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From Blue to Black and gold 2008 R6

7K views 32 replies 11 participants last post by  Acemastr 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey,

So I have been a part of this forum for a long time but this is my first thread.

This is my 3rd Yamaha R6, my first one was a 2004 R6 then I had a 2009 black and gold R6.

Now this is my latest one, its a 2008 Blue R6 that I just had sprayed black, I have gold rear sets and the new embossed gold R6 decals, just need to get the rims powder coated to gold now, They are getting picked up later today to get that done, should have them back by Monday. The tank tuning fork emblems will be put on once the bike has been polished.

Most of you will ask why I sold the 2009 Black and gold R6 and why I am trying to make this one look similar...well I ran into financial troubles at that time and selling the bike was in my best interest at the time, I tried to buy it back but that wasn't gonna happen so I hunted for another R6 and the only low mileage descent one I could find at the time was a 2008 Blue and black R6 so I went with that, I had a few black fairings from my old 2009 R6 as I was in a bit of an accident where a taxi cut me off, The damage was minor, 3 scratches but then the retard mechanic dropped the bike off his work bench while replacing the 3 scratched fairings and stuffed up the entire right side of the bike so he had to basically buy me a full set of new fairings and a new tank. I got the old ones and so turning this blue R6 into a black and gold one was always in the wood works for the future.

Here she is as she stands right now, once polishing is done on Thursday and the powder coated gold rims arrive back on Monday I will take new photos.


Modifications so far include:


Power commander 5
titanium and gold levers,
flush mount indicators
integrated taillight
gold rear sets
projectors with 55w xenons
lowered suspension
side facing tire valves (Not sure of the correct terminology for these)
Gold Embossed R6 decals for belly pannels
(When money permits I will get the full Titanium acropovic exhaust system so that the power commander can actually serve a purpose.)






This is what she looked like before:



Anyway let me know what you think so far.
 
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#8 ·
It may just be a bit of a illusion that its that low in the front because the back is on a stand so I would imagine the angle is exaggerated.

With regards to the way it steers, its very very precise and agile into and out of corners, for me it feels a bit smoother than when it was at stock height, it feels a bit less twitchy. I can't remember how much I dropped it though as it was a year ago that I did it.
 
#9 ·
Are you a midget or do you prefer the look of a lowered bike? IMO, I would at least lower the front the same as the back to maintain correct geometry. No I don't think it is an illusion at all, front looks close to stock, maybe 10mm lower or so. Rear hugger looks like it could make contact with sub frame though..... :sing
 
#10 ·
If you take a look at the last pic, look how much the front forks are pulled through at the top of the bike, That's stock! Then look at the first two pics and you can tell from there that I dropped the front around 20mm which is inline with the lowering links I had fitted if I recall properly.
 
#11 ·
Here is a teaser of what the rims look like after being sprayed.
I have fitted them onto the bike but by the time I was done fulling with petrol and getting everything sorted it was dark as I struggled to put the front wheel on as I have never attempted taking wheels on or off a bike before lol.

Hopefully I will be able to take a pic tomorrow in the sun of the bike complete with the updated rims.
It has really transformed the bike.

 
#12 ·
Update time:

So here she is with the gold rims fitted! I had some issues fitting them with regards to the rear caliper, but I just managed to fix that now, I also re-greased the rear axel and put copper slip on all the nuts and bolts for the front and rear wheel. I have never taken a bike wheel on or off so this was quite a learning experience for me.

Here she is without a polish yet or yamaha emblems on the sides of the tank, but once she gets her polish to get that new paint as smooth as glass I will post more pics. Right now I am very happy with where she is right now.



 
#14 ·
It would look better with real Sato rearsets.


Did you really put anti-seize on your rotor bolts? Please buy or download a factory service manual and pay attention to the torque specs and places where you should put a thread locking agent like loctite, common places are rotor bolts, caliper bolts etc. etc.
 
