TOPIC:

In my neurotic quest to convert my bike’s front end to an inverted fork setup I’ve bought a few parts that I’m not entirely sure I know what they are. 

These forks and triples I purchased via Jauce.com from Japan, believing them all to be from a ZXR250. However, the more I look at them, and listings for other ZXR250 front end parts for sale, the more I am starting to think that maybe the forks are actually from a ZXR400. 

One thing is that the lower triple does not fit the forks. The top one does, and both top and bottom triples appear to have the same diameter clamps. 

I really have no clue how to confirm anything and have lamented the lack of information regarding fork specs in the past. But does anyone have any idea, or feel like helping me find out? 

This can be a bit of a minefield, the parts you have may well be from the "models" they claim to be but are they the same "model year". I have recently bought a mix of ZX9R and ZX6R front end parts for my KZ as I found there is a 3 year overlap where they both used 46mm forks (earlier 600's had 43mm forks) with the same "offset"  (was the ZXR250 ever imported in the States - they weren't here in the UK) without knowing the year of your parts you will have issues with replacing seals and sourcing the rest of the parts you need (spacers, axle, speedo drive etc)

Are there any visible part numbers on the components you have that you can work backwards from (often typing the part number into a Google search will bring up lot's of information !)

wrote:

...was the ZXR250 ever imported in the States

Good points all around Wook, thanks for that. To the best of my knowledge the ZXR250 was never exported outside of Japan, making it really hard to find much information on it here in the States. It seems the ZXR400 was a little more known and available worldwide.

I'm not sure if this helps, but it does look like my 89' ZX-7 triple, but
   1. My ZX top triple have two bolt holes for brake and hyd. clutch reservoir (front of triple). This one only have one, so must be cable clutch
   2. My ZX lower clamp have two bolts per leg holding it.
See below for my ZX. Hope this helps in some way.
 

I know mine is regular fork and the one you have is different, but triples does look like it's from one of later ZX series.

I'm not really going to be much help here but I'll add my two cents worth. From the sound of things you're not to familiar with doing fork swaps ?  I've done a few of these now so this is what you need to know.   It isn't as easy as just sticking everything on, you have a nice bike that rides and handles well.    The forks you have bought, if off 250/400, will probably need new springs, the 250 especially, is much lighter, so the springs won't suit the weight of the bike, you'll have to make up spacers to fit your wheels and then there's lining up the brakes, you'll possibly need brackets made for that too, or find discs that will work with the mated parts. The triple clamp offset looks to be different as well, so your going to change the way the bike handles .   I'm not too sure about axle diameter , if that's different you will need new bearings, seals,  and the spacers you have, including the one inside the wheel,  won't work and will have to be made. Unless you're well versed in these swaps, my recommendation would be to leave the bike as is, it needs a fair amount of  understanding and precision work done , If you can't do it all yourself, Its a fairly complex job , you're in for a big bill as well...  If you already know this disregard what I've said....

I totally get what you’re saying. While I haven’t ever actually done any fork swaps, I can understand the basic principles of it, and if need be I can CAD and send off for CNC my own custom parts to make it all work. Of course, I’m just trying to find and use as many readymade parts as I can.