front forks on a 95 kx250

[joe265]

Hi, I have a question reguarding the internals of my 43mm KYB forks . There is a white spring guide with three evenly spaced ribs and a seperate cap with three likwise ribs that slides on to the pushrod in which the fork spring slides over. When i removed the springs the were very hard to slide out of the fork tubes and i had a hard time getting them back over the guides when i was finished. Is this normal or should i shave the ribs down enough to allow free movement? Would this cause any loss of initial plushness due to the binding on the spring guide? I would really appriciate any help. Thanks...............

 

[marcusgunby]

Yes you need to shave down the ribs, on the plushness problem ive seen this when fork springs have sacked out(become shorter than the original length) it allows the fork to hang down in the stroke and bang around.Also you need to inspect the bushes behind the fork seals.

 

[joe265]

Thanks, I thought that might have been an issue to deal with. As far as the plushness goes i don't really have a problem with it as far as i know but i thought mabye the binding may have been taking some of the initial plushness away because of the binding in the first quarter of length in the spring. Well I'll shave them and see if i notice any difference. Thanks for the insite............

 

[Okiewan]

Yes you need to shave down the ribs, on the plushness problem ive seen this when fork springs have sacked out(become shorter than the original length) it allows the fork to hang down in the stroke and bang around.Also you need to inspect the bushes behind the fork seals.

But DO NOT take that advice for the rear forks. :laugh:

 

[joe265]

Well i shaved those ribs down and man i had to take about 1mm off the guides. I must be missing somthing because i don't understand how they enlarged to the point when i litterly had to force the springs over the guides with some pretty good force. Is this normal for that year KYB'S. Anyway the forks seem alot smoother through the initial stroke. Thanks for the help..................

 

[marcusgunby]

Im not sure if the guides swell or the springs get smaller or what(seems unlikely) but its not uncommon-aftermarket springs are not great in this area, many good tuners will only use oem springs-they really are a step above the aftermarket IMO.

 

[joe265]

I think these are original fork spring Because when i bought it in 2000 there wasn't a bolt touched on it. I just never heard of anything like this. The guy that did my forks before said he shaved a little from guides the last time but i really didn't pay much attention to what he was saying, i didn't really know that much about the inverted forks or is that right side up i'am not sure but anyway he had to do that the last time. So if i have the bike long enough to do a seal change again and there binding again i'll really be confused :eek: Thanks again for the help.............

 

[marcusgunby]

very strange, but then i expect the unexpected;)