rx-7ames
Member
Hello everyone. I decided to post here on the forum because I haven’t seen many examples of Graves rearsets on the 2nd gen Yamaha FZ1. Installation was not too bad. The instructions were very vague, so if you are the kind of person that required detailed instructions with lots of pictures then maybe this isn’t the install for you. Despite the lack of instructions, it is still a very simple install but you should have some basic mechanical experience. Overall I am happy with these rearsets. They feel solid. Shifting and breaking has never felt so good. I do have several problems with these rearsets. Maybe my comments will help Graves fix these rearsets and make them even better.
1. The first problem I ran into was with the right side carbon fiber heel guard. The black bolts supplied do not fit. They are too skinny to thread into the master cylinder. So, I used the factory bolts. I also have an issue with the way it attaches to the rearsets and master cylinder. The bolts go through the heal guards, then through the rearsets, and screw into the master cylinder. I didn’t want to use too much torque and risk cracking the carbon fiber so I used loctite on these bolts. I think it would have been better to use strong bolts to bolt the master cylinder to the rearsets, and the supplied (smaller) bolts to attach the carbon fiber heal guards to the rearsets. I’m not sure why they engineered them this way.
2. Moving on to the shift side, I ran into my second problem. At first the shift knuckle would not slide on the shift shaft. It was way too small. I tried using a screw driver to spread it open, but that didn’t work. Then I tried using a little WD-40 to lube it up, but that didn’t work either. I didn’t want to strip out the fragile aluminum teeth so I called Graves customer service. Shane suggested that I use a screwdriver to slightly open the teeth or try grease to lube it up. Since I already tried that and it didn’t work, I decided that being gentle wasn’t the answer. I actually had to use a larger chisel and a hammer to open the teeth up. I drove the chisel into the shift knuckle a little at a time until it opened up enough. I’m not sure why the shift knuckle was so tight I think Graves should do something to prevent this in the future. Maybe test fitting parts before they are packaged would prevent this. The shift knuckle does not have to be so tight, especially since it gets locked into place with a bolt.
3. The third problem was with the shift rod. I ordered these rearsets so I could change my bike to GP shift. I wanted to run GP shift on this bike because it is too confusing going back and forth between this bike in standard shift and my R6 track bike in GP shift. So, the problem is, when you configure these rearsets in GP shift there is not enough room for the shift rod. I had to get out the dremel and cut a groove into the plastic sprocket cover. There really isn’t any way around this without a major design change, but it would be nice to know I would have to cut my bike before I made the purchase. This could be a deciding factor for some people. I see no way around making this cut and using GP shift.
4. The fourth problem is how tight everything is when using GP shift. The shift knuckle bolt is too close to the sprocket cover to fit an allen wrench in there. I ended up taking a grinder to an old allen wrench to make the end shorter but eventually just used the stock 8mm hex bolt. To me this is the best solution because using an open ended wrench is so much easier than an allen wrench. Problem solved. There are also lots of hoses and wires that are right around the shift knuckle so hopefully there will not be other problems with the shift knuckle rubbing them.
5. It was also a little aggravating getting the shift lever into the right position. I had to rotate the shift knuckle at an acute angle to the shift rod in order to bring the shift lever up high enough to get my foot under. This is with the shift rod ends tightened all the way to make it as short as possible. I would have preferred to rotate the shift knuckle a little more (counter clockwise) and used a slightly shorter shift rod. That would have allowed for a better angle between the shift knuckle and shift rod while still allowing for more adjustability. This could be solved by offering different length shift rods. This would be a minimal cost to Graves and could be included for those wanting to use GP shift.
6. This isn’t a huge issue now but you can make your own opinion from the pictures below. I think Graves should have clear coated the heal guards. The carbon fiber looks very dull next to the carbon fiber exhaust (also graves). I am worried that they carbon fiber might start to change color without UV protected clear coat. It also just doesn’t look as nice. I also thought they would use the same twill as their exhaust but it is a different pattern. The heal guards are also not symmetric on both sides. The right side is much higher and farther back which feels like the right position. The left side heal guard touches between my heal and toe so my heal never really digs in. I don’t understand why they were not made to be symmetric on each side. It feels a little weird since the heel guards touch different parts of my boot. It feels like my feet are in different positions.
Now, maybe that sounded like a whole lot of complaining but I think these rearsets are far superior to the stock rearsets. The stocks are so flimsy and flex everytime you brake or shift gears, but these rearsets are solid once you get them installed. They feel good and look amazing. I’m not so sure that they are worth the price though. They are almost twice as much as some of the other rearsets on the market. These are my first aftermarket rearsets. I think I will try a different brand for my R6. After that I can compare these rearsets to a different brand. I thought I would be a lot happier for paying so much for these. If I can be just as happy and pay less then that would be ideal. I’m sure there is something I missed but I’ll let you make your own opinions from the pictures. If someone wants to see something specific then let me know and I’ll try to get some more pictures.
