Advice for winter work on 2008 R6 - keyswitch elimination harness / 520 conversion

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to work a few things on my track bike during the winter... so advice from 2008-2016 R6 owners would be very appreciated!

- keyswitch elimination : from what I see there is just the Woodcraft harness. I can only find it from Bayside Performance in Canada. It's not bad at 68$, but 18$ shipping is annoying. Is there any other option in Canada/Ontario?

- fork revalving and servicing : I can't afford öhlins yet, but I heard a good revalve kit does an amazing job. Plus the forks need servicing anyways. Any advice on that?

- 520 chain conversion : I want [much] shorter gearing than stock (I primarily go to Shannonville, and occationally at Mosport RDT and Grand Bend) and get a 520 chain. I never changed a chain myself. Is it easy to do? What tool do I need for that? Is it worth it buying the tool or just bring the bike to the shop? And what's the advice on gearing for Shannonville? "one-down-two-up"?

- brake pads : any advice on nice pads and where to order from ? Vesrahs, SBS, etc... I put steel lines on this summer, but I still had the old stock 2008 pads. I'll wait to see with good pads before looking at changing the master cylinder with brembo RCS 19 something.


I just got back from LA, visiting my brother there, and I did a track day at Buttonwillow on a borrowed R6. First time on that track. Hard to learn with 20 something corners!!! But awesome day anyways. That aside, parts are so easy to come by there with all the WERA racers! And the yearlong riding.. It's unfair.

Cheers everyone!

george_belafonte said:

- keyswitch elimination : from what I see there is just the Woodcraft harness. I can only find it from Bayside Performance in Canada. It's not bad at 68$, but 18$ shipping is annoying. Is there any other option in Canada/Ontario?

Click to expand...

A thief can do it in about 3 seconds and you can bet they don't buy anything to do it :/ the ignition switch only has 2 push in plastic connectors, how hard could it possibly be!

Trials said:

A thief can do it in about 3 seconds and you can bet they don't buy anything to do it :/ the ignition switch only has 2 push in plastic connectors, how hard could it possibly be!

Click to expand...

I'm also a fan of Nicolas Cage

Trials said:

A thief can do it in about 3 seconds and you can bet they don't buy anything to do it :/ the ignition switch only has 2 push in plastic connectors, how hard could it possibly be!

Click to expand...

I don't know since I never tried stealing a bike. Maybe I should try. Do you know which wires and where?

In the meantime I want to make a clean install, as so far everything I did to turn the bike into track bike was done clean so I can revert the bike to street and sell it.

Any one that did the keyswitch elimination?

im sure R6 forums are overflowing with info on this

Ordered my key switch eliminator for the GSXR from Bluestreak - free shipping.
Haven't received it yet but install doesn't look that hard, aiming to do it over the Xmas break so I'll let you know how it goes.

So, so easy
I have an 03 r6 with a ghetto toggle switch. Two wires to connect. On/off for the electrical. $5.

Just remember now you also have to go with a keyless gas cap.

Did you do this install yourself? I have an 04 and if it's that cheap and easy I wouldn't mind trying it myself. Did you follow a link or any specific forum instructions. Feel free to PM if you did, if not I'll do some googling. Thanks.

meme said:

So, so easy
I have an 03 r6 with a ghetto toggle switch. Two wires to connect. On/off for the electrical. $5.

Just remember now you also have to go with a keyless gas cap.

Click to expand...

george_belafonte said:

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to work a few things on my track bike during the winter... so advice from 2008-2016 R6 owners would be very appreciated!

- keyswitch elimination : from what I see there is just the Woodcraft harness. I can only find it from Bayside Performance in Canada. It's not bad at 68$, but 18$ shipping is annoying. Is there any other option in Canada/Ontario?

- fork revalving and servicing : I can't afford öhlins yet, but I heard a good revalve kit does an amazing job. Plus the forks need servicing anyways. Any advice on that?

- 520 chain conversion : I want [much] shorter gearing than stock (I primarily go to Shannonville, and occationally at Mosport RDT and Grand Bend) and get a 520 chain. I never changed a chain myself. Is it easy to do? What tool do I need for that? Is it worth it buying the tool or just bring the bike to the shop? And what's the advice on gearing for Shannonville? "one-down-two-up"?

- brake pads : any advice on nice pads and where to order from ? Vesrahs, SBS, etc... I put steel lines on this summer, but I still had the old stock 2008 pads. I'll wait to see with good pads before looking at changing the master cylinder with brembo RCS 19 something.


I just got back from LA, visiting my brother there, and I did a track day at Buttonwillow on a borrowed R6. First time on that track. Hard to learn with 20 something corners!!! But awesome day anyways. That aside, parts are so easy to come by there with all the WERA racers! And the yearlong riding.. It's unfair.

Cheers everyone!
View attachment 39155

Click to expand...

The woodcraft ignition eliminator comes with very easy to read instructions in the box.


