I put an '08 shock on mine. Bought 1/2in raising links off of ebay. I didnt have to trim anything, but i have an '03 model and the subframe is a little bit taller. I think i heard from other people that you wont have to trim anything on the later models as well. Well worth doing though. Really stiffens the rear end up.

 

thanks for the input, i just ordered one off ebay. ill post a little write up when im done. have you measured the ride height to see if it matches stock height?

 

I bought an 07-08 shock which I just installed on Sunday. I had to cut off the toolbox below the battery so the resevoir would clear. I also bought the 1" raising links off of ebay. The Rear end feels so much more planted its like a whole new bike.


I'd say go ahead and install some new springs and oil up front while your at it. I did

 

I already did the fork springs, I hope I get as big an improvement with the GSXR shock as I did the Sonic Springs.
but I'm confused, what size raising links do I need to get back to oem ride height? 1/2 in or 1 in?

 

I used the 1" links. They raised it to either oem or a bit higher than oem height. I didn't take any measurements.

 

What did you use for the bottom shock bolt?

 

The shock I bought came with the bottom bolt. You need a GSXR bottom bolt and nut. I'll try and find the part #'s for you tonight.

 

ok thats what i was thinking thanks

 

Ok just got the shock today. I test fitted it to see if I would need to cut and I managed to fanagle it in by kind of squishing the tool box rather than cutting it off permanently. The tool box is definetly useless with the GSXR shock in but I can still make it just like stock again which is what I was going for.
Thought I would mention the length differences between the oem and 08 gsxr 600.

OEM-13 in.
08 GSXR600-12.5 in

That being said, the 1/2 in raising links would make the ride height back to normal I suppose. If I am wrong please let me know.

Still waiting on the links and bottom shock bolt. So I'll update when I'm done.

 

I measured my rear height before and after installing an 06 GSXR shock which looks very similar to the 08.

The bike was 26mm (1") lower with the 06 GSXR shock

04 SV650 shock length between hole centers = 330mm
06 GSXR600 shock length between hole centers = 317mm

So the shock = 13mm shorter. This makes the bike 26mm lower. This means that the bike height to dog-bone ratio is 1:2.

So for every 1mm shorter you go on the dog-bone you'll raise the bike 2mm

So with this setup I'll need a 1/2" shorter link to raise the bike 1" to get as close to stock height as possible.

Can anyone confirm this ?

What's the free length of the 08 GSXR shock ?

 

What's the free length of the 08 GSXR shock ?

The 08 gsxr 600 shock length is 12.5 in.

Thanks for the info. I can't confirm it without the stock ride height that I forgot to measure before removing the oem shock and I don't feel like reinstalling it. Maybe someone with a stock 07 can measure for me? Anyone? Please?

Anyways still waiting on the links and bolt, update and pics will follow once its done.

 

12.5in = 317mm so it looks like an 08 is the same as an 06.

So the bike should be 1 in lower.

 

Haha, i'm confused. So is it 1" raising bones or 1/2"?

 

That's OK Doc, my explanation wasn't that clear.

For every 1mm shorter that you make the dog-bone, the bike will be 2mm higher.

So if you want to raise the bike 1 inch (26mm) to compensate for a 1/2 inch (13mm) shorter shock you will need 1/2 inch shorter dog-bones.

Is it clear ?

 

... So if you want to raise the bike 1 inch (26mm) to compensate for a 1/2 inch (13mm) shorter shock you will need 1/2 inch shorter dog-bones....

That of course is assuming same rate of spring and amount of preload between the two....

 

I could not find any raising bones on ebay. I was considering changing the mounting points for the lower subframe braces to raise the seat. That would be free and agressive looking.

 

Not ebay, but i found this...

http://burkhartcycle.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8_16&products_id=11

 

In this case the shock is 13mm shorter and the length of dog-bone needed to compensate is 13mm shorter but the dog-bone could be a different length on a different bike with different rising rate linkage geometries to raise the same amount.

I just worked this out by the amount the bike dropped which is 26mm with a 13mm shorter shock.

 

Ya I'm sure you can just give them a range of measurement and they would be able to find just what you need no problem. Would be pretty cool to have ride hieght adjustabillity.

 

Does anybody have any links or DIYs for weight adjustment on the GSXR shock? I installed mine today and i want to set it up for my weight (150-160lbs). Thanks.

 

Thanks for the link. I think i'll have to jump one those.

 

So I finished the swap...

