Just wanted to throw out some info from my recent fork swap.

First off, having access to a lathe is a must if you want to do all the work yourself. I think that Brewster at TT is selling the needed spacers, but I used the lathe for a couple other unexpected issues as well. Another thing to consider is that you are buying 15 year old parts from someone that you dont know, from e-bay. The first set that I bought were advertised as having "no dings". By no dings, he must have meant "many dings" and a couple deep gouges. The seller has also been mysteriously unavailable since the sale. Just a risk to consider when embarking on this project.

Brewster's instructions from "Planet KLX" were invaluable. I built the spacers to his specs and everything fit perfectly. Making the wrench to hold the inner fork tube turned out to be a little tricky since I didn't have the recommended materials. Did get one made, through a little trial and error that works fairly well.

My non-ding free forks cost $100 shipped and had another $170 in seals, wipers, bushings, oil, seal grease and tools. I already had springs for my weight that were used in the KX forks. Basically a new set of forks with bigger internal workings, and rebound adjustment, for the price of a proffessional re-valve of the stock forks.

The reason that I put "nearly" complete in the title is that there are a couple issues that I still need to work through. The first issue is that there is not a place to bolt the stock brake line to the fork. Will likely go with Bill B's stainless brake line to fix that (another $60 if you're keeping track). Second, there is a gap between the speedo pick up and the axle clamp that I don't like. Will probably need to fabricate a spacer to take up the slack, but not sure why it is there. Had not heard or read of anyone else having this issue. Something else that I need to follow up on is the KLX fork guards don't bolt up the the KX forks as well as I would like. Will have to investigate what fork guards are available to fix this.

A couple areas where having access to a lathe were in the spring guides and the condition of the inner fork tubes. The previous owner of these forks, ran them into the ground. No real surprise why they were not happy with them. Both seals wer leaking and when I took them apart there was only about a half cup of oil/mud in each fork. No lubrication and no dampening I'm guessing would slightly hinder performance. The other issue was that they had installed heavier aftermarket springs that were essentially forced over the spring guides, limiting movement and overall function of the spring. It was a trick getting them off. The problem was that my moto-pro springs would not fit back over the guides either. I ended up having to turn about .020" from the od of the guides to get the springs to fit. Another problem was that the inner, chrome plated tube, had quite a bit of wear from running them dry. I chucked them up in the lathe and used different grits of emery cloth to smooth and polish them out. Worked out very well and no leaks yet.

Overall am fairly satisfied with the way that the project turned out. Got to learn quite a bit about suspensions, and so far have been able to work through all of the obstacles on my own. Did a comparison between the stock and KX forks just by bouncing up and down on them against the floor. The KX forks were smooth as butter and well damped in both directions. The stock forks remeinded me of the pogo stick that I had when I was a kid. Made about the same sound too.

I got out yesterday for a ride but all of the trails were so muddy that it was an exercise in futility. Found out the hard way that that soft squishy ground was only about 2" deep and ice underneath. Note to self: protective gear does not help when setting in the closet. Did do some high speed runs on gravel and it was smooth and stable. Was definately carrying more speed that I had been able to do confidently before. Still touch and go weather wise here in Nebraska so might be awhile before I can get any track time in. Brewster also recommended getting the shock done to compliment this upgrade, so exploring some options there.

If anyone is planning on this upgrade, it's not that difficuld and from what I can tell so far, a good option. If you decide to do it and need some info, let me know.

 

You are going to love the way the KX forks work, as compared to the stock units. You will think that you are riding a different bike.
Thank you for sharing.

Ride

 

Just use the KX forks gaurds they will work and if you get the UFO ones they will come with the guides. I have a set of the KX ones on my KLX forks, but modded them to fit the klx forks. I would like to do this also but I have a set of Stroker forks so I will stick with them for a while. That and if I go through the hassle of doing a front end swap I think that I am going to do a set of KXF forks. Congrats on the swap!

Dennis

 

I would love to see some pics!!!!

 

Did you leave the stock kx valving the way it was?

 

Didn't take any pictures as this was fairly well covered in the Planet KLX write up.

See here: http://planetklx.org/techtips/kx-to-klx-forkswap.html

Also didn't make any changes to the stock valving. Wouldn't mind messing around with it but don't understand enough about how the shims work to take a chance yet. Will probably ride it for awhile then maybe some gold valves and thier recommended shim stack.

 

Nice job, thanks for posting

 

Great write-up JohnnyZ. I'm going to add this to the FAQ / thread index. This is good information.

 

I'm looking at the BRPMoto (http://www.brpmoto.com/product_info....oducts_id=1533) triple clamps with the Scott's stabilizer. Should I consider larger fork tubes that are easier to find as opposed to reworking 15 year old worn out models?

 

I would definitely recommend doing that if you can find a configuration that fits. There are some newer forks on e-bay that I thought about trying to fit. One thing to keep in mind is the length of the forks. I'm just starting to learn about this stuff, but I think that you can upset the steering geometry without making proportional changes to the rear. I think that's one of the things that makes the kx forks attractive.

It would be great to get some more info out there in both fork and shock improvements.