#15 ·
@ RC51 - I am very happy with my current rear sets, I don't know how expensive rear sets are from where you are from or how readily available they are in your country but here they are VERY expensive! over 6k - 8k for a descent set.

Jeeze I don't think I will ever post anything on this forum again, I just get flak from all directions, comments like "am I a midget" because I lowered my bike? No I am not a midget but I am not a tall guy either and the 2008 R6 is a very high bike unless your tall! It was uncomfortable for me when I had to reverse the bike or when I had my gf on the back so I lowered the suspension, This is my bike and I will do with it what I want. If I want to lower it till its scraping the ground its my decision.

I put up a build thread to show progress on my bike for your viewing pleasure as I for one love build threads of bikes and cars so I thought I would share my build with the community. These are the types of comments I get? Remind me not to do that again!

Yes many things would look better on my bike to me or to others, we all have our own taste and we all work within our budget range!
 
#17 ·
It was two comments that weren't that bad asking why you lowered it. There were just as many saying it looked good (and I agree, other than the rearsets), even though I hate gold with a passion your bike doesn't look half bad.

People usually start asking questions about lowered bikes because when it isn't done right it can easily change the handling characteristics. More often than not it's negatively.

Put some gold spiked shit on it and you'll see what "getting flak" is all about.
 
#16 ·
I would also like to add that with regards to me lowering my bike, This is my third R6! I have had an 04 an 09 and now this 08 R6 and this is the first one I have lowered.

I sold my previous 09 R6 but when I started dating my current GF she begged me to buy another R6 and even went in half with the deal to purchase on condition that I teach her how to ride it. So I put her on the bike, she is shorter than myself and it was a problem, She could get one toe on the ground but it was very uncomfortable for her as she was quite far leaned over, so I decided to lower the bike because for myself I also wanted to have it lowered as I sat on an R1 and it felt allot more comfortable to me, I wanted that on my R6.

The new ride height worked wanders for her to learn how to ride but in the end I decided that an R6 as a first bike for her to learn on was a bad idea as the throttle response is way to quick for her and mistakes were happening with regards to revving and letting the clutch go. I did give her a crash course on an off road 125cc a few days prior to putting her on the R6 but it made little difference the two bikes throttle response, braking, clutch, ride height, steering etc etc is so different it didn't help at all.

The new ride height definitely made differences in the handling of the bike I won't lie but for myself I found the differences to be positive especially for road use. The bike seems less twitchy around corners, allot more smooth! It takes more effort to get the bike down but its something your body naturally adjusts itself for by applying more pressure, the average rider probably wouldn't even notice it.

But the biggest advantage for me is when I have my gf on the back, if she makes any movement while I'm coming to a slow stop or while I am stationary I don't feel like the bike is getting unsettled to the point where I feel like I'm going to drop the bike which happened a good few times before I lowered it too many close calls, Now my feet are relatively firmly on the ground and I am able to hold the bike still even if she does something silly.

I have read so many threads where people asked about ride height and just got flamed at left right and center, its absolute crap and I find it ridiculous that people get flamed for wanting to lower there bike and get told that factory honda and yamaha riders can't touch the ground properly....you don't need to touch the ground on a regular basis on a race track.
When you get in a car you have an adjustable seat and you adjust it to your driving comfort and your height, a bike doesn't have that luxury, they are made for the "Average height rider" if your not the average height then its a problem and you may need to make some adjustments, this is just how it is and that's why lowering kits exist!
 
#18 ·
To be perfectly honest with you I had never heard of "Sato rearsets" till you mentioned it.