I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed!
I used these 1/2 in raising links http://burkhartcycle.com/store/inde...e=product_info&cPath=8_16&products_id=11&zenid=f17a20c89f5ce54a926ec0ae8ad3c81d
I still don't know what the stock ride height was so I can't be sure what the difference is, but it definetly feels lower. The bike does not turn-in as well as it did and just sitting on it I can feel that its lower. Heres where I Think I messed up...
I'm thinking the 1/2 in raising links that I ordered were meant to actually raise the bike a 1/2 in, I was under the impression that they were 1/2 in shorter then oem and would thus raise the bike 1 in. So I'm going to get the 1 in raising links and try those out, hopefully it helps because this is a DOWNgrade at this point.
On a good note...the spring feels better, nice and stiff, and the adjustability is great. Plus it looks pretty cool it there.
Also no cutting was required but it does cave inthe tool box rendering it useless. as you can see here...

So if anyone can measure their stock 07 svs ride height for me I would really appreciate it. Please let me know exactly where you measured from also so I can measure the same.

 

So if anyone can measure their stock 07 svs ride height for me I would really appreciate it. Please let me know exactly where you measured from also so I can measure the same.

I have an '05 naked and i measured from ground to the bottom of the little metal nub looking thing under the grab rail on the lean side. Idk if that makes sense or not. And it was 33.5".

I've just installed an 06 GSXR600 shock (which looks the same as the 08 ) and something is concerning me greatly:

The setup on the SV (and most other modern bikes) uses a rising rate linkage which increases the suspension resistance as the rear suspension compresses. My concern with using this shock which is 13mm shorter (317mm) than the 04 SV shock (330mm) is that the rising rate linkage geometry which was not designed for the shorter shock is now wrong.
I really don't know exactly what effect this will have but assume that the compressive resistance will be much higher that you'd expect with the GSXR shock because as far as the rising rate linkage is concerned it's starting position is in a compressed state.

I'm going to re-install the SV shock and take a pic of the rising rate linkage geometry, then install the GSXR shock again and compare.

Comments ?

I believe the 1" is supposed to bring it back up to stock height. I still haven't installed raising links on mine, but i was thinking about ordering the 1" since it seems that 1/2" doesn't work for anybody else, lol.

 

I've just installed an 06 GSXR600 shock (which looks the same as the 08 ) and something is concerning me greatly:

The setup on the SV (and most other modern bikes) uses a rising rate linkage which increases the suspension resistance as the rear suspension compresses. My concern with using this shock which is 13mm shorter (317mm) than the 04 SV shock (330mm) is that the rising rate linkage geometry which was not designed for the shorter shock is now wrong.
I really don't know exactly what effect this will have but assume that the compressive resistance will be much higher that you'd expect with the GSXR shock because as far as the rising rate linkage is concerned it's starting position is in a compressed state.

I'm going to re-install the SV shock and take a pic of the rising rate linkage geometry, then install the GSXR shock again and compare.

Comments ?

 

The setup on the SV (and most other modern bikes) uses a rising rate linkage which increases the suspension resistance as the rear suspension compresses. My concern with using this shock which is 13mm shorter (317mm) than the 04 SV shock (330mm) is that the rising rate linkage geometry which was not designed for the shorter shock is now wrong. I really don't know exactly what effect this will have but assume that the compressive resistance will be much higher that you'd expect with the GSXR shock because as far as the rising rate linkage is concerned it's starting position is in a compressed state.

@gjscott-- did you find out from your suspension guy? is this something you account for while setting compression damping?

 

Lol, i'm really bad at geometry, so you confused me!

 

Well I got my shock Thursday and my links today I plan on doing the swap Sunday. I have a question though I ordered the 1 inch links but when I held them up to the stocker they only look to be a 1/2 inch different. Is this right? I assumed the holes would be 1 inch apart.

 

This should be correct. If you shorten the link by 1/2" the ride height should increase by 1"

This is what I calculated in post #11 on this topic.

 

Thank's. I was hoping there was some kinda geometry hocus-pocus going on here.

SVtwin04, have you made any progress on your swap?

 

I did the same swap and posted pics a while back. I guess the search function did not work this time. With the stock shock I measured to the top of the tail, furthest point back, 38 3/8". After the swap I was down to 37" (and the bike felt awful). I put on the 1" raising link from burkhart ($2 cheaper on their website than through ebay) and it brought the rear up to 38 7/8". Hope this helps somebody.

 

Like siisgood00, I found the rear shock swap alone to have a negative effect on the setup (160lbs). After changing out for the 1" raising link, all that has gone away and it feels much, much better. I also did have to crank some preload out of the spring, but the GSXR spring is much stiffer, so I was expecting to have to do that. In the end the upgrade was worth the time and $$$.

 

Which links did you install?