bottom of fork studs, replace?

there must be a trick to posting two pictures in the same posting that I can't seem to get the knack for. Ok, this post shows whats left of the stud, the last post shows the damaged threads. I may permanently attach a new stud with epoxy paste like pc7 or pc11. the first four or five threads inside the fork are stripped, but the total thread count is 14 or 15 and a stud seems to firm up pretty nicely. I know, I know its your steering, man, but it could be checked well, torqued and re-checked, etc... Any particular compounds besides epoxy paste anyone would recomend? I think helicoil might work, but there isn't much room to increase the diameter dimensionally to drill out and screw in a significantly larger helicoil insert, know what I mean vern?

I would put a helicoil in there and have no worries about it, I don,t think that epoxy paste is the answer here, for safety reasons alone...

Oh there is a tool snap-on sells just for extracting studs, and along with heating and cooling it works very well for next time. I will see if I can find a picture.. and post.

1045

Post edited by: 1045, at: 2007/02/20 23:26

Heres a picture of a "set" of stud removers, but you can buy the just the size you want, for probally 30 to 40 dollars, I think...

I have found heating the metal around the stud with a heat gun(with the stud remover on and ready to go)then letting it cool,give it a wack with a hammer, repeat this several times, then try to turn the stud out works very well... money well spent

1045

Is this from your 650?

If so, I have a set of extra forks in the basement.... I would be more than happy to pop off replacements for the parts you need in good shape and send em your way.

1045, thanks for the input. How exactly does the stud remover lock onto the stud? Nice idea. Helicoil might work, but the insert would interfear with the half moon cope that the axel nut snugs into, so that is my worry with the helicoil route. Safety first, of course. But then why the hell are we riding motorcycles? Ha, ha.

Caffcruiser. I may get back to you on that, it's the right side outer fork tube. Thanks, man. I am expecting a basketcase '77 650 tonight which is supposed to come with an extra set of forks to boot, so I should be good. Yet, another titled motorcycle to wrap my head around! How exciting. It comes without a rear wheel or exhaust, though. It has a later issue 750cc-inline four motor with it out of the frame, I think it is either an '80 or '81, since I could not find any four cyl 750's at the Kaw web site. Thanks for your thoughts.

mountain wrote:

. . . Helicoil might work, but the insert would interfear with the half moon cope that the axel nut snugs into, so that is my worry with the helicoil route. ...

Helicoils when installed correctly are recessed slightly below the surface of the product they are installed into. You can use them with a thread locking agent (loctite red for example) and the repair will be fine. I'd suggest replacing the locking nuts; I don't think they are designed to be reused, even though I do. :whistle:

mountain...if all else fails, do what I did (my lower forks were also stripped and I was entertaining doing what you are doing)...the fork lowers for KZ900A4/5, KZ1000A1/2, and KZ1000B1/4 are either identical to some early model KZ650's forks, or are similar enough that they will interchange. The good news is that KZ900/1000 forks appear rather regularly on eBay and can be had reasonably cheap (I picked up two different sets for a total price of US$100 delivered).

Hey mountain,
Helicoil is probably your best bet on that fork leg, but another way is to just drill and tap it for the next size stud. Of course you'll have to drill the cap up too, slightly larger than the pre-tap size.

In the future, consider keeping some of this stuff on hand: www.kanolabs.com/ .
I've used that stuff on thirty year old Navy fighter jets. Salt air is really tough on aluminum jets.
The kroil penetrating oil is amazing. I've never seen anything work better. It penetrates that steel/aluminum corrosion like nothing else. I usually dribble some on and let it sit overnight.

riverroad wrote:

...another way is to just drill and tap it for the next size stud. Of course you'll have to drill the cap up too, slightly larger than the pre-tap size.

Never done it but might be fun (before installing) to try re-cutting the exterior threads on the new larger stud back to OEM size.

Would probably still need to drill larger hole in the cap to clear unthreaded portion of larger stud.

Post edited by: Patton, at: 2007/02/21 14:30