Wilsons Sandbox

I believe Zach Mully is working on grafting KX, KDX, or KLX (can't remember which) rear and/or front suspension(s) to the KLR. Sounds like he's been busy, and not able to get to it as much as he'd like. "Swede"

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., Andrus Chesley wrote: > Has anyone grafted Kaw or anyother brand front end to the KLR. Like KX > or YZ or RM????. Wondering how much work it would take to get the stem > and bearings to fit. > > Andy > Louisiana ( offshore, 50 F, rain & windy)

Andy, I've put the KLR C series forks on my A series. This is probably an easier swap than the bikes you've mentioned, but a few pointers - If the head tube length is at least close, you should be able to fit it lengthwise. Worst case scenario is your machinist would need to throw a few more threads on the stem. The bearings is where it gets interesting - as long as you found a bearing with the same OD for the tapered bearing, and the ID is large enough for the stem to fit through, you could probably add a shim to your stem to allow the bearing to fit. It would be a case of a bearing supplier place just measuring to find out if they had something you could use. Alternatively, you could try to modify the area the race drops into, but I think this would be difficult. A couple of gotchas - you may need to remove metal bump stops/locks on the tube to have your new lower and triple clamp fit, or you may have to add metal to provide the bump stops for the forks. You may have to have fork extenders made up to accommodate a different fork length, or make sure you can raise the forks high enough in the tube without hitting the bars to get the same length as the originals. You can always experiment with rake and trail but I think you need to have the original length as your starting point. Have a look at the weight of the bike the donor forks are from - they may be set up very differently from the KLR - maybe good, maybe not so. If you can buy progressive springs for them, you have an workable option if its not right. I'm guessing but I would imagine the forks from lighter weight MX bikes would be a lot softer, set up to deal with a lot less static weight, and may dive something silly under braking with the KLR's weight. Good luck in any case. Rich

----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrus Chesley" To: "klr List" DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2001 1:08 AM Subject: [DSN_klr650] Front Forks > Has anyone grafted Kaw or anyother brand front end to the KLR. Like KX > or YZ or RM????. Wondering how much work it would take to get the stem > and bearings to fit. > > Andy > Louisiana ( offshore, 50 F, rain & windy) > > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... > Let's keep this list SPAM free! > > Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > >

You can lower both at the same time. Losen the top and bottom bolts clamping the tripple clamp to the forks. It's better to have 2 people do it because the bike will want to fall down on the forks and it's hard to hold the bike up and tighten the bolts at the same time. Snug up the bolts so the bike wont fall down then straighten the forks by facing the fairing and holding the front tire with your legs/knees. Now twist the handle bars to line up the forks straight. Finish tightening up the bolts to spec. If you bought the bike used check if you have a lowering (shorter) link in the rear suspention. That may be the reason your forks are 1.5 inches higher in the tripple clamp.

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., ka3nkm@y... wrote: > Hi, i'm looking for some advice. awhile back it was discussed, > the improper set up at the dealer of the front forks.. well > mine are out 1.5 inches from the top..my question is can > they be lowered together or remove the wheel to lower them one > at a time.... > ride safe > steve > > > A14 > 81 CB900C > 79 HD FLH

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., ka3nkm@y... wrote:

> Hi, i'm looking for some advice. awhile back it was discussed, > the improper set up at the dealer of the front forks.. well > mine are out 1.5 inches from the top..my question is can > they be lowered together or remove the wheel to lower them one > at a time.... > today we had a good time back in the jersey pine barrens > lots of great trails.. I had some problems in the sugar sand > even though I lowerd my tire pressure to 15lbs i'm still > running stock tires while anthony on his klr 250 was motoring > right- along with his pirelli MT21... nice tires... > ride safe > steve > > > A14 > 81 CB900C > 79 HD FLH

Here is what I did. 1) Put the bike on a hydraulic lift (I got the $100 Larin hydraulic lift from Sam's Club). 2) Raise the bike so the front wheel is just off the ground (maybe 1/2 inch). 3) Remove the fairing. 4) Loosen the bolts on the upper and lower triple clamps. This will allow the forks to slide down in the clamps. Since there was only about 1/2 inch of air beneath the front wheel and the ground, the front wheel will come down only about 1/2 inch. The fork tubes will still be about 1 inch too high in the clamps. 5) Raise the lift a little, to allow the forks to slide down in the clamps. Don't raise the bike too far. When you get close, use a wood block and a hammer (hit the block, not the fork tube tops) to persuade the fork tubes to slide down in the clamps until the top of the fork tube (not the top of the plug in the top of the fork) is just flush with the upper triple clamp. 6) Torque the triple clamp bolts to spec (sorry, I don't recall the torque specificiation off the top of my head right now). 7) Re-install the fairing. 8) Bring the bike down off the lift. All this assumes you do not have lowering links in the rear. I lowered my fork tubes about 1/2 inch to get the tops of the fork tubes flush with the top of the upper triple clamp. The improvement in my KLR650 A12's handling was very positive. No more turn-in in soft dirt. No more instability in cross winds. I can't even imagine how unstable your handling would be if your fork tubes are 1.5" up in the triple clamps and you have a standard height rear suspension. Yikes! -- Marc, KLR650 A12, Loveland, Colorado, USA

Glen wrote:

> > I have heard from the forum that sometimes the front forks are set > up too high. I think this might be the case on my 2000. There is > about one inch protruding above the top part of the triple clamp and > I think this is too much. Please fill me in and thanks a bunch guys > you have been a great help so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > Glenski >

If you have lowering links installed, they might be exactly right. If you don't, that's set sort of high. Maybe the previous owner raised them to quicken the steering a bit. If the handling doesn't bother you, for mostly street use then why not? For offroading anyplace really rough, you'll want that extra inch. Devon -- "It's a troublesome world, all the people who are in it, are troubled with troubles almost every minute" Dr. Seuss