lr172

Member
May 9, 2006
14
0
I just bought a '00 KDX 200 and am in the process of doing much of the neglected maintenance, along with some of the recommended modifications before I ride it. I started with the front today and removed the forks. I did the mod to remove two shims from the bottom cartridge and also changed the oil (it seemed VERY thin). I replaced it with ATF (Dexron III), as that seemed to be a common theme here on this forum and I had a gallon laying around.

My problem: While testing the Right Fork (off the bike still), I noticed a real sticky spot at about 3" of travel. I can push through it with weight and strength, but it definately slows at that spot and requires extra effort. Sometimes if I stop at that spot on the rebound, I can make it stick. The left fork has a similar spot, but much less pronounced and doesn't really require a lot of force to push through.

I am assuming this won't go away over time and will require me to rebuild the forks. Does anyone know what the problem is, along with a suggested cure.

I pulled apart the steering linkage and cleaned that up while in there. I should have thought more deeply instead of reading the manual. I followed the instructions on removing the bearing with a chisel to repack it. Now I am struggling to figure how to press it in without the tool.

Thanks in advance for any assistance or suggestions you can offer.
 

Old Man Time

Member
Aug 10, 2005
22
0
Im just curious. Did it stick before you removed the shims? I did the shim mod with no problems whatsoever. Maybe it has something to do with the preload spacers and guides. If they were not done right I could see such a problem developing. Just a thought.
 

lr172

Member
May 9, 2006
14
0
I did not test it before replacing the oil or removing the shims. Just by the type of mod that it was, I have a very high degree of confidence that is NOT the removal of the two shims. The sticking feels mechanical. I am guessing that is is probaby the bushings or some wearing in the fork itself. I was looking for advice before tearing it apart again.
 

m0rie

Member
Nov 18, 2002
469
0
If your lucky its just the bushings that are worn and causing it bind in that spot in the fork travel. If your not its the fork tube actually being bent that is causing it to bind. In either case your going to have to tear down the fork to find out. A straight edge will tell you if the fork tube is bent.
 

krazyinski

Member
Feb 2, 2006
100
0
lr172 said:
I just bought a '00 KDX 200 and am in the process of doing much of the neglected maintenance, along with some of the recommended modifications before I ride it. I started with the front today and removed the forks. I did the mod to remove two shims from the bottom cartridge and also changed the oil (it seemed VERY thin). I replaced it with ATF (Dexron III), as that seemed to be a common theme here on this forum and I had a gallon laying around.

My problem: While testing the Right Fork (off the bike still), I noticed a real sticky spot at about 3" of travel. I can push through it with weight and strength, but it definately slows at that spot and requires extra effort. Sometimes if I stop at that spot on the rebound, I can make it stick. The left fork has a similar spot, but much less pronounced and doesn't really require a lot of force to push through.

I am assuming this won't go away over time and will require me to rebuild the forks. Does anyone know what the problem is, along with a suggested cure.

I pulled apart the steering linkage and cleaned that up while in there. I should have thought more deeply instead of reading the manual. I followed the instructions on removing the bearing with a chisel to repack it. Now I am struggling to figure how to press it in without the tool.

Thanks in advance for any assistance or suggestions you can offer.
for the age and lack of maintenance it sounds like normal wear also by tinkering and removing the forks they more than likely have been rotated out of there normal wear pattern. bolt them up and check it out. more than likely because of the wheel and triple clamps they wont bind if there is some stiction try spinning the tube till you find a smoother spot.
 

lr172

Member
May 9, 2006
14
0
It looks like I will need to take it apart to figure out what is going on in there. Will I destroy the bushings when I take it apart or will they be salvageable in case the problem is not the bushings themselves? Would I be better off to just order the kit and replace them anyways?

Thanks
 

craig_enid

Member
Mar 23, 2000
872
0
Random thought, is the spot approx. where the sliders would be hitting the lower triple clamp area? Too tight on the pinch bolts narrowing/deforming the outer housing?
 

lr172

Member
May 9, 2006
14
0
To clarify, the spot where it is sticking is 3" of compression from a fully expanded (at rest) fork. I have done all of this testing with the Fork off of the bike.
 

lr172

Member
May 9, 2006
14
0
Well, I took the fork apart this evening and bad news. While it appears that the inner bushing had something on it like a plastic sticker in parts, that wasn't the problem. Once clean, I could see a small protrusion on the inside wall of the fork chamber. It matched up perferctly with a scrape/indentation on the outside of the chabmer. Apparently force was strong enough to "dent" the outer fork chamber. The indentation is small enough (about the size of a dime) that I could probably grind it out, but it is down about 10" into the chamber. I am open to suggestions on how to perform this and with what tool. Short of that, I think I am out of luck. The other fork has a small scrape in the exact spot, which likely explains why the other fork has a slight sticking at the same 3"

BTW, I measured everything and the indentation is exactly 3" from the bottom edge of the inner bushing while fully extended.

Anyone know where to get a cheap set of outer fork chambers?
 

m0rie

Member
Nov 18, 2002
469
0
Thats bad news! You might be able to pick up a set of stock forks but the money would better spent upgrading to a KX front end IMHO.
 
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