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Heat Gun

Posted: 04:53 pm Oct 26 2005
by m0rie
When people talk about using a heat gun to reshape plastic like the gas tank is this what they are refering to?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=35776

Posted: 05:22 pm Oct 26 2005
by skipro3
Man! That'll perm your hair!!

Posted: 05:29 pm Oct 26 2005
by m0rie
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skipro3 wrote:Man! That'll perm your hair!!
Is that a yes?

Posted: 05:31 pm Oct 26 2005
by Indawoods
Yep... that be a heat gun! :grin:

Posted: 05:32 pm Oct 26 2005
by skipro3
That's a "I don't know", but with that much power; 1000 degrees, I sure hope it'll do the job. You could have plastic dripping off the bike!! For that price I need one. It's on it's way!!

Posted: 05:37 pm Oct 26 2005
by KDXGarage
Yep, that is it, m0rie.

$20? I expected a lower price from Harbor Freight. I've got a Wagner, and I don't think I paid but about $20 for it. Of course, that was several years ago. (goes back to whittling a stick on the front porch)

Posted: 05:45 pm Oct 26 2005
by m0rie
They have another one for the same price that comes with a case and a couple other dodads. Figured I might need to pick one up to tweak the gas tank so a KX triple clamp would clear. Besides, you can never have enough tools... :lol:

Posted: 05:49 pm Oct 26 2005
by KDXGarage
heat gun, gas tank, last will & testament :mrgreen:

I have a Pro Taper upper clamp on my '94, and it barely hits the tank.

Do you know for sure that a KX front end will hit the tank? Maybe I have something new to worry about in the "What Fits What" game.

ARGGGH!

Posted: 05:57 pm Oct 26 2005
by m0rie
I think it depends on the clamp and the orientation of the pinch bolts. Its just like Russian Roulette trying to match the KX stuff up.

Posted: 06:08 pm Oct 26 2005
by KDXGarage
When I win the lottery, I will buy one of everything and print a book, detailing it all. :supz:

Posted: 06:49 pm Oct 26 2005
by IdahoCharley
You can always install some stops for the forks to prevent the fork from hitting the tank.

Aren't the KDX tanks somewhat prone to some plastic problems like cracks and splits? Or is that just certain year KDXs? Don't know if I would want to heat up and reform a gas tank if the tanks have any issues to start with.

Posted: 06:54 pm Oct 26 2005
by KDXGarage
How would one install a stop??

I have only read about the lime green '95 and up tanks having "cracking at the filler neck" problems. I can't remember anyone having violet or black tank problems, nor anyone with a non-lime green '95 and up tank having a problem. By that, I mean it being a common problem. I can't remember any other problems, if that makes sense. :rolleyes: :grin:

Posted: 08:36 pm Oct 26 2005
by Indawoods
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jafo wrote:Well it's not a problem yet but could be. My fork stoppers are all but usless when I converted my forks due to the shimming. Now that my damper is on, I did'nt notice the interfearence between the damper tower on the frame and the top clamp. I noticed it yesterday. Well I've came up with a solution and wanted to share with my buddies. :mrgreen: It's very simple. I tried to find a good location on the bike to install some stop bushings. I finally settled on the short part of the exposed frame rail bellow the front of the gas tank. I then had to find a hard enough rubber bushing that was thick enough. I had alittle problem locating that because it needed to be at least 3/4" thick rubber. I looked at alot of stuff at the autoparts store but remembered using expansion plug rubber for bushings on my car. The rubber was just the right hardness and the thickness was perfect. They come in a different outside diameters to choose from. So I went that route. Next was time to decide on how to mount them on the frame. I decided to epoxy them to the frame. I got me some Loctite brand quickset epoxy and glued them on. I roughed up the frame first, then cleaned it all up, next I roughed up one side of the rubber and clenaed it good then stuck'm on. I'll have pics in the gallery soon.

I don't know if you guys had this problem with your dampers or not. I looked into getting a shim taken out but found that the steering stops was'nt comming into play even if they were aligned to hit anyways. The topclamp was hitting the damper tower long before the stops came close to touching. So the bushings was my only solution in my feeble mind.

Jon.
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Posted: 09:13 pm Oct 26 2005
by IdahoCharley
Jason you are likely correct concerning the tanks.

All I remembered was a thread or two concerning the splitting near the cap and then something related to Mother Kaw warranty certain year tanks due to a plastic defect. Did not really pay too much attention to the facts since they did not apply to our bikes.

The rubber stopper worked for jafo and sounded like a good solution.

I likely would have drilled and tapped a hole or welded on a nut on each side of the frame. Then used a threaded bolt and a locking nut to adjust how far the stopping bolt protuded. Of course you have to line up a suitable point on the triple tree to butt against prior to welding the nut onto the frame.

Or you possibly could drill and tap a hole in the lower triple tree and use the bolt/locknut approach to limit the turning of the forks by butting against the frame.

Jafo's approach sounds simply and clean and cushions the contact point. :prayer:

Posted: 10:48 pm Oct 26 2005
by KDXer
Mine ONLY JUST hit. With a hard yank to the side it would barely touch the tank. The heat gun I beleive is an easier solution or option as opposed to making new stops. I'm not saying Jon's idea is a bad one, just that my clearance issues weren't very bad at all, maybe a few MM's. I have an Emig top clamp though, not a stocker.

Posted: 11:01 pm Oct 26 2005
by Indawoods
And Jon has????? :roll:

Posted: 11:16 pm Oct 26 2005
by m0rie
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Indawoods wrote:And Jon has????? :roll:
Both are Emig clamps, but I thought Jon's was a KX500 clamp?

Posted: 11:20 pm Oct 26 2005
by KDXGarage
Thanks for the info. Whenever I get it all switched over, I will check for it hitting the tank.

Posted: 11:30 pm Oct 26 2005
by Indawoods
They look like they are pretty close to the same spec to me... but who knows....


Trev's

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Jon's

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Posted: 11:50 pm Oct 26 2005
by KDXer
The difference is how Jon's stem and bottom bearing were installed from memory. That's why the stops don't line up. The 2 clamps are slightly different. :mrgreen: