Up dating front end forks

Hey everyone,

Have been away from the site for a long time but have come back seeking some advice. I have a 1978 kz650 C that I have been working on for several years. I would love to update to fro t forks with some newer for better stopping power and performance. Is there anybody out there that has done this? And if so, can you tell what parts were interchangeable for this project. I would also like to clean up the front end and get rid of the tach and speedo and moving the ignition.





Thanks,

MPLS

Your bike is NOT a KZ650-C model; it appears to be a KZ650-B model. The KZ650-C models came with dual front disk brakes, a rear disk brake, and alloy wheels. If your bike was a KZ650-C model you already would have better brakes.

Also, if you really want to improve handling start by replacing those stock shocks with high quality shocks. The stock units were marginal when the bikes were new, and they have not improved with age. I like the Hagons on my KZ650, but there are other good shocks out there too. Ed

Progressive springs, proper fork oil, gold valve emulators and ex500 calipers.

Or you can search the forum for "fork swap" and come up with oodles of results on putting gsxr forks and zx6/zx7/zx9 forks on too

I have just swapped on a Zephyr 750 C1 fork on my Z750R1.
Its was a dead simple swap where I could keep the original stearing bearings. I don't know if the 650 is 100% compatible with the 750 but they share a lot of components and that you can easily figure out on the parts fish. With the Zephyr fork you get 41mm tubes and a fork that is long enough. Check out my project Will it be yet an other green Kwack

Ed,

What set of Hagons did you put on.

- Chris

If you look at the bottom picture at davequinnmotorcycles.com/cgi-bin/webc.cg...GON_TWIN_SHOCKS.html the shock marked #4 CLASSIC I - CHROME WIDELINE SPRING STAINLESS TOP SHROUD is what I bought. The shock body and shroud are stainless steel and the spring is chrome plated. The blue lettered "HAGON" label peels off if you don't want it on there. If you contact Dave Quinn at that site he will set the shocks up with the correct spring rate for your bike, your weight, riding style, etc. I found him VERY helpful. I've had them on my bike for 8 years (15,000 miles) and they still look and work like new. Below is a picture of them on my bike. Ed

That helps a lot, Ed. Thanks