Tips on Changing Fork Seals

I have 1981 KZ1000J and rebuilt my forks recently. Whilst I used the old broomstick trick to hold the damper rod to get the first one out, I decided to fabricated the "factory" tool.

Take one metric bolt 22mm across the flats of the head and weld this into an old socket (or a long length of pipe) I used an old 1/2 inch AF socket into which I welded the bolt thread. Using two socket extension I was able to hold the damper assembly using the hex head, whilst undoing or retightening the Allen screw.

Not sure if 22mm would be right size for your bike but suspect the dampers would be pretty similar. Part numbers might confirm

Hi Kiwiz,

You probably made something like this which I used on my 1300.



I welded one on each end of a piece of 1/2" EMT. Here's a pic of it inserted into the fork tube.





KZCSI

Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2007/07/22 02:14

My electric impact gun worked great, couple of short spins and the bolts came out. Only problem now is the dealer gave me the wrong fork seals 38mm instead of 37mm!

I changed the seals on a 77 Kz 1000 with the tubes still on the bike.it can be done.raise the front of the bike and remove the wheel then raise it high enuf to slip the lower legs off.I made a tool to hold the damper from a 1/2 inch drive extension grind the flats down so they just start into the hole in the bottom of the damper tap it with a hammer to seat it and hold the top of the extension (you will need a long one or 3or4 short onestogether)with ratchet and the bottom bolt will come right out.

Post edited by: 76 LTD, at: 2007/07/23 19:40

I have a 1980 kz650. I just recently changed the fork seals. The most difficult 2 tasks were, 1 getting the allen bolt out of the damper at the lower end of the fork, and getting the old seal out. I used a air impact driver since I read that you could get the allen out that way. It did loosen the allen but then it just turned the whole assembly. Then I used a broom handle and jammed it down in the tube and held the broom handle with channel locks while hitting the allen with the impact gun. It did work, however the broom end got chewed up a bit leaving wood chunks where I didn't want them. During reassembly I ran into the same problem. Not having the special tool or the right size bolt on hand I opted for the broom handle again. Wood chunks. I used compressed air to blow out the wood but there may be a little left in there. For the seal, I didn't have a seal puller either. I couldn't pry it out or pull it out, it was just getting all chewed up. I doubt that any of the methods mentioned for removing the seal without dissassembling the fork would have worked for me. What finnally worked for getting the old seals out was heating the tube with hot water in the sink and then using a large screwdriver to pry the seal out. When the seal finally let loose it shot accross the room! Putting the new seal in I found a large socket that was about the same diameter as the seal and used it with a hammer and took it easy driving the seal in making sure it was going in straight. I think in all it took me about 5 hours. I hope you have better luck than I did.