Kawi2strokes.com Forum

Hey all. So I have all the parts I need to put my dual disc front end on my 71 h1 street/race bike. Unfortunatly I am using a set of 77 kz1000 forks and I need to shorten them about an inch. Whats the best way to approach this? If it were a honda fork I would just get a new straight rate spring and cut the spacer smaller, but I am not all that familar with the kz forks and just want to get some expert advice. Also, a while ago I saw a tutorial on how to race prep 73-76 h1/kh forks - are the kz internals similar enough that the same techniques apply? or is it completely different inside it.

Can you position them in the triple tree so that 1" sticks out the top?

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

Maybe. The bike runs an original H1R fairing so it may run afoul of the fairing bracketry. I haven't mocked it up yet so I don't know for certain. The previous front end when the bike was campigned with AMA and AHRMA was a ceriani road race setup and all the brackets were built around clearance for that. But to be honest, while this has been the way people have been doing it for years, I don't generally regard this as "the proper way" of doing things, esp since I am going to be inside the forks anyway changing things around to better suit the bike.

I know the kz900/kz1000 forks are externally identical to the KH500 forks except for their length. maybe there is a kh500 spacer or other internal piece I can use to get the forks back to kh500 spec height?

just want to spitball for ideas here. considering the level of detail on this bike I am inclined to take my time and get things right rather than just jamb things together.

here is a pic of the original front end on the bike (the forks and clamps did not come with the bike - I bought the project from T/O in NY and they kept everything but the wheel).

what you don't see installed are the upper fairing support mounts which extend to over were the top clamp was. you can see the pipe for that mount in the pic below:




here is a pic of the rolling chassis the last time it wasn't buried in my storage:

I had a set of forks that were short off a drag H2. They had S series inners inside stock H2 forks and that shortened them up. He also had a couple spacers on the springs. I still have the S series lower inner guts and they are in good shape if you want to buy them and other members think this will work. I think they made the forks about 2-3 inches lower. I will give you a good deal and I bet they bolt into the KZ forks. I have not done this so not sure just a guess.

it's an option and I'll consider it.

I think the kz forks are abot 1" taller than h1/h2 forks so really I am just trying to get back to h-series ride height, not 2-3 inches under.

Cut an inch off the top of the tubes, have a circlip groove cut in, and a couple of o-ringed plugs. Bob's your great uncle......

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Twist the throttle, tilt the horizon, and have a great time. What triples are all about...........

John, is this a serious answer or are you messing with me? I can't tell. I have to ask what's the circlip for?

It is serious. A lot of forks are like this. push the o ringed plug in, install the circlip and you are good to go.......

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Twist the throttle, tilt the horizon, and have a great time. What triples are all about...........

Is there a donor or a source for the plugs that you know of JA? I can probably get the groove machined but I don't have the resources to custon mill a plug from scratch.

anybody have any experience with these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-CB-750-KA ... _162wt_998

Seems like a pretty easy $10 solution. I know cutting the springs would increase the rate so I was thinking of just ordering a spring that was naturally shorter.

My KH400 has had a KZ650 front end on it since I bought it.
I almost got used to the tubes sticking up a good inch or more over the top of the top crown.
But I am going to go back to a stock front end, because I never really cared for the look of the KZ one, it has a huge disc and bogus looking fork ears with holes in them.