Advice needed on GSXR 600 K1 please

Ok - I need a bit of advice please, and figured some of you guys could help, especially seeing as how there seems to be more GSXR riders than SV riders on here these days .

I have owned my K1 GSXR 600 for a few weeks now, and it feels like the suspension is pretty knackered, front forks feel quite bouncy, rear end wallows a lot when hammering round bends and the ride is extremely choppy over bumpy roads. Also, when pulling away quickly the rear end squats a lot, and also when cornering the front end feels extremely vague, as if the rear end is sitting too low, making the front end feel too high with no weight over it. I had the bike quickly looked over by a mechanic and he said mechanically nothing wrong with it, and it has new tyres, so it seems it must be suspension related.

The weird thing is though the bike has only done 3500 miles - it has been sat around doing nothing for 6 years - so I guess my question is can suspension 'go off' if it is just left sitting around for 6 years?

Thanks in advance for any help - much appreciated

[BoltonSte]

Have you set your sag up at all? there's a how to on here if you search for it.

As for going off - don't know

As for a gixxer forum www.gixerjunkies.com

As for a derail - you don't happen to have a haynes for the K1 do you?

Ste

Thanks mate - I have dabbled with the preload a little, firming up the front end makes it feel a little more stable, but I havent touched the rear end as I cant shift those F***ing evil locking rings, they are impossible to budge .

I dont think adjusting prelaod is going to cure this though, the bike really jumps around a lot over bumpy roads, so I really do think the suspension is past its best .

I dont have a GSXR K1 Haynes manual unfortunately no, I do however have a '99-'02 SV650 Haynes Manual! Very helpful!

[fizzwheel]

Has the previous owner fiddled with the preload etc etc.

If so, return the bike to it stock settings ( they should be listed in the manual they are for my K5 ) and then ride it again.

Failing that, check your tyre pressures if you havent done so. IIRC you got new tyres a while back didnt you ?

hello mate - yes I did change the tyres, and that sorted the problem I was having at the time, so I was well pleased with that .

My problem now is that if i ride around pretty gently the bike feels ok - its stable and rides pretty well over bumps, however as soon as I start to up the pace even slightly the handling goes to s**t! I have changed the suspension settings to those reccomended by PB magazine and that improved things, it really firmed up the front end nicely, but it still feels like the rear end sits too low, especially when going around a corner, when it kinda feels like I have no weight over the front end. If I really push my whole body as forward as possible and try to lean on the front end it feels a little better, so I suspect my rear end is squatting down too much, making my bike ride like a chopper!?

[fizzwheel]

I dont really know what else to suggest then.

Sounds like if its squatting down at the rear then your rear shock might possibly be knackered.

I'm wandering if you might benefit by replacing the front fork oil as well. Especially if the bikes been sat for ages it might not be any good anymore ( I might of course be talking cobblers )

I'm no suspension expert, so I'd suggest taking it somewhere and getting the Sag etc etc setup for your body weight, Failing that as somebody else has suggested pop a thread up on www.gixerjunkies.net if you havent already done so.

Sorry I cant be of anymore help.

Hmmm I have actually just noticed on my way home that the right fork seal is leaking quite a lot of oil, so much in fact that oil splashed all over my exhaust header pipes and made a nice cloud of smoke which worried me a great deal at first .

Without wanting to sound stupid - would this make the front-end handling feel a bit s**t if there is oil leaking out from one of the fork seals!?

If so, hopefully this will be an easy handling issue to fix .

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by mattyL

Hmmm I have actually just noticed on my way home that the right fork seal is leaking quite a lot of oil, so much in fact that oil splashed all over my exhaust header pipes and made a nice cloud of smoke which worried me a great deal at first .

Without wanting to sound stupid - would this make the front-end handling feel a bit s**t if there is oil leaking out from one of the fork seals!?

If so, hopefully this will be an easy handling issue to fix .

Your not sounding stupid. The answer is yes the leaking seal will cause changes to your damping and over time totally destroy whatever handling you have. It is safety critical if you are loosing enought to splash the headers. get it fixed now

Sounds like it would only be as noticeable as a flat tyre.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by mattyL

Without wanting to sound stupid - would this make the front-end handling feel a bit s**t if there is oil leaking out from one of the fork seals!?

Yes it will, it'll make it all screwed up. Get them changed, with that sorted a some new fork oil it'll feel like a different bike.