1975 KZ 900 , ZRX Swingarm, 89 GSXR front end

i just looked at some on ebay and the eye on the bottom appears to be aluminum,so they have to be attached to the chrome rod somehow(prolly threaded)maybe has a rollpin to lock them.they had to be able to assemble them so we should be able to dis-assemble them,i would think.

leon holmes

341 wrote:

Your blank posts are freakin' me out man. Yes I lurk. Troy341

Oh Crap the "Great one" is watching!!!:dry:

Hey Troy I'll be in the wonderful Northwest in a few weeks...

I want to see that tricked out 160!!!!!

Call me. August 8, 9 I'll be in Seattle for the races. Troy341

mark1122 wrote:

how long are your forks?
When i put the shocks into the original lower mounts(more upright), i regained the sag. the springs are not bad in the upright position(sag = 20mm), and too stiff when laid down(sag= 13mm). but i need shorter shocks or longer forks to regain the rake. the ground clearance is not bad.

The Stock KZ forks are 30.5 Inches long, totally at rest on the bench, from top of tube to centerline of axle.

Now here is the freaky part, I think I have been posting 30-31 Inches on the GSXR Forks, which apparently is not correct. They are mounted on the bike, hardly any wieght on them, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 Inch compressed.

They measure 29 3/8 Inch from top of tube to centerline of axle. Sorry if I have confused anyone. The GSXR forks are no doubt somewhat stiffer on the spings, so the two should be near identical on ground clearance. I had originally used GSXR 750 forks which are an Inch or so shorter, the ground clearance did not look good, so 341 (Troy) explained the 750 clip ons are on the underside of the top plate,and the 1100 puts them on the top side of the top plate. Therby making the 1100 forks about an inch longer.

The stock KZ fork, skinny flexy spongy...all at no extra charge!!

I did not focus well so the pic is not perfect.

Any how 30.5 Inches...Measured I might add with a Scale I purchased in B.C. Canada..Just to make you Candian fellas more comfortable:laugh:

I also took the top plate to the Bridgeport, and relieved the bottom side of in about an eight of an inch, this put the top plate an eight of an inch lower, which allowed me to pull the whole assembly down that 1/8 of an inch.

I cannot remember exactly how much ground clearance I have, I can check that next time I take the bike off the stand if you are curious.

Ok so I am

Minus 1 inch (1 1/8 as meaured here, but I think it is loaded at least an 1/8 due to weight) with the new forks.

The top plate was releived 1/8 around the stem bolt face:

Gained an 1/8 there.

Overall the front end is approximately 7/8 " shorter than the stock set up. The stiffer spring rate of the 89 GSXR 1100 forks should take care of that.

Almost a perfect match. Lots and lots of thought went into this, I hope it helps any one thinking about doing the same thing. Upside down forks look trick, but they are typically a couple inches shorter.

I must have measured 10 sets of forks, all up side down they were all short. Troy is a GSXR NUT!! he helped me a great deal by loaning me all kinds of forks til we found what we were looking for.

my zx9 forks are 28 3/4" long.
the rear shocks perform over bumps better in the proper upright position, due to having a better sag setting and this position, seems to return the proper spring weight and leverage that the shocks were designed for.
I think i will investigate raising the front. i thought i could have a sleeve made up, to put over the top of each fork, and into the top tree. this would allow the fork to slide up and down in the sleeve,(never reaching the top tree) then be clamped in at the right height(the sleeve would have a slit and a clamp like the tree does). does that make sense? raising the front would also add more weight to the rear to regain the proper rear spring weight.

I don't think the sleeve would be strong enough to hold the forks. You could try to make or buy a lower top triple that already has a 7/8" drop from the top nut down to where the fork tubes are clamped. I would avoid a sleeve though if the fork tube doesn't make it into the clamp.

Gp Suspension has extenders for the GSX-R forks gpsuspension.com/products/newproducts_detail.php?item=1 . I bet that something like that could me machined if you wanted longer forks. All it takes is money. :laugh: Troy341

Thats interesting.
Thanks.

Mark,

Has roller showed up yet there in Canadaland?

You know I used to vacation in B.C. Always when crossing the border I would ask the border patrol/ mounty dude...

Will you tell my wife and daughter, "that Canada is where men are men, and wemens do what they are told?"



:laugh: