Hello! and Please Help With My B6 Fork Swap

[nPicks]

Hello everyone! 

My first post here, thank you for having me. I'm riding a '97 B6 with a few upgrades (.85kg racetech springs, holeshot stage 1, '94 gsxr750 shock, vance&hines can) and looking to add some nicer forks and brakes before my first track season next year. I feel like I've looked pretty hard for the information to do this but it eludes me. I'm trying to figure out what is involved in this process. From what I gather, if I want newer forks and brakes the entire front end needs to be replaced (triples, axle, wheels) and I'm having difficulty finding which forks make sense geometry-wise and the nitty-gritty details like pressing bearings and required fab work. Can anyone point me to a project where someone walks through the process or sites with compatibility information? Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks!

[fatblokeonbandit]

Theres a lot of excellent info here but not much about Bandits, as they arent generally considered oldskool enough, those of us who like and modify thier bandits are tolerated. that said ive done frknt end swops to many bandits and have done a " how to guide" on a bandit specific forum, ill pm you the link and point yoy in the right direction.. the first question is, how much do you want to spend...?

As you are in U S of Trump spares are really cheap compared to over here....

Do you want really modern  up side down forks or retain the normal look of the standard forks??

 

[Longhair]

Welcome to the forum

If you want better brakes you are best fitting a pair of bandit 400 forks. They are the same size as the 6 but will take callipers with a 90 mm spacing like Nissins off a b12 or 4pot Tokicos while keeping your b6 wheel and disc.

[Swiss Toni]

That's a bit of good info there, Longhair! 

[fatblokeonbandit]

The 400 ones fit but are 30 mm shorter and have no pre load or damping adjustment the same as the 600 ones,

 

 

[KATANAMANGLER]

If the B6 front end is the same showa front end that is on the SV 650 ( I think it is) there are a couple of options:

1. Decent linear springs, heavier oil and a set of emulators to allow adjustment.
2. H#nda CBR 600f3 sliders fit straight into the the SV/B6 lowers but are about 50mm longer so they need to sit above the top yoke.(fine if you have clipons) They are a full cartridge front end though with adjustable pre-load and damping. This a favourite on the SV650 racing scene.

In either case these guys do a good adaptor kit for upgrading to modern Nissin and Tokiko 4 pots using the standard SV/B6 fork bottoms.

[wraith]

I have some b6 forks on my GS1000 fighter, I've put GSX600f HD springs in used a RF600 3.5" rim front wheel (that gos strate in) using the b6 disc's made some brackets up to use gsxr 4 pots

[Madb]

Sv forks do fit but are shorter and softer. Sticks it on its nose but rides ok tho needs stronger springs. Lose ground clearance too. Not one for hard braking.

[nPicks]

13 hours ago, fatblokeonbandit said:

Theres a lot of excellent info here but not much about Bandits, as they arent generally considered oldskool enough, those of us who like and modify thier bandits are tolerated. that said ive done frknt end swops to many bandits and have done a " how to guide" on a bandit specific forum, ill pm you the link and point yoy in the right direction.. the first question is, how much do you want to spend...?

As you are in U S of Trump spares are really cheap compared to over here....

Do you want really modern  up side down forks or retain the normal look of the standard forks??

 

Thanks Bloke, I'll definitely check out your thread, I'm pretty sure I'm already registered on the Bandit forum. I am in the US and have found a few mid 2000 GSXR front ends in the $200-$400 range. I don't want to spend TOO much, maybe $500-$600 and I'm more concerned about performance than looks but it seems the USDs generally perform AND look better anyways.

 

12 hours ago, Longhair said:

Welcome to the forum

If you want better brakes you are best fitting a pair of bandit 400 forks. They are the same size as the 6 but will take callipers with a 90 mm spacing like Nissins off a b12 or 4pot Tokicos while keeping your b6 wheel and disc.

 

3 hours ago, KATANAMANGLER said:

If the B6 front end is the same showa front end that is on the SV 650 ( I think it is) there are a couple of options:

1. Decent linear springs, heavier oil and a set of emulators to allow adjustment.
2. H#nda CBR 600f3 sliders fit straight into the the SV/B6 lowers but are about 50mm longer so they need to sit above the top yoke.(fine if you have clipons) They are a full cartridge front end though with adjustable pre-load and damping. This a favourite on the SV650 racing scene.

In either case these guys do a good adaptor kit for upgrading to modern Nissin and Tokiko 4 pots using the standard SV/B6 fork bottoms.

I've seen mention of the 400 forks but also get the idea that they're a bit hard to find. I'm not really educated on brake manufacturers, are Nissins and Tokikos what come on modern street bikes these days? And since I've already upgraded the springs in my current forks it seems an easier/cheaper option would just be to grab a set of those caliper adapters and emulators.

[KATANAMANGLER]

The calipers to fit thise adaptors are the Nissin 4 pots fro a H*nda CB600 f4 you mighg need to upgrade the master cylinder too.

[nPicks]

3 hours ago, KATANAMANGLER said:

The calipers to fit thise adaptors are the Nissin 4 pots fro a H*nda CB600 f4 you mighg need to upgrade the master cylinder too.

Right on. Glad to see the site also lists the other bikes and calipers that will mount. Thank you!