How to raise rear ride height on 03 ZX-6R

I didn't realize that there was a factory shim kit...I called my local dealer and was quoted $78 bucks for it...I guess this is probably where the motorcycle magazine got the shims that they used...they're shaped like a horseshoe rather than a full round washer....that way you don't have to remove the top of the shock from the subframe completely to install them.

anyone else care to comment on how they think that this mod actually made the 6 MORE stable as opposed to less?

Andy

Just read the Cycle world or whatever magazine it was where they tested most of the heavy hitters at Jerez spain. They noted in this article that the ZX-6R at Jerez felt as though it had lost the twitchiness of the bike they had origionally tested. The funny thing is that the suspension adjustments made to the bike would normally make a bikc MORE twitchy. Anyhow...they stated that the bike was raised 9mm in the rear and the forks were raised an additional 3mm throught he tripples.

Question is, did they use spacers on the clevice on top of the shock for ride height? or is there another way to do this. I raised the rear of my Gixxer 1000 6mm with spacers/washers hence I'm assuming that this bike is the same situation? I'm just not sure that they would have gone to these lengths on test bikes at the track unless the work was done before hand.

andy

I was talking to a guy who club races the 636, and he used the nut from the top of the shock of a late model ZX-9R for the spacer. This way the adjustment process is simple if he wants to fine tune rear ride height. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, has anyone else done this?

if you raised the rear end up would it be harder to pull the front end up?

http://www.zx6r.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?s=3edb29940b87707d085e0f3c1e533fba;act=ST;f=11;t=50

this should answer some questions.

The service manual mentions the shim kit. You could just as easily buy some large washers and use a dremel to cut a section out. Washers are much cheaper than the shim kit and should work equally well.

9mm increase in the rear sounds like a typo. I've heard that raising the rear 1mm is the same as dropping the front 5mm. Are you sure about the numbers in the Cycle World article?

I bought the 'nut' as fitted to the J1/2 shocks it was about £1.20 and you can then adjust the rear ride hight to suit.....

bikealarmblair, not sure what nut you are referring to. Are you talking about the spring preload? Adding preload to increase the rear ride height works, but you also change the sag when you do this. Also not sure what year a J1/2 is. In the states we usually refer to the model year of the bike.

On the 2003 636 you need to put a shim under where the top bolt goes through the frame. This will adjust the ride height and not affect the sag.

The way I understand it because of the linkage action raising the rear has about twice the effect of lowering the front.

On the pre-2002 models there was a nut where the spacer is. The shock mount is still threaded so you can replace the spacer on the newer models with a nut.

Gixx1k, I haven't seen the acticles that you're refering to. Are they compairing the '03 to the '04? Does the Jerez test actually say that the bike was twitchy before they raised the rear/lowered the front and was better after the adjustments? I've read on the kawasaki.com site that the '04's comp damping of the shock has been softened and according to other forums that a lighter spring has been fitted. Don't quote me on that! All else being equal, that alone would make for a less twitchy set-up for my 165lbs. Now if they're saying that the test bike was twitchy until they jacked up the rear, they must have had a really meshed up starting point. If that's so, maybe the fork springs were to heavy and adding weight to front helped it? Anyone else read the articles?

Originally posted by bikealarmblair
I bought the 'nut' as fitted to the J1/2 shocks it was about £1.20 and you can then adjust the rear ride hight to suit.....

Click to expand...

Is this the nut from the ZX-9R? I've been told it fits, but I didn't know what year. I will have to give this a try.

Part number of 16 mm nut is 92015-1953.

Just fit this where the spacer is currently. You will then have full adjustability.