Front Fork Diassembly Tool/Adapter

I know this topic comes up a great deal, but I would like to find something that will work reasonably well at holding the front fork cylinder besides a broom stick or the like. The Kawasaki SM calls the tool I would like to see a Front Fork Cylinder Holder Part # 57001-176. I am unable to locate a source for these "sockets" save for watching Ebay. Does anyone have one and may be willing to take a few good pictures of it? Better yet would be to send it to me so I could get some measurements from it, but that's asking a lot. Apparently this adapter is as rare as the Kawasaki piston ring compressor. Thanks much....
Rick H.

Rick H. wrote: I know this topic comes up a great deal, but I would like to find something that will work reasonably well at holding the front fork cylinder besides a broom stick or the like. The Kawasaki SM calls the tool I would like to see a Front Fork Cylinder Holder Part # 57001-176. I am unable to locate a source for these "sockets" save for watching Ebay. Does anyone have one and may be willing to take a few good pictures of it? Better yet would be to send it to me so I could get some measurements from it, but that's asking a lot. Apparently this adapter is as rare as the Kawasaki piston ring compressor. Thanks much....
Rick H.

Some KZ's had a round hole in the top of the fork cylinder and others had a hexagonal depression. Check to see which type your bike has. If it has a round hole, like my 1977 KZ650-C1, you can either make a tool as I did (see image below) or you can buy a tool for the job as shown here: www.racetech.com/page/id/70 .

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Ed

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationHi Rick, get yourself a 7-19mm Gator Grip and weld a 500mm extension bar to it that's all l bean using on Zed 900/1000's. Ross.

Rick, I have a thread that started out looking for the same tool... I have my forks apart as the lowers are going out for polish... I can measure the head of the cylinder and get you some pics… Id be interested in a purchase of one if you have a way to machine it..

D3, unfortunately the gator grip didn't work on my '76 900 A4 forks... it would not fit inside the upper stanchion.

Make one out of a piece of steel. Welded on anything to reach down inside. Grind down a flat side to catch the damper. I made one 40 yrs. ago with a hand drill. It still works today. I'll find it and post a pic!

Homemade tool. You might could weld a metal wedge to the treaded end of a a 1/2" bolt, then use a socket & ratchet extensions to reach down inside the forks. My forks are different & the head of the inner cylinder looks just like a 12-pt socket, so I use a 1/2" LH-threaded bolt w nuts. I use masking tape to hold the bolt/nuts setup in place inside a 19mm socket (the 1/2" bolt I used has a 3/4" head. 3/4" = 19mm).

This won't work with most 70s models.

I found this one online. I may order one.

www.bikerstoolbox.co.uk/acatalog/suspension_tools.html#a7225832

Less than £7 ( + 20% vat :blink: ) seems like a reasonable choice.

I'm not sure there is a VAT if it's for export out of Britain.

All Euro Zone Export parts are VAT free.

After I pulled my fork legs out of the bike I dumped all the old fluid out and looked at the top of the damper rods. Initially it looked like they were just round domes on top of the damper rods. This struck me odd as there would be no way to hold the tops of the rods if they were truly round. I then stuck a bore scope into the fork tube and took a good look at the top of the damper rod. There are two small flats 180 degrees apart on the tops. The tools/adapters with the long pointy ends are obviously not for the damper rod tops in my '77 KZ-1000. So what is needed for this is a round female socket with two flats on it to go over the damper rod top. The quest continues.
Rick H.

Mikaw: I don't know what the OD of a Gator Grip socket is, but the ID of my fork tubes is 1.017" or 25.43 mm. So adjusting for any tolerances you need that Gator Grip socket OD under those numbers. I thought I saw two types available. I'll have to see if I can find their OD.
Rick H.