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I have a 07 zx6r shock on the way. But I've got buyers remorse already and may just go the route of the fj shock. I go between... "I just want a very street capable machine" and "why not drop the cash and get the best of the best". I'll land somewhere in the middle. Thanks for updating this thread with some real world info.

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My last Ohlins went on three bikes over 80,000 kms, had one rebuild/reconfigure and cost a total of $NZ1900. I thought that was good value for a quality shock that worked like new for it's entire life.
 
I've also thought of the same. Wife's cousin purchased an fj and had good things to say about the rear suspension as far as moderate to aggressive street riding. Coming from someone that hits the track on a Duc regularly I would trust his opinion.

If I could get a used FJ shock for under 125 I'd likely roll the dice. It did snow in Ohio today so... maybe I'll just wait until late spring. So depressing.

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Let's bring this back from the dead.......has anyone purchased an FJ 09 shock, installed it, but never discussed the results here, due to a lot of the negative / mixed reaction, to the OP?

I was ready to off, the stock FZ shock.
Having recently ridden, several FZ 09's with shock and fork upgrades, ranging from $800 to $2,500 worth of suspension hardware, the time was ripe
to make changes to my own FZ.


I purchased a new FJ 09 shock for $265 delivered.

At the risk of reading, what I expect to see, from the internet experts....here goes.

The FJ 09 shock swap, to the FZ results, are very acceptable...the rear shock, works better than it does, on the heavier FJ 09.
With Sonic 95kg fork springs ,10wt PJ-1 fork oil, with an additional 5mm height in oil volume...the bike feels very stable over a variety for surfaces.
The fork tubes are slid up, 10mm into the triple clamps.
I weigh 215# in riding gear, no longer ride 9-10ths on the street, but often enjoy a more than "spirited pace".
After playing around with rear spring preload, and the dampening adjustment, I left the preload at the midway spot, and the dampening is still being dialed in, it is set more on the firm side.

My guess is, that if the FZ had come from the factory with this set-up, most riders would not be in a panic to upgrade stock suspension.
On the other hand, some riders never leave anything stock, no matter what hardware was installed at the factory.

Anyone else, do this swap?

I was going to do the ZX6 / 10 shock swap, but wanted to try this out instead.

As several have suspected, this shock may work out well for them.

Initially, I had a lot more detail about my riding style, area, and background, but thought, none of that would matter to most.
You live in Florida. Hardly the environment to test any shock on any bike. Wait until that FJ shock wears out...and then tell us how good it was for that 2 thousand miles it took to turn it into junk.
 
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You live in Florida. Hardly the environment to test any shock on any bike. Wait until that FJ shock wears out...and then tell us how good it was for that 2 thousand miles it took to turn it into junk.
I also ride this bike, in Georgia, North Carolina, the Ozarks, and western Wisconsin.
Since your mind is made up, nothing less than your own opinion on suspension, will ever be any good.

Time to offer your talents, to the Moto GP teams.
 
As promised here is some info on the comparison between the OEM FZ-09 shock and the OEM FJ-09 shock. Both use the same piston internally and neither have any type of bleed drilled into the piston itself. Both are IFP design and both have the same shaft travel. The spring remains unchanged from the FZ-09 to the FJ-09 as they were close enough in rate FZ-09 9.8 kg/mm FJ-09 9.9 kg/mm.

Here are the shims stacks in OEM configuration.
FZ-09 Compression
34 0.15
34 0.15
32 0.1
32 0.1
30 0.1
30 0.1
28 0.1
24 0.1
22 0.1
18 0.15
16 0.68


FJ-09 Compression
34 0.2
34 0.2
34 0.2
34 0.2
34 0.2
34 0.2
34 0.2
34 0.2
32 0.2
28 0.2
26 0.2
24 0.2
20 0.2
18 0.2
15 0.69

Graph showing the different compression damping curves:


FZ-09 Rebound
32 0.15
32 0.15
32 0.15
32 0.15
32 0.15
30 0.25
30 0.25
28 0.25
28 0.25
26 0.25
26 0.25
24 0.25
22 0.25
20 0.25
18 0.69
18 0.69
18 0.69
18 0.69

FJ-09 Rebound
32 0.3
32 0.3
32 0.3
32 0.3
32 0.3
32 0.3
30 0.3
30 0.3
28 0.25
26 0.25
24 0.25
20 0.68

Graph showing the different rebound damping curves:


IMO the OEM FJ-09 shock seems a bit overdamped especially since it has the same rate spring as the FZ-09.

Hope this sheds some light on the differences between the two shocks.

Terry
 
NorWest - thanks for all that work it was really helpful. Do you know the stock spring dimensions? I've done a lot of reading in the last two days but all I can find is the overall shock length and nothing about the id/od/length of the stock spring itself. I weigh 220 and just want to try a 600lb re-spring on the stock shock. I've read a lot of posts where people have posed the idea and speculated it would be of limited value but I'm old and fat and don't have access to any canyons. 90% of my riding is the straight line 6 mile commute to work. Thanks
 
I have a 07 zx6r shock on the way. But I've got buyers remorse already and may just go the route of the fj shock. I go between... "I just want a very street capable machine" and "why not drop the cash and get the best of the best". I'll land somewhere in the middle. Thanks for updating this thread with some real world info.