Here you can see the groove I had to cut into the sprocket guard. You can also see how tight it is to get to the shift knuckle bolt. Using the stock bolt is much easier.
Here you can see the different position of the heal guards
Here are some before shots to make a comparison
1. The first problem I ran into was with the right side carbon fiber heel guard. The black bolts supplied do not fit. They are too skinny to thread into the master cylinder. So, I used the factory bolts. I also have an issue with the way it attaches to the rearsets and master cylinder. The bolts go through the heal guards, then through the rearsets, and screw into the master cylinder. I didn’t want to use too much torque and risk cracking the carbon fiber so I used loctite on these bolts. I think it would have been better to use strong bolts to bolt the master cylinder to the rearsets, and the supplied (smaller) bolts to attach the carbon fiber heal guards to the rearsets. I’m not sure why they engineered them this way.
2. Moving on to the shift side, I ran into my second problem. At first the shift knuckle would not slide on the shift shaft. It was way too small. I tried using a screw driver to spread it open, but that didn’t work. Then I tried using a little WD-40 to lube it up, but that didn’t work either. I didn’t want to strip out the fragile aluminum teeth so I called Graves customer service. Shane suggested that I use a screwdriver to slightly open the teeth or try grease to lube it up. Since I already tried that and it didn’t work, I decided that being gentle wasn’t the answer. I actually had to use a larger chisel and a hammer to open the teeth up. I drove the chisel into the shift knuckle a little at a time until it opened up enough. I’m not sure why the shift knuckle was so tight I think Graves should do something to prevent this in the future. Maybe test fitting parts before they are packaged would prevent this. The shift knuckle does not have to be so tight, especially since it gets locked into place with a bolt.
3. The third problem was with the shift rod. I ordered these rearsets so I could change my bike to GP shift. I wanted to run GP shift on this bike because it is too confusing going back and forth between this bike in standard shift and my R6 track bike in GP shift. So, the problem is, when you configure these rearsets in GP shift there is not enough room for the shift rod. I had to get out the dremel and cut a groove into the plastic sprocket cover. There really isn’t any way around this without a major design change, but it would be nice to know I would have to cut my bike before I made the purchase. This could be a deciding factor for some people. I see no way around making this cut and using GP shift.
4. The fourth problem is how tight everything is when using GP shift. The shift knuckle bolt is too close to the sprocket cover to fit an allen wrench in there. I ended up taking a grinder to an old allen wrench to make the end shorter but eventually just used the stock 8mm hex bolt. To me this is the best solution because using an open ended wrench is so much easier than an allen wrench. Problem solved. There are also lots of hoses and wires that are right around the shift knuckle so hopefully there will not be other problems with the shift knuckle rubbing them.
5. It was also a little aggravating getting the shift lever into the right position. I had to rotate the shift knuckle at an acute angle to the shift rod in order to bring the shift lever up high enough to get my foot under. This is with the shift rod ends tightened all the way to make it as short as possible. I would have preferred to rotate the shift knuckle a little more (counter clockwise) and used a slightly shorter shift rod. That would have allowed for a better angle between the shift knuckle and shift rod while still allowing for more adjustability. This could be solved by offering different length shift rods. This would be a minimal cost to Graves and could be included for those wanting to use GP shift.
6. This isn’t a huge issue now but you can make your own opinion from the pictures below. I think Graves should have clear coated the heal guards. The carbon fiber looks very dull next to the carbon fiber exhaust (also graves). I am worried that they carbon fiber might start to change color without UV protected clear coat. It also just doesn’t look as nice. I also thought they would use the same twill as their exhaust but it is a different pattern. The heal guards are also not symmetric on both sides. The right side is much higher and farther back which feels like the right position. The left side heal guard touches between my heal and toe so my heal never really digs in. I don’t understand why they were not made to be symmetric on each side. It feels a little weird since the heel guards touch different parts of my boot. It feels like my feet are in different positions.
Now, maybe that sounded like a whole lot of complaining but I think these rearsets are far superior to the stock rearsets. The stocks are so flimsy and flex everytime you brake or shift gears, but these rearsets are solid once you get them installed. They feel good and look amazing. I’m not so sure that they are worth the price though. They are almost twice as much as some of the other rearsets on the market. These are my first aftermarket rearsets. I think I will try a different brand for my R6. After that I can compare these rearsets to a different brand. I thought I would be a lot happier for paying so much for these. If I can be just as happy and pay less then that would be ideal. I’m sure there is something I missed but I’ll let you make your own opinions from the pictures. If someone wants to see something specific then let me know and I’ll try to get some more pictures.
Here you can see the groove I had to cut into the sprocket guard. You can also see how tight it is to get to the shift knuckle bolt. Using the stock bolt is much easier.
Here you can see the different position of the heal guards
Here are some before shots to make a comparison