You guys have ebay and other websites that your able to order awesome stuff from for ridiculously cheap prices which is awesome, but here we have gumtree lol allot of stuff on websites in the US that I like have this dumb ass thing that says shipping within US only :/ Not sure why as it is exactly the same amount of effort to ship to another country, just different costs which the buyer pays for anyway :/

So what I am getting at is that you guys get awesome stuff for crazy cheap, if I wanted that I would pay out my ass and have to wait 6 to 12 weeks which I have no patience for so when I saw my current rear set for sale I jumped on it. Its not the gold tone that I wanted or expected (I wanted the same gold that the R6 decal comes in) but instead I got a more orange toned gold. shit happens I guess. :( I have grown to like it over time. one day hopefully I will find a nice set that I can swap it out for.
 
#19 · (Edited)
The Sato rearsets are what a lot of the Chinese copycats are based on. Only the Chinese ones are made with worse tolerances, worse bearings, and made with who-knows-what-kind of metal.

Most anodized aluminum stuff comes out close to the color of the fork tubes. Might be a few shades off here or there, but it's usually pretty close. If you want them lighter and less orange, just leave them out in the sun for a while and they'll fade.

Yeah, that sucks to be stuck with that kind of access to stuff. I don't know what the exchange rates are or what the buying power of your currency actually is, but Sato rearsets are around $500-$550 here. Most of the quality adjustable stuff goes for over $400, with the Chinese copies coming in around $150-$350. I wouldn't exactly call the Sato's cheap. For a reference, a new R6 retails at around $10,800 or so.
 
#20 ·
I was having a look on Ebay last night, it turns out I can order most of the rear sets (The chinese copies) they are not badly priced at all but the last time I ordered something off ebay I waited 3 bloody months...I was not impressed at all. I came across a pair of Satos too and they were in the price range you mentioned, it would be slightly more for me due to shipping.

The cost of a new R6 here is R117 000.00 as far as I can remember, I am going past yamaha now to fetch a new -1 tooth front sprocket from a shop next to it, will have a look at a new yamaha while its getting fitted to get a price.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Anyway let me know what you think so far.
Looks nice although it does not look like it will steer to well. How much have you lowered the back compared to front?
It was two comments that weren't that bad asking why you lowered it. There were just as many saying it looked good (and I agree, other than the rearsets), even though I hate gold with a passion your bike doesn't look half bad.

People usually start asking questions about lowered bikes because when it isn't done right it can easily change the handling characteristics. More often than not it's negatively.

Put some gold spiked shit on it and you'll see what "getting flak" is all about.
:werd

Jeeze I don't think I will ever post anything on this forum again, I just get flak from all directions, comments like "am I a midget" because I lowered my bike?
Sacha, I apologise if I hit a nerve with my "midget" reference. Perhaps I could have been more politically correct. My post wasn't meant to be negative at all. A lot of people choose fashion over function when lowering their rides but like you said, you have your reasons.
Lighten up a little and try to have a laugh along the way. It will make your stay here a lot more enjoyable. :beerchug
Are you able to post pic of bike off rear stand?
 
#22 · (Edited)
No worries. :cheers

I don't have any pics that I know of but I will have a look and if I don't I will take a pic later this afternoon and you can have a look at the front ride height.

I did drop the front a considerable amount, I don't want it to look stupid with the front forks sticking out like joysticks so I will post some pics and you can let me know what you think.
 
#25 ·
Thanks for the kind words man, as for the decals, I bought them from Yamaha themselves, they are part of the later model R6, 2011 and up as far as I can remember. They had a R6 on there floor at the time and I used that bikes vin number to order the correct sticker.
 
#27 ·
Hey Guys,

Its been a while and I have done a few more upgrades here and there :)

Here are some pics: I have done gold chain, red Visor, tire decals, removed passenger foot pegs and fitted a rear seat cowl. This past weekend I fitted a full yoshi system but swaped the yoshi can for a GYTR can which I sprayed matt black, Don't dig the yoshi can as its chrome and looks fongkong. I still need to finish it but you can see it in the last pic anyway. My swing arm is stuffed but I have a new one and will fit it soon.

I also reconnected my power commander now due to the full system so everything is running smoothly :) bike is performing like a machine!











 
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