'04 KDX200 fork caps?
- Thread starter rbernie
- Start date
89kdx200rdr
~SPONSOR~
- Apr 19, 2003
- 488
- 0
are you serious?
- Thread starter
- #6
Gee, thanks guys. Rather than treat this as a serious question, you've decided to treat me like an idiot. I may in fact prove to be an idiot, but you don't really know that yet. It probably would have been a reasonable thing to do to actually give me the benefit of the doubt first, ya know? Yes, I've been around the block a few times and I know how to disassemble a conventional emulsion fork. However, on my '04 that doesn't seem to be enough.
As I unscrew the caps counterclockwise <sigh>, I reveal the o-rings that seal the caps to the inner tube. The cap is clearly unthreading from the fork's inner tube. I can unscrew the caps to the point where the threads on the caps are clearly NO LONGER ENGAGED with the threads in the fork's inner tube. And yet the caps remain captive to SOMETHING within the fork,and the fork springs remain under compression. The cap is not binding on the upper triple clamp in any way.
So I ask again - how do I get the fork caps off?
As I unscrew the caps counterclockwise <sigh>, I reveal the o-rings that seal the caps to the inner tube. The cap is clearly unthreading from the fork's inner tube. I can unscrew the caps to the point where the threads on the caps are clearly NO LONGER ENGAGED with the threads in the fork's inner tube. And yet the caps remain captive to SOMETHING within the fork,and the fork springs remain under compression. The cap is not binding on the upper triple clamp in any way.
So I ask again - how do I get the fork caps off?
John Harris
Member
- Apr 15, 2002
- 552
- 0
Been awhile since I have been into my forks, but if I understand you correctly, you need to pull up on the cap. You will expose a spacer and then the top of the fork spring. The cap is threaded to the top of the damping? rod that goes through the spring to the cap. Pull down the spacer from the cap and you will see a nut in there about 13mm?. Push your end wrench between the cap and the top of the spacer to hold the nut--then it will be easy to unscrew the cap from the rod. I hope that I have helped--never feel dumb--all of us are inexperienced at some time. cheers John
Canadian Dave
Super Power AssClown
- Apr 28, 1999
- 1,202
- 0
Real nice MUDMAX from your response I'd say you'd never had a set apart either. :bang:
Yes John is absolutely right. If you remove both caps at the same time and put a little weight on the front wheel the cartridge and damper rod will rise up out of the fork and allow for easy access. You'll need a 17mm wrench to hold the jam nut below the cap so that you can spin the cap off the damper rod. When reinstalling the cap thread it onto the damper rod until the damper rod just bottoms on the cap then snug the jam nut against the bottom of the cap. I typically loosen the cap about 1/8th of the turn before snugging of the jam nut just to ensure there is no possible way of deforming the top of the damper rod.
When reinstalling the caps torque the fork cap to 3.0 kg-m or 22 ft-lbs, the jam nut to 1.5kg-m or 11 ft-lbs and the upper triple clam bolts to 2.0 kg-m or 14.5 ft-lbs.
You might consider grinding down a 17mm wrench to make it about 1/2 of its normal width as it makes the whole process much easier . . . . there isn't much room to work with between the cap and jam nut.
When installing new springs you also need to adjust your preload spacer to accommodate for the shorter/longer spring and you should also consider resetting your fork oil height before reinstalling the spring. If you need further instruction let us know and I'm sure you'll get the help you need.
David
Yes John is absolutely right. If you remove both caps at the same time and put a little weight on the front wheel the cartridge and damper rod will rise up out of the fork and allow for easy access. You'll need a 17mm wrench to hold the jam nut below the cap so that you can spin the cap off the damper rod. When reinstalling the cap thread it onto the damper rod until the damper rod just bottoms on the cap then snug the jam nut against the bottom of the cap. I typically loosen the cap about 1/8th of the turn before snugging of the jam nut just to ensure there is no possible way of deforming the top of the damper rod.
When reinstalling the caps torque the fork cap to 3.0 kg-m or 22 ft-lbs, the jam nut to 1.5kg-m or 11 ft-lbs and the upper triple clam bolts to 2.0 kg-m or 14.5 ft-lbs.
You might consider grinding down a 17mm wrench to make it about 1/2 of its normal width as it makes the whole process much easier . . . . there isn't much room to work with between the cap and jam nut.
When installing new springs you also need to adjust your preload spacer to accommodate for the shorter/longer spring and you should also consider resetting your fork oil height before reinstalling the spring. If you need further instruction let us know and I'm sure you'll get the help you need.
David
