a special day nklr

[Tom Meagher]

Hi all, this if for the Collective memory banks. At 21,000 miles, my left front fork seal started hemorraging oil, and the associated fork boot had a big tear, probably from the oil softening it up. The Kawasaki shop wanted $110 for a new pair of seals, dust seals, and fork boots. I got a pair of "leak proof" seals and fork boots from Fred for about $45. I pulled off the forks and tried to separate the fork tubes from the sliders using the recommended "broom stick" technique I'd read about in the KLR archives. This is where you shove a broom stick up the fork tube to keep the inner part from turning while you loosen the 10mm allen head bolt in the end of the slider. Of course if you have the Kawasaki special tool, you could use that instead of the broom stick. Uh uh. I must not have the proper spec broom stick, because the technique didn't work for me, the inner part turned on the broom stick no matter how hard I pushed. Luckily, Wild West Kawasaki here in Katy was open, and the service manager, Dan Brom, agreed to pull the forks apart for me and replace the seals for $60. sigh. I guess they have a better broom stick than I do. This is where it gets interesting. When Dan saw my "leak proof" seals he said the deal was off because he had a policy against installing "leak proof" seals, for the last 15 years. He didn't like them. He eventually agreed to simply remove the old seals for me, for $30. deal. I got the forks home and put the new "leak proof" seals in, along with the re-used dust seals, and the new fork boots. The fork boots seem really nice. We'll see how the seals do. Hey, they're guaranteed for LIFE! I saw a mention in the archives of someone whose brother-in-law welded them up a tool. It's really the pits to try to take those jokers apart without the proper tool. Not recommended. Now I know. Does anybody have the recipe for a better broomstick? Cheers, Texas Tommy A13

[steve pye]

-----Original Message----- From: Tom Meagher To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, March 22, 2001 11:26 PM

>Hi all, this if for the Collective memory banks. > > >I saw a mention in the archives of someone whose brother-in-law welded them >up a tool. It's really the pits to try to take those jokers apart without >the proper tool. Not recommended. Now I know. Does anybody have the >recipe for a better broomstick? > >Cheers, >Texas Tommy >A13

Know anyone with an accident damaged KLR? Close to any scrap yards that might have one? The reason I ask is my recipe: I had a 93' with a destroyed front end, hacked off the upper fork tube so I could get a good look at the inner shaft. Found a nut that fit snug and had a friend weld it to 2 ft of scrap metal rod with an 18 inch " T " handle. Cheap and extremely effective. I have no clue what size the nut was, I picked it out of my 'junk' pile but I can measure it up if anyone is interested. Cheers, Steve Pye

[Swede]

I don't know if you've seen Rex Hefferan's article on just replacing the fork seals, but it's pretty detailed, and all you need is access to an air pump and a set of dental picks or two small screwdrivers. With that, there's no reason for special tools unless you're changing the bushings or doing internal mods. I have the "Leak Proof" seals and am happy with them. The design makes sense - the seal moves .02" and double lipped inside and out. On the original seals there is no lip on the outside for sealing, outer wall tension is supposed to be the retaining factor. This requires tight tolerances (which should be almost a pressed fit). With the leak proofs, they seal themselves on the outside the same as they do inside. As far as a tool, I made one from two bolts (12" long) and a nut all tightened together. I wouldn't be a good source for the bolt head size, as the ones I used are SAE and a bit small (shoulda measured the damn things when I had them out). "Swede"

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Tom Meagher" wrote: > The Kawasaki shop wanted $110 for a new pair of seals, dust seals, and fork > boots. I got a pair of "leak proof" seals and fork boots from Fred for > about $45. > > I pulled off the forks and tried to separate the fork tubes from the sliders > using the recommended "broom stick" technique I'd read about in the KLR > archives. This is where you shove a broom stick up the fork tube to keep > the inner part from turning while you loosen the 10mm allen head bolt in the > end of the slider. Of course if you have the Kawasaki special tool, you > could use that instead of the broom stick. > > Cheers, > Texas Tommy > A13

[Tom Meagher]

Hi Steve, I'd be interested in the size of the nut. I think that's exactly the kind of thing that makes a good contribution for assimilation into the Collective's data banks. Is an 18" shaft long enough? It seems like a little more length might be better, but if you've used it successfully, it's hard to quibble. Thanks, Texas Tommy

----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Pye" To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 10:16 PM Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] My Front Fork Seal Replacement Experience > > -----Original Message----- > From: Tom Meagher > To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com > Date: Thursday, March 22, 2001 11:26 PM > > > >Hi all, this if for the Collective memory banks. > > > > > >I saw a mention in the archives of someone whose brother-in-law welded them > >up a tool. It's really the pits to try to take those jokers apart without > >the proper tool. Not recommended. Now I know. Does anybody have the > >recipe for a better broomstick? > > > >Cheers, > >Texas Tommy > >A13 > > > Know anyone with an accident damaged KLR? Close to any scrap yards that > might have one? The reason I ask is my recipe: > I had a 93' with a destroyed front end, hacked off the upper fork tube so I > could get a good look at the inner shaft. Found a nut that fit snug and had > a friend weld it to 2 ft of scrap metal rod with an 18 inch " T " handle. > Cheap and extremely effective. > I have no clue what size the nut was, I picked it out of my 'junk' pile but > I can measure it up if anyone is interested. > Cheers, > Steve Pye > > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... > Let's keep this list SPAM free! > > Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > >

[steve pye]

-----Original Message----- From: Swede To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, March 23, 2001 12:44 AM

>I don't know if you've seen Rex Hefferan's article on just replacing >the fork seals, but it's pretty detailed, and all you need is access >to an air pump and a set of dental picks or two small screwdrivers. >With that, there's no reason for special tools unless you're >changing the bushings or doing internal mods. > >"Swede"

I offer the following horror story as proof of the need for special tools. My friend took his A1 to the local dealer to have a new front tire installed. They put it on backwards, even though the 'direction of rotation' was clearly marked with an arrow. He decided to correct the situation himself. He was very inexperienced with these matters and soon ran into trouble trying to get the front axle bolt out. He went back to the dealer and asked the mechanic for advice. He was told the axle was clamped by the 10 mm allen bolt running up through the fork and this would have to be loosened to release the axle. I KID YOU NOT!!! In his naivete he attempted to loosen the bolt and once it made half a turn or so it loosened just enough to cause a leak. By the time he called me the damage was done. The axle was simply stuck due to lack of grease. Couple of good taps, out it popped. That leak was a bitch to fix until I made up the special tool. My buddy kind of lost faith in the dealer machanic after that one! Steve Pye

[steve pye]

-----Original Message----- From: Tom Meagher To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, March 23, 2001 12:58 AM

>Hi Steve, >I'd be interested in the size of the nut. I think that's exactly the kind >of thing that makes a good contribution for assimilation into the >Collective's data banks. Is an 18" shaft long enough? It seems like a >little more length might be better, but if you've used it successfully,

it's

>hard to quibble. >Thanks, >Texas Tommy

Tommy, The nut is 15/16 ths, the shaft is 24 inches long ( longer is better but 2 ft seems a sufficient minimum) the handle is 18 inches for good leverage. Cheers, Steve

[Dan Oaks]

There are more specifications required to reproduce or buy a nut like you need. As an example: a typical hex nut is referred to by: 1) the outside diameter of the threads; 2) the number of threads per inch (or in this case per MM) Example: 1/4-20) 1/4 inch diameter, 20 threads per inch; or 8mm-1.25) 8mm diameter with 1.25 threads per mm. Getting these dimensions right, unless you are really familiar with threading, is nigh impossible. If you would trust me with your special tool for a couple of days, I will produce same tool and supply them to KLR listers at cost. I will pay Fedex charges both ways for your tool and give you the first tool free. Contact me if you're interested, and I'll give you my Fedex account number to ship it. -- bierdo http://www.dirtly.com Steve Pye wrote: Tommy,

> The nut is 15/16 ths, the shaft is 24 inches long ( longer is better but 2 > ft seems a sufficient minimum) the handle is 18 inches for good leverage. > Cheers, > Steve >

[wingrj@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/22/01 21:06:25, tmeagher@... writes: << I'd be interested in the size of the nut. >> If memory serves me well, its a 17mm. I use the nut with a 3/8" drive socket welded into it, then two of the 9' extensions and a breaker bar. Works good, last long time. Viewed best in the text font 'Courier' ___ /___\ (!* *!) __\^-^/__ / ___ \ _/ |___| \_ (__\=/ \=/__) O=|_[ ]_|=O \.---./ | = = | | =.-.= | !_|| ||_! =|| ||= <| |> | | | | _____`-'_____ Wish I could go through life like I go through traffic

[Zachariah Mully]

Dan- Please tell me that you're kidding... I have pulled apart the KLR forks probably more than anyone else (at least five times in the past 9 months), and my tool consisted of a 3 ft piece of treaded rod and 4 15/16" nuts. Cost me a grand total of $4. And it has not damaged the gripping area in the dampener rod. The one caution I have for this procedure (that is if you're completely dissassembling your forks), is to get a set of socket hex wrenches, or find a buddy with an air impact wrench. If you don't, I can guarantee you'll munge the hex bolts on the forks with regular "L" shaped hex wrenches. Believe me, the KLR forks are NOT engineering marvels. Then again YForksMV. ------------------ Zack SE DC KLR650A5 "Buster" ZG1000A1 -----Original Message----- From: Dan Oaks [mailto:bierdo@...] Sent: Friday, March 23, 2001 8:31 AM To: Steve Pye Cc: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] My Front Fork Seal Replacement Experience There are more specifications required to reproduce or buy a nut like you need. As an example: a typical hex nut is referred to by: 1) the outside diameter of the threads; 2) the number of threads per inch (or in this case per MM) Example: 1/4-20) 1/4 inch diameter, 20 threads per inch; or 8mm-1.25) 8mm diameter with 1.25 threads per mm. Getting these dimensions right, unless you are really familiar with threading, is nigh impossible. If you would trust me with your special tool for a couple of days, I will produce same tool and supply them to KLR listers at cost. I will pay Fedex charges both ways for your tool and give you the first tool free. Contact me if you're interested, and I'll give you my Fedex account number to ship it. -- bierdo http://www.dirtly.com Steve Pye wrote: Tommy,

> The nut is 15/16 ths, the shaft is 24 inches long ( longer is better but 2 > ft seems a sufficient minimum) the handle is 18 inches for good leverage. > Cheers, > Steve >

Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[John . Crowell]

Impact Gun Impact Gun Impact Gun, I have done numerous bikes forks and used a pneumatic impact gun and never had a problem. John A14