Are you going racing or just Track days? If youre just doing TDs, why both switching to a 520 from a 525? same goes for gearing.

A revalve will help a lot. Suspension should be serviced yearly anyways.

Brake pads, Veresah is nice. Any sintered pad will be better than OEM.

Because of the imobilizer circuit on Canadian R6's I don't think you can just plug in the Woodcraft eliminator. I think you have to flash the ecu as well to turn that feature off otherwise you still need the key

LWTRacer said:

The woodcraft ignition eliminator comes with very easy to read instructions in the box.


Are you going racing or just Track days? If youre just doing TDs, why both switching to a 520 from a 525? same goes for gearing.

A revalve will help a lot. Suspension should be serviced yearly anyways.

Brake pads, Veresah is nice. Any sintered pad will be better than OEM.

Click to expand...

I think more track days this season, then getting my racing licence next year with RACE. So I want to get used to shorter gearing this season, and if I change the gearing might as well change to 520.

I'll call Bluestreak Racing see if they have the harness for R6. Mine is actually from the US so I won't have the problem Canadian bikes have.

Any suggestion on where to get the forks serviced? So far I have gone to Champion Cycle on Weston Rd, I like the owner Dan. He changes my tires during the season.

If your goal is to race in the future I would forgo the track days for 2018 and jump right in and get your licence. Racing is so much more fun than track days, you’ll get a ton of free advice and you’ll find your lap times will come down a lot faster.

george_belafonte said:

I don't know since I never tried stealing a bike. Maybe I should try. Do you know which wires and where?

In the meantime I want to make a clean install, as so far everything I did to turn the bike into track bike was done clean so I can revert the bike to street and sell it.

Any one that did the keyswitch elimination?

Click to expand...

I have the woodcraft harnes to remove the ignition. It is plug and play and comes with instructions. It is a matter of tracing cables.

I however have a gsxr, you need to call them and ask if they have one for your model bike, but installation wise is ridiculously easy.

Jayv said:

you’ll find your lap times will come down a lot faster.

Click to expand...

as will your bank account balance ;-)

george_belafonte said:

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to work a few things on my track bike during the winter... so advice from 2008-2016 R6 owners would be very appreciated!



- 520 chain conversion : I want [much] shorter gearing than stock (I primarily go to Shannonville, and occationally at Mosport RDT and Grand Bend) and get a 520 chain. I never changed a chain myself. Is it easy to do? What tool do I need for that? Is it worth it buying the tool or just bring the bike to the shop? And what's the advice on gearing for Shannonville? "one-down-two-up"?



Cheers everyone!
View attachment 39155

Click to expand...

Changing your chain is pretty easy, attach new chain to end of old chain and then thread in the new chain. changing sprockets is a bit more difficult. You want to make sure sprockets don't come loose- torque. chain clips are direction specific. an impact wrench can be useful for changing fr sprocket. Try to find a good mechanic you trust ..

if your chain/sprockets r good now I would drop one tooth on the front. cheap quick easy, probably not race perfect but you will notice the difference it makes even at a td.

r6 td you lucky sob 20 turns !

Just right in to racing if you've experienced a few track days. You'll learn way more and it's pretty close to the same cost.

george_belafonte said:

Hi everyone,



- 520 chain conversion : I want [much] shorter gearing than stock (I primarily go to Shannonville, and occationally at Mosport RDT and Grand Bend) and get a 520 chain. I never changed a chain myself. Is it easy to do? What tool do I need for that? Is it worth it buying the tool or just bring the bike to the shop? And what's the advice on gearing for Shannonville? "one-down-two-up"?

Click to expand...

If you're able to take a wheel off, you'll be fine to change the chain. I'd recommend buying a chain breaker/master clip tool. I bought mine from Royal Distributing for around $80, if I remember correctly.
https://fortnine.ca/en/motion-pro-chain-breaker-and-riveting-tool

Do a wheel alignment afterwards, just to be sure, since you'll more than likely move the position of your rear wheel.
https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/...le-wheel-alignment-mc-garage-tech-tips#page-2

Also keep in mind that with the wheel distance being changed, your handling will also be slightly different.

I got a stock 2008 R6 a couple years ago that I converted to track. I did everything you are asking about and more.

The R6 ignition has an immobilizer chip, to do the woodcraft switch (it's just a nice expensive switch, nothing more) if you remove the ignition it will only work if you get the ecu reflashed. There's a guy that advertises on kijiji that does an R6 reflash for $80, worked fine for me.

Instead of using a woodcraft switch I used an R6 kill switch on the left bar, has worked well for me. Some research on the R6 forums found me the details on what wires to disconnect and what to solder the kill switch too, was easy enough to do.

I got an Ohlins pistons Kit for my front forks and had them installed. All-in I upgraded the forks to a 20mm kit for about $550, and am happy with it, is an excellent upgrade. It will be some time before I need something 'better'. Race Tech gold valves would be a similar price and similar performance to the Ohlins pistons kit.

