KDXRIDER.NET

Hello fellow KDXers,

I finally pulled the trigger and bought a KLX 300 front end for my 04 KDX. It should arrive next week to fully inspect everything, but regardless I am planning on doing the seals, change out fork oil, and buy new springs with a heavier spring weight. I have never work on forks before and have either two options, do it myself and learn as I go (preferred but dependent on difficulty and tools required), or bring it to a local suspension shop and have them take care of everything. With that being said, is this work something I myself (a novice mechanic) able to do, or should I just suck it up and pay a professional to do it? Also, I will be replacing the races and bearings on the triple clamps and didn't know if I needed a press for those? I found some info on other sites and a couple youtube videos which are a great reference, but I also know there are enough people here that have done the exact same swap. Any help and direction is much appreciated. Thank you!

Ben

On the bearings, do you have a Kawasaki dealer close by? A dealer should have the Kawasaki special tool bearing puller. It pulls the bearing up from the stem. A press is not needed if one has the proper hand tools. There is another special tool that is a tall hollow punch that taps the new bearing down on the stem.

You can use a hammer and punch to slowly drive out the old races. Use something flat to drive in the new races.

I strongly suggest that you remove the old races and install the new races in the KDX. Don't just leave the worn races to use on the new bearings.

Budget for new inner and outer bushings as well.

You may want to think about how long you are OK with spending on doing the work yourself. It won't be simple the first time around.

Yeah I figure it will be a lot of trial and error and questions along the way, but I also will probably get a quote from a suspension shop to see what they would be asking. My be worth it to just pay up. Thanks for the response!

You're welcome. Good luck with it.

My experience with races is that you can drift them out quite easily by tapping on the outer edge of the race with a rod or even a long screw driver. When installing the new races, just use the old races to pound them in. But first, use a dremel to cut a slot in the old races. This allows you to get them out after you've driven the new ones lower than flush. I had Ron Black install my lower bearing so I can't help you there. But, I think that finding a piece of tubing along with heating the bearing and cooling the stem should do it.

ericr, thank you sir. Going to weigh all my options once I get all the parts in and once again get a quote from the suspension shop. Would rather do it myself if possible because the knowledge is priceless, but sometimes financials can out weigh things, unfortunately.

The seals, springs, and fork oil are really easy to do, as far as the bearings and races go I'd just have a shop do that. I recommend NOT buying a fork bullet and instead just use a plain old condom to slide the seals onto the tubes without damaging them. Also, I recommend NOT buying a seal driver and just using the old seal by cutting it, then wrap it around the tubes, and push down on the forks to drive the new seal in.

I am all for recycle / reuse, but not for a "plain old condom". (not even a new one) I prefer a Zip-Loc bag cut to fit to use as a seal bullet. Just make a sort of cone. I have the Motion Pro seal bullet kit, and the hard plastic edges make me a little hesitant during use.

I also use a freezer zip loc, cut the corner off works great. I DO however recommend a seal driver. One of those tools that is worth every penny and will last the life of your bike.