CBR650F Front fork swap?

[FL650F]

Hey yall, i was looking for an Ohlins front fork kit to complete my suspension upgrade (FK 105) but they've been discontinued for a few years and cant even find a used spring upgrade kit. I see that the kit for the 17-18 cbr 650Fs are different, (FK 129) and i went through parts diagrams and found that the spring and fork pipe are indeed different between the MY14-16 and the MY17-18.

i see there's this company called HyperPro that makes a cheap kit, but have never heard of them and dont know if its worth spending the money on the kit.

My only other option i can see is swapping the entire fork assemblies out for ones from MY17-18 650Fs, Then buying the Ohlins upgrade kit (FK129). has this been done before or can anyone offer a better solution? Thanks.

 

[miweber929]

Hey yall, i was looking for an Ohlins front fork kit to complete my suspension upgrade (FK 105) but they've been discontinued for a few years and cant even find a used spring upgrade kit. I see that the kit for the 17-18 cbr 650Fs are different, (FK 129) and i went through parts diagrams and found that the spring and fork pipe are indeed different between the MY14-16 and the MY17-18.

i see there's this company called HyperPro that makes a cheap kit, but have never heard of them and dont know if its worth spending the money on the kit.

My only other option i can see is swapping the entire fork assemblies out for ones from MY17-18 650Fs, Then buying the Ohlins upgrade kit (FK129). has this been done before or can anyone offer a better solution? Thanks.

The Ohlins kit worked wonders but was extremely simple: 2 springs (that were usually undersized, fyi), two preload adjustable fork caps and prebuilt spacers. To do it right you also needed a liter of Ohlins fork oil.

Worked wonders but was high priced for what it was.

You can easily find the replacement fork caps that offer preload adjustability on eBay or aliexpress, KTech should make springs, some new 10wt fork oil and you’ll need to cut spacers to the right size using PVC pipe available at a home improvement store. For about half of what a fork swap/Ohlins kit would run you’re in and done. Search the forum, we did it a lot in the past.

Hyperpro is a good company that's been around for a long time, you will not go wrong with their setup. I’d also recommend RaceTech as another good, reputable suspension shop. See what they offer.

As far as swapping with the 17-18 forks you can do it, I do not believe anything else changed so they should bolt on (note on all F models the CBR forks are longer than CB due to clip-ons mounting above the triple clamp) but you’re swapping meh forks for eh forks. Neither were great forks and the “upgrade” was still sloppy, under sprung and under dampened so you’re not gaining anything but added cost to redo just as you would the original.

A drop in fork cartridge is a much better option, albeit 3 or 4 times more expensive.

I ran an Ohlins shock and the Ohlins spring kit on the front of my ‘14 and it was great, but at the time both together were just under $1k if you caught the right sale. They’re much more now, shock alone is probably that. My memory isn’t great but I think I ordered a higher rate fork spring than came with the so it was even more wasteful to but the setup.

 

[FL650F]

The Ohlins kit worked wonders but was extremely simple: 2 springs (that were usually undersized, fyi), two preload adjustable fork caps and prebuilt spacers. To do it right you also needed a liter of Ohlins fork oil.

Worked wonders but was high priced for what it was.

You can easily find the replacement fork caps that offer preload adjustability on eBay or aliexpress, KTech should make springs, some new 10wt fork oil and you’ll need to cut spacers to the right size using PVC pipe available at a home improvement store. For about half of what a fork swap/Ohlins kit would run you’re in and done. Search the forum, we did it a lot in the past.

Hyperpro is a good company that's been around for a long time, you will not go wrong with their setup. I’d also recommend RaceTech as another good, reputable suspension shop. See what they offer.

As far as swapping with the 17-18 forks you can do it, I do not believe anything else changed so they should bolt on (note on all F models the CBR forks are longer than CB due to clip-ons mounting above the triple clamp) but you’re swapping meh forks for eh forks. Neither were great forks and the “upgrade” was still sloppy, under sprung and under dampened so you’re not gaining anything but added cost to redo just as you would the original.

A drop in fork cartridge is a much better option, albeit 3 or 4 times more expensive.

I ran an Ohlins shock and the Ohlins spring kit on the front of my ‘14 and it was great, but at the time both together were just under $1k if you caught the right sale. They’re much more now, shock alone is probably that. My memory isn’t great but I think I ordered a higher rate fork spring than came with the so it was even more wasteful to but the setup.

I was only looking to swap the forks to the 17-18 to gain the ability to get the ohlins upgrade. I have the ohlins rear shock which is fantastic though the front is squirrelly and sloppy in the corners and its terrible 😔 im not big on having to cut spacers, mainly because i havent really messed with the forks on any bike ive had and doing a fork upgrade would be my first so trying to keep it "simple".

 

[miweber929]

I was only looking to swap the forks to the 17-18 to gain the ability to get the ohlins upgrade. I have the ohlins rear shock which is fantastic though the front is squirrelly and sloppy in the corners and its terrible 😔 im not big on having to cut spacers, mainly because i havent really messed with the forks on any bike ive had and doing a fork upgrade would be my first so trying to keep it "simple".

It's not hard, but a shop could easily do it as well.

I got why you were asking about the newer forks, I only suggested to stay away from them because you'll still have to do the upgrade.

 

[FL650F]

It's not hard, but a shop could easily do it as well.

I got why you were asking about the newer forks, I only suggested to stay away from them because you'll still have to do the upgrade.

Makes sense, not cost efficient to swap whole forks then upgrade them. I'll look into it further on the forum for a how-to or just more info on it, thanks 👌

 

[Rocketman]

Have a look at Nitron kit, they might do an upgrade kit for your forks. I had Nitron fit triple valve fork inserts and rear R3 shock fitted to my 2021 CB650R and transformed my ride in every respect absolutely brilliant kit.

Nitron Racing Systems
Unit 8,

Tungsten Park,

Colletts Way,

Witney,

Oxfordshire OX29 0AX





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