stock on your bike? Or have you tried Racetech/Ohlins, etc?

 

[jbreit]

I've got penske valving in my 2005, and had racetech in the 2001 and 2002 zx6r's I had... While I've got some points of reference, I'm not related to the hayden family, so my riding impression will carry little weight.

 

[LilJayRR]

- I don't know if the 2009+ upper clamp will allow the 2005/6 ignition lock

It should as its the same ignition switch from 05-11 on the ZX6R

 

[chuckbear]

Very cool, I've thought about this swap on my bike but there doesn't quite seem to be the wealth of setup info on the BPF forks yet as there are for all the 20/25mm cartidge kits.

Will be very interested to hear your impression after RA as I'm currently running RaceTech internals and have wondered whether the BPF setup would be a worthwhile swap.

Oh, and PICS!!

 

[chuckbear]

Oh and I forgot to ask... If you don't mind, what did it cost you to get ahold of the BPF front end? With how new they still are I'd been thinking it'd probably be a pricey swap.

 

[jbreit]

I found a very complete front end for ~$450... sold the calipers, master, sold my stock forks, sold the 09 clip ons, clutch lever, controls....at this point I broke even.

I'll have to buy a fender...~$75 off flee bay.

I don't need springs since these are right for my weight...so to me, I'm money ahead.

If its good enough that I don't need new internals, I'll be very happy.

 

[chuckbear]

Very nice! Looking forward to hear what you think of them. I know they are (were??) supposed to be the bee's knees but it seems I've heard of many people sticking the 25mm cartridge kits in the BPF setups because of all the support and wealth of knowledge that goes with them and ditching the 30mm BPF internals even though the 30mm are supposed to be better.

 

[jbreit]

Like the rest of the bike...I suspect they are better than me. I hope to compliment the zx6rr shock I have on the back of the bike....and to do it for almost zero cost is a major benefit.

Didn't Jamie Hacking run 2 races with stock forks last year because he got the bike so late? I recalled his comments after the season opener about how well they worked.

I was disappointed that they were no lighter than they were....like I said, my zx10R front end is comparable.

 

[jdgun_13]

for out of the box stck suspension they are indeed a better fork set-up...But once you start talking adding in different internals all that BPF goes right out the window, and regular cartridge kits surpass the BPF performance.

only thing out there BPF on i have seen on top race bikes is the works Showa stuff in WSBK.

 

[rockplotts]

Did you happen to check and see if the forks would fit the stock triple and clipons without machining? 1mm isn't much difference? Just curious.

 

[jbreit]

No...it won't. its a long way to go when over half of the band is very rigid and not about to flex open.

 

[rockplotts]

Gotcha. Good write up. Thanks!

 

[moto1320]

Bumping this…hopefully the OP will see it. I was wondering if you could clarify something for me. This old post was one of the only straight forward ones I found on putting BPF front end on an 05 636. So, you mentioned that you had to swap the steering stems because the 05/06 was 3/8 shorter. What did you do here? I thought the stem was one piece included in the lower triple from the 09+ required to do the swap? Thanks in advance.