KDXRIDER.NET

I haven't started my conversion yet, cuz I'm waiting to see if Phil is gonna be able to machine a stem. So today I'm bumping around in the garage, and I fit the '01 KX wheel into my '03 KX forks that are sitting in my '03 clamps. Looks all spiffy and stuff. But then I start to think..(scarey) these look mighty freaking tall. So I put them up against the KDX at about the same angle that the stock forks are at. I thought you guys were saying that the KX forks would be maybe an inch taller than the stockers. Get this... my KX lower clamp is about even with my KDX upper clamp!! That seems mighty wrong. I'm not tryin' to build a chopper for crine out loud. What do you make of that? BTW, I have the KX forks about as high as they can go in the clamps, maybe there is another 2mm they could go.

They will sag a certain amount with the weight of the bike on forks.

You didn't buy the 3/4 size KDX did you? You didn't tell us that!

Put your KDX on a center stand, measure the total lengh of the KDX fork from axle to top and then compare that measurement to the KX fork. It should be very close to the same length. Remember to measure the axle to top cap length due to the under hang differences between the two fork styles.

Hmm,, maybe I did get the midget edition... I'll try Jerry's measurement idea before I go back to the dealer for a refund.

Well which do you have...the 3/4 size KDX or the 1 1/4 KX forks?

Mike, I checked the length of my KX forks Vs. KDX forks, they are almost identical in length. Probably doesn't help any but I thought I would share.

Could your KDX forks have been shortened (internally)?

Not unless I did it when I crashed and broke my ribs. I bought the KDX new (which was very dumb ) Hopefully, I'll have time to tear into it this coming week. Been building this for my wife, just need to turn some columns for the corners, and I'll be done (till she demands the lid)...

Damn, thats a nice job Mike.

Thanks Morie, it's been soaking up my time though. I WANT TO RIDE!!!

That's a nice bar! Why the fish tank?

Only looks like a fish tank. It's a vodka bowl.

Well? How long does it take to measure sumthin?

IF the bottom KX clamp is 'about' to the KDX upper clamp, something is certainly bogus. Like...maybe you're holding your KX forks straight up and down? Maybe you've been too close to that vodka bowl for too long? 'eh?

But...if the KX forks aren't on something, how do you know how it all fits together? Like...you don't know where the fork fits in the lower clamp if you don't reference it to something...like an installed stem.

As Ski said..measure the sets the same way. It will give you a close idea. Not exact (axles don't mount the same distance from fork axis), but close.

BTW, does your bowl come in Smirnoff Apple Twist flavor?

ok, so I got a little smarter and measured from the axle to the bottom of the steering head tube on the frame of my KDX forks. This is with the bike's weight on the forks, and I got about 26.5" . Then I measured from the axle to the bearing on the KX forks, unloaded and got 28.5" . I feel better now, cuz 1) I've been sailing with the captain , and 2) it didn't take much force at all to compress the KX forks about 1.25 inches. I think with the weight of the bike on them, they'll go down maybe 1.5 or so.

Sorry CC, my wife prefers the orange smirnoff, so that's what's in the tank. Once we get through the 55 gallons in there now, we'll try the apple stuff.

Glad to hear you're feeling better!!

It'll all work fine (notwithstanding Inda's remarks about the 3/4, 1 1/4 options).


You might want to check the KX forks for straight before you bother putting them on? You read about m0rie's 'discovery'?

yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I was going to just ride them and see what I thought, but now I'm re-thinking that. My forks came from a free-style guy So I was thinking they would probably be valved and sprung way too stiff, who knows, they might be way too bent too! Mine have racetech goldvalves in them, would be nice to know a ballpark shim stack set up if I was taking them apart anyway.

Ask Mr. Ski on his way out to his doghouse to check one'a his!

You can get a reasonably good idea just by removing the top cap and springs and compressing the forks thru their range of travel. If it binds either the fork is bent or the bushings are tweaked. In either case your better off finding all of that out before you goto the trouble of mounting everything up.

RE Goldvalves: Apparently there are different styles of gold valve. The one's I had was MX orientated and the new one my suspension tuner swapped out is for woods type riding. My tuner was nice enuf to simply exchange my MX ones for the woods type when I was getting seal, servive and a revalve. I really don't know the differences but just thought I'd try and confuse ya summore... ;)