[SVstryker]

There's a ton of info here on SVrider about the GSXR rear shock swap, and a ton of dead links as well. I decided to put a post up on the GSXR1K rear shock and address issues I had the most concern with, so those of you that may have had the same questions as me, I hope this does you a small favor.


I suspended the bike using the jack stands & threaded rod method:

The GSXR1K shock & YTZ10S Battery vs. Stock Shock & Battery

Battery Box Cutting:

The 'shelf' fabricated from the plastic cover / partition from the battery tray (btw, the arrows are only for illustrative purposes, it's easier to slide the 'shelf' in through the rear):

Shelf Installed:

Shock reservoir fits like a glove (Shelf Removed for view):

Here's some views of the shock installed:

*THIS IS A VERY BASIC & ROUGH GUIDE I WANTED TO PUT TOGETHER TO CHANGING YOUR SHOCK OUT, MADE VERY SIMPLE SO EVERYONE EXPERIENCED & NEW CAN LEARN SOMETHING FROM IT.*;D


1. I removed both side covers and seats (front & rear).

2. I disconnected the battery (negative side first, sorry, old auto habit) and all connectors. Removed battery. I disconnected all cables and plugs that would otherwise not allow the removal of the tail section or the battery tray. Remove rear tail section. Loosen the 4 bolts holding the tray to the subframe. *it's not necessary to remove the rear tire, but I did anyway to have more room to work with and to replace my OEM Stock wraps with some nice Pirelli Diablos.*

3. I raised the bike using a floor jack on a solid point under the motor. I believe the best technique, the "threaded bar through the swingarm pivot point resting on jack stands" is solid and never had me worried when I was working under the bike.

4. I removed the old shock. I ran into no problems with seized or stuck shock bolts, even on the dogbone, then again the bike is brand new from the summer with only 8K miles on it. I started at the top mount (but left bolt in) then worked my way down. Since my new shock came with the stock GSXR dogbones & bottom shock knuckle, I used the bolts the GSXR shock came with, but used the SV dog bone bolt. (sorry if this makes no sense....it is really EASY and will make sense when you're looking at everything)

5. Battery box: I wanted to see if the box and battery would fit and there IS NO WAY it can. The only way is to cut your box and buy a shorter battery. You will need to order a CBR f4i battery or its equivalent, model YTZ10S. Look for the seller 'motobatteries' on eBay; I got my battery in less than 5 days, the battery was fully charged (BIG SURPRISE) and the the total price (shipping included) was about $64 bucks. The method used for cutting my box was a hot butter knife under my gas grill, which worked amazingly well. There was a member that used the same technique (but only with a butane torch) but a gas grill works just as good. There is a piece of plastic that was on the old tray in front of the battery. I used this as a 'shelf' and placed the rubber mat on top, then the battery would have a nice little place to set on.

6. Install the new shock. This went faster than removing the old shock for some reason. Make sure those bolts are torqued down pretty good (as far as recommended torque settings, i went with 65 ft/lbs for each. I don't have a service manual, but when I removed the stock shock bolts, I used those torque settings). There should be a little play in the shock from side to side, this is normal.

7. Put the battery tray back in, re-connect all the wires, and replace your rear tail plastics.

6. I didn't make any suspension adjustments, since spring rates, compression S/H, and other suspension ins and outs make no sense to me. I will probably take it to Road & Track here in San Antonio when I get my stock fork springs upgraded and some emulators put in.

7. You will most likely have to re-adjust your chain. As I stated above, I removed my rear tire so I had to anyway, but check your chain and adjust as neccessary.

I welcome all questions & criticism.

Hope this helps!

 

[element155]

very nice write up

 

[TROY650]

i was going to get a used 06-07 zx10r shock, so i didnt have to cut my battery box, but i was too lazy and those shocks seem like their in high demand which= more $... so i bought a new 07-08 gsxr1000 shock on ebay for 80$, hoping i would not have to cut the battery box. but i guess i will. is there any way i can get away with cutting the battery box, and keeping my stock battery?

 

[SVstryker]

i was going to get a used 06-07 zx10r shock, so i didnt have to cut my battery box, but i was too lazy and those shocks seem like their in high demand which= more $... so i bought a new 07-08 gsxr1000 shock on ebay for 80$, hoping i would not have to cut the battery box. but i guess i will. is there any way i can get away with cutting the battery box, and keeping my stock battery?

just for general purpose, i tried to fit the old battery in. it does not work. it's way too tall; the replacement battery is almost an 1.5" shorter.

 

[SVstryker]

I went on a spirited group ride through the Texas hill country sunday and wow am I pleased with the results!

 

[TROY650]

im going to have to set up my 1k shock for my weight.. 205 no gear.. did you have to set yours up? and do you know if its hard to do? i think i read somewhere the 08 1k shock is sprung for a 165lb rider stock.

 

[SVeetwin]

You said that you used the bolts from the gsxr shock to install it, but could you use the bolts from the sv shock?

 

[SVstryker]

I'm 170 with gear. It did not appear to have been adjusted by the PO so I just left it. It seemed to be fine, I was pleased after my ride. still may need to be dialed in a little more. Like I stated before, I know nothing of suspension adjustments so I will most likely take it to a shop here in SATX.

 

[SVstryker]

You said that you used the bolts from the gsxr shock to install it, but could you use the bolts from the sv shock?