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I would install the zx6r shock.

I am sure the FJ is an improvement but still garbage even with better settings.

When i received my 636 shock i purchased for 50 dollars, I grabbed them both side by side and I don't care what improvements it has, it is completely garbage.

Stay with your choice and you won't regret it.
 
I would install the zx6r shock.

I am sure the FJ is an improvement but still garbage even with better settings.

When i received my 636 shock i purchased for 50 dollars, I grabbed them both side by side and I don't care what improvements it has, it is completely garbage.

Stay with your choice and you won't regret it.
Well.. when I got the zx6r shock in the mail. It turns out I was actually sent an 09-12 instead of an 07-08. Looks like it will fit but the spring is softer so I've read.

Going a different direction now.. I picked up a penske double clicker off an sv650. I'd say this should be an improvement even though it's not the fz spec [emoji2]



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Well.. when I got the zx6r shock in the mail. It turns out I was actually sent an 09-12 instead of an 07-08. Looks like it will fit but the spring is softer so I've read.

Going a different direction now.. I picked up a penske double clicker off an sv650. I'd say this should be an improvement even though it's not the fz spec [emoji2]



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Way to go, nice choice.

Here are the fz09 and a 05 636 side by side. There is no amount of adjustment or improvement you can do to that shock or the fj09 to make it even close to a stock sport bike, and even less to an aftermarket.

[/IMG]
 
Here are the fz09 and a 05 636 side by side. There is no amount of adjustment or improvement you can do to that shock or the fj09 to make it even close to a stock sport bike, and even less to an aftermarket.
Are you speaking from experience trying both or is it due to the lack of a compression adjuster on the OEM shock?
 
Are you speaking from experience trying both or is it due to the lack of a compression adjuster on the OEM shock?
I have tried the fz not the Fj but judging for the numbers posted above it is very similar. I have sat on a fj09 and felt the suspension on it.

Spring size, build quality, lack of adjustability range, etc
 
I have tried the fz not the Fj but judging for the numbers posted above it is very similar. I have sat on a fj09 and felt the suspension on it.

Spring size, build quality, lack of adjustability range, etc
Sitting on a FJ-09 would not be a good indicator of suspension performance but that is just my opinion.

The OEM rebound adjuster is one of the best I have seen in awhile even including sport bike shocks. It has a very broad range of adjustment.

The shock has a IFP so the oil and nitrogen do NOT mix. The debate on steel vs aluminum bodies is like a tire or oil debate. Each has there advantages and dis-advantages.

Yes the valving in stock form sucks but then so does the valving on alot of sport bike shocks, It all depends on the rider requirements and preferences.

The OEM spring is ideal for a 150# rider if you back the preload down a bit.

The FJ valving is way different then the FZ valving so there is no similarity between the two in regards to damping. Yes I agree the spring is close enough to call it even.

Just for clarification did you ever try a reworked OEM shock compared to a ZX * shock?
 
NorWest - thanks for all that work it was really helpful. Do you know the stock spring dimensions? I've done a lot of reading in the last two days but all I can find is the overall shock length and nothing about the id/od/length of the stock spring itself. I weigh 220 and just want to try a 600lb re-spring on the stock shock. I've read a lot of posts where people have posed the idea and speculated it would be of limited value but I'm old and fat and don't have access to any canyons. 90% of my riding is the straight line 6 mile commute to work. Thanks
In stock form the OEM FZ-09 shock has inadequate rebound damping due to the OEM shim stack. If you put a stiffer spring on the OEM shock it would be like riding a pogo stick down the road. Now if you went with a FJ-09 shock and a stiffer spring then that would be better as the FJ shock has a much stiffer rebound stack. The problem is the people selling the FJ shocks think they are mode of gold or something. I found mine on Ebay for $50.00 after looking for quite some time and that was a reasonable price.
 
Cool, to be honest I do not have the energy to dedicate trying to explain why both the FJ and FZ rear shocks are not adequate for any kind of riding above going to the local coffee shop.

It's like trying to explain why a Macdonald burger is bad for you to a fat person.

Spending the time and energy sourcing a cheap FJ09, reworking it and installing it to gain mediocre gains when there are better solutions cheaper and the same effort to me just makes no sense.

But regardless if this conversation helps anyone see either side of the point of view well it has been worth it.
 
Cool, to be honest I do not have the energy to dedicate trying to explain why both the FJ and FZ rear shocks are not adequate for any kind of riding above going to the local coffee shop.

It's like trying to explain why a Macdonald burger is bad for you to a fat person.

Spending the time and energy sourcing a cheap FJ09, reworking it and installing it to gain mediocre gains when there are better solutions cheaper and the same effort to me just makes no sense.

But regardless if this conversation helps anyone see either side of the point of view well it has been worth it.
But reworking the fz 09 shock the bike comes with yields good results, apparently.
 
But reworking the fz 09 shock the bike comes with yields good results, apparently.
I've had my stock shock revalved and sprung for my weight and it's definitely better BUT on poor or bumpy roads (where the good corners are) its pretty ordinary. I am fitting a ZX shock. Knowing what I know now, I think spending money on stock rear shock is throwing good money after bad. My 2c
 
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