For 520 conversion, do it. Rear sprocket, I went with machined-out lightened steel instead of aluminum so will last longer. If you choose aluminum get hard-anodized, not bare aluminum, will last longer. -1 +2 is fine for every track (although for Mosport big track, stock gearing is really good). Shannonville has a 1/4 mile back strait, with -1+2 gearing I only got up to 5th gear.

I had the problem that with -1 +2 sprockets and stock chain length the rear tire was touching the swingarm. I had to add a link, but that made the bike longer and harder to turn. I compromised and have -1 +1 so i could have the stock number of links. If you have your own chain tool, just keep the extra bit of new chain and you can always buy additional master links, isn't a big deal. The labor to have a chain put on is the same as buying a good chain tool.

Changing your own chain is doable, just invest in a good chain tool (ie. an expensive tool), and pay attention to the instructions and what you are doing. Get a tool that you can buy replacement bits that can snap, like the pins that do the rivets.

For brakes, the oem pads can easily glaze when used on track, even the least expensive upgrade (eg. ebc HH pads) are a big improvement. I used the stock brake master for a couple track days before putting on a brembo 19x20. The stock is pretty good. When the stock brake master would heat up on track the brake lever (instead of only moving a little bit when pulled hard) could be pulled about half way to the bar. But, this was consistent throughout the day, with heavy braking it wouldn't go more than half. If you upgrade to a brembo, sure you have more braking power, but for me the actual difference was that my brembo has the exactly same pull when it is cold and very hot. Also note, I probably use 75% or less of the potential braking force of my brembo, under heavy braking. If you really brake hard (and don't know what you are doing) you can toss yourself over the bars, they are that strong. I'm not trying to warn you off of upgrading your brake master, just ask yourself if you are using 100% of your current brake master and still want more.

I got the brembo at the time because it was a good price, not because I actually need it. I'd suggest that you use the stock brake master until it isn't giving you enough, then look into an upgrade.

@cjbenedict

Thanks so much for your write up. This is exactly the info I was looking for. Very good to know for the -1 +1. I was hesitating to the 520 switch, but my 525 chain is still perfectly good, so I might just keep it and do -1 +1 so I don't have to adjust the length of it. And I don't care if I don't have the ultimate performance as for now I still have lots to learn to be more regular. I did a bunch of laps at 2:00' and mid 1:59' in August this year on my last track day, on Q3+, and I was still making mistakes. So I figure I can get close to 1:57 just by being more regular, and then a few second by setting up suspension well and shorter gearing and god pads.

It's good to hear that any pads will do better than stock too.

Where did you get the Öhlins piston for the fork? I usually go to Champion Cycle so I'll ask Dan how much he would charge for that of the Race Tech gold valves. Forks will be very happy to get rid of that 2008 vintage oil . I might get him to do engine service too, since the bike has been sitting between 2010 and 2017...

And yes I also did my ECU flashed by the same guy in Whitby last winter. It works great, and it was super easy to plug the quickshifter to it. Now I got the Woodcraft keyswich eliminator and will install that in a few weeks. I also have a fuel cap and gear indicator coming from Ebay.

Jayv said:

If your goal is to race in the future I would forgo the track days for 2018 and jump right in and get your licence. Racing is so much more fun than track days, you’ll get a ton of free advice and you’ll find your lap times will come down a lot faster.

Click to expand...

I still don't know if I'll try racing this year or not. You're probably right and it would be more fun to try racing. I feel if I can do 1:57' this should put me in bottom end to average Novice races?

Whatever it is I can't wait to 2018 season

I'm assuming you're talking about long track, if so 1:57 will put you in the bottom end of AM600, and around midpack at Rookie, mind you if you can do 1:57 in practice, you will be able to find another 1-2 seconds come race time

https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Organizations/102762 RACE lap times for your reference

For sprockets, I ended up buying all of them so they are sitting in a tote if I want to try something. I have 0,-1,-2 fronts, and 0,+1,+2 rears.

Only place you will realistically use stock sprocket gearing is mosport big track. I'd suggest getting -1 front and +1 +2 rear sprockets for now, so you have it at home/track to try different things. I run 190 and 200 rears most of the time (just whatever scrubs I can get), you may not have a clearance issue with Q3+ that I have and can run +2 rear sprocket.

I bought my ohlins pistons kit from the states, sportbiketrackgear. I think they still are around $260usd. Ordered it to a po box in Buffalo and picked it up. You can check prices at bluestreak.ca or Pete's Superbike. A pistons kit is basically a 20mm kit. 25mm and 30mm cartridges are of course better, but it will probably be a while before you outperform the piston kit and need something more,

I service my own forks. To take them into a shop once pays for the tools to do it. If you were to do yourself, Race Tech has the really nice tools, buy the nice gold fork compressor. To disassemble, change fluid, and reassemble is strait forward. If you can change a chain you can service your forks if wanted too.

I use HSracing for my suspension work, before that I went to Z1cycle, don't know the going rate for shops to install the kit,