You can use the SV bolts but where the dog bones connect to the middle of the shock knuckle, you will need to grind down the bolt about 1/8 of an inch or so to clear it. Use a bench grinder or (last resort) buy a shorter heavy duty nut & bolt (stainless steel) from lowes.

 

[jay313]

Nice job, especially like the idea of the shelf fabricated from the leftover plastic bits. Anyway, just so's folks know, you can use the GSXR 600 shock without having to cut the battery box. (I posted my pix in another thread.) Unless you're well over 200 lbs., the 600 shock has more than enough spring to do the job. I picked up mine on ebay for $10.50 plus $18 shipping.

As far as setting it up, the main thing to start with is measuring the sag. It's really very simple. You will need a couple of buddies to help you out, though. Have someone hold the bike upright and measure from the floor to a fixed point on the tail (bottom of license plate or something). Then, sit on the bike with feet on the pegs (this is where your buddies will be useful!) and measure the same point. The bike should "sag" about 1-1/4 inches, give or take a 1/16th. If it sags more than that, increase your spring preload. If it sags less, decrease your spring preload.

Just as an example, I went for a quick ride as soon as I had everything back together to make sure all was working properly. I was kind of disappointed, because the ride was very harsh and not much different than the old SV shock. When I returned, I checked the sag, which was barely over half an inch. Whoever had the shock prior to me must have been much heavier than my 165 lbs. After I lightened the spring load, the ride was beautiful. Still fiddling with the other settings to get them just right, but if you don't get the spring preload set correctly, you can play with the other stuff all you want and it'll still feel like [email protected]

 

[jay313]

Oh, one other thing I forgot that I wanted to mention. A lot of the electrical connections that look like they must be disconnected actually don't. It took me a while to figure out, but many of them simply are mounted on the tail section, but when they are slid off of the little tabs that hold them down, they can be left alone. There were actually very few connections that had to be pulled apart, and most of that was tail-light related. Oh, and don't forget to disconnect that cable that connects to the key latch on the passenger seat release.

 

[SVstryker]

Thanks jay313, very helpful info. I did a rough dialing in of the rear but should check my sag in the morning. I will prob have a question or two so check back if you don't mind.

 

[jay313]

No problem. I usually only take a peek at the boards in the evening, but I'll look for you. Here's some good info from the gixxer forum. http://www.gsxr.com/showthread.php?t=10012

 

[SVstryker]

jay, thanks for that link, helped out a lot. sag was checked, was almost right. i never adjusted the front preload and decided to just tweak them a bit (turned in almost all the way in) to match the new rear. all i can say is wow, feels very different! (a good thing)

 

[jay313]

Good. Glad to be of some help. I'm enjoying my new shock so far, too.

 

[frankieg87]

Nice job, especially like the idea of the shelf fabricated from the leftover plastic bits. Anyway, just so's folks know, you can use the GSXR 600 shock without having to cut the battery box. (I posted my pix in another thread.) Unless you're well over 200 lbs., the 600 shock has more than enough spring to do the job. I picked up mine on ebay for $10.50 plus $18 shipping.

As far as setting it up, the main thing to start with is measuring the sag. It's really very simple. You will need a couple of buddies to help you out, though. Have someone hold the bike upright and measure from the floor to a fixed point on the tail (bottom of license plate or something). Then, sit on the bike with feet on the pegs (this is where your buddies will be useful!) and measure the same point. The bike should "sag" about 1-1/4 inches, give or take a 1/16th. If it sags more than that, increase your spring preload. If it sags less, decrease your spring preload.

Just as an example, I went for a quick ride as soon as I had everything back together to make sure all was working properly. I was kind of disappointed, because the ride was very harsh and not much different than the old SV shock. When I returned, I checked the sag, which was barely over half an inch. Whoever had the shock prior to me must have been much heavier than my 165 lbs. After I lightened the spring load, the ride was beautiful. Still fiddling with the other settings to get them just right, but if you don't get the spring preload set correctly, you can play with the other stuff all you want and it'll still feel like [email protected]

so using a 600 shock doesnot require cutting the battery box and having to purchase a new battery? im under 200 pounds and im looking to upgrade my rear suspension this would be perfect

 

[Spierings]

so using a 600 shock doesnot require cutting the battery box and having to purchase a new battery? im under 200 pounds and im looking to upgrade my rear suspension this would be perfect

The 06-07 gsxr 600 shock is much shorter, you need to use some raising links.
Stock SV650 03+ shock= 330mm
GSXR 600 06-07 shock= 317mm

 

[jay313]

Sorry I just noticed this today. I measured before and after, and the rear height came down about 1/2 inch after installing the 600 shock. I purchased a 1 inch raising link off ebay for $18 shipped, so the back end is now 1/2 inch taller than stock. You can buy a 1/2 inch raising link, but I went with the taller one because I plan to put a 170 tire (replacing 160) in the front when it's time to replace, and that will raise the front a little less than 1/2 inch. When all is said and done, I'll be about 1/2 inch higher than stock front and rear, but stock steering geometry.

 

[JEFF 07SV650S]

i love my gsxr 1000 shock, i have mine set up soft and it seems to work good.

whenever i get around to it i'm gonna have the suspension tuned. just been lazy

 

[KennyWhy]

I found some time last night to install my 07-08 GSXR1000 rear shock on my 2003.

Turns out I didn't have to cut the battery tray! I bought a shorter battery and few other stuff for the install for nothing. It bolts on straight with no clearance issues.

Did I do something wrong?

I took the whole tail section and battery tray out for no reason as well. The entire job took way longer than expected because of this.