2 questions about fork disassembly

I am trying to take my forks apart to put new seals in and put upper fork tubes on that are not pitted. First I bought a set of forks off eBay. First problem I ran into was that the upper fork tubes I have to use are longer than the old ones. I also have to use the Original lower half of the forks because the brake mounting is different than the other lower tubes I have. Can I use longer upper tubes? They are about 1 inch longer.
Second problem I have is the bigger of the two. I can’t take apart one of the forks. I took off the dust seal and the seal retaining spring. But when I try to loosen the allen bolt both of the tubes and the allen bolt spin freely. I can’t get the allen bolt out it just keeps spinning. I tried wd40 and it still won’t come out. Is there another way to disassemble the forks?
Any help is great thanks.

jakeyfz, Welcome to KZR. Please put your location and model bike in your signature line. It will help us help you better!

The dampner rod is spinning around inside. You either need a proper fork tool or you can make one. Your manual should tell you how. On mine I used 2 19MM bolts and a length of pipe. Worked perfectly...
How much longer are the fork tubes?

Like 1 inch longer.
Thanks

I just had the same problem. i pulled a piece of Thin wall pipe or tubing out of the scrap pile that was a smaller dia than the id of the fork cylinder. Since I got one to come out, i used it as a guide while I crushed one end of the tubing to fit snug. it was ovalled, but still fit into the forktube. it was about 18"long. I just used a pair of pliers to hold the makeshift tool, but you could drill a hole through and use a screwdriver to hold it. It was not tight, this worked just fine. The threads shouldn't be galled or rusted, since there should have been some oil in there. I didn't have much. I bought a pair of good seals for $12 online.

I dont even understand how I can use any of these tools.And I dont have a book. Do I need to get the top caps off the forks. I dont know how to. It looks like there is some kind of clip holding them on.

Post edited by: jakeyfz, at: 2008/02/04 10:57

Post edited by: jakeyfz, at: 2008/02/04 10:58

del

Get yourself a service manual. It will pay for itself several times over. The forks are not overly complicated but you could screw it up and that is not something you want to discover at 65 mph. I think I paid about $20 for mine.

Get yourself a service manual. It will pay for itself several times over. The forks are not overly complicated but you could screw it up and that is not something you want to discover at 65 mph. I think I paid about $20 for mine.

Yea I have been meaning to get one I have like 10 others for all my other bikes. But none of the forks were like this. I just have no Idea how to get the cap off the top of these.

Post edited by: jakeyfz, at: 2008/02/04 16:44

I haven't ever owned a 400, but my brother-in-laws KZ550 LTD had fork caps that looked like the one in the picture. To remove the top, you need to press down on the fork cap, pushing it into the fork tube. There is a wire "C" clip in a channel or grove that you have to fish out with a screw driver or some other suitable tool. It is best to have two people, one to push and one to pry, when the fork tube has been removed from the bike.

Thanks alot I thought I may have to do that but I didnt want to put to much pressure on the cap. I can see the clip so it has to be the same. Thanks again