Stem Swap

[Dave B]

Will be doing a stem swap soon, seems like everyone says to just press out and press in with the possible need of knurling.
Through everyone's experiences are there any precautions, tips or must do's (or do nots) when doing the swap?
How much interference fit should there be between the stem and triple clamp.

[KDXGarage]

Which stem is going into which clamp??

[Dave B]

220 stem into a 97 RM250 clamp, going the conventional route. Talked to a few on here about the RM swap which seems pretty straight forward. Just curious on experiences doing the stem swap procedure, everyone's posts makes it sound super easy without any horror stories... and I'm sure there has been a few. Or it could be just that... super easy and straight forward lol. I guess my biggest concern is the interference fit and what is considered a good fit before knurling is required. I am expecting a loose fit so how much knurling is required to get the ideal fit..... in my high school metal shop days I seem to remember that knurling could be more or less "aggressive". I could be wrong it's been a few years since HS.

[KDXGarage]

OK, thanks. I have no clue on any year RM250 stem dimensions.

Year model of KDX220 stem will matter also.

Measure OD and ID of each combo to get an idea of difference.

[Dave B]

Oh duhhh ..... I was so preoccupied with the dx stem going into a different tree that I never thought about measuring the difference between the dx stem and clamp once apart. Sometimes you need to step away to step ahead!

[canamfan]

I heated the triple clamp with a heat gun, to expand it and loosen up any Loctite in there. I did knurl mine because you could press it in by hand before the knurl. After knurling I used a press and put Loctite on it. The kdx stem came out hard, it really popped when it broke loose. Be careful not to damage the threads while pressing it.

[Dave B]

Thanks canamfan. Would it be wise to use a piece of brass or aluminum between the press and stem to protect the threads?

[6 Riders]

When doing my 95 RM, we had to use a "shim" around the base of the stem. The reason being that the KDX stem was way to small for the triple.

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[Dave B]

95' Rm's are USD where as 96 thru 98 were conventionals. I would assume they would be completly different. Theses trees are very similar to the DRZ400 which have also been swaped by reading other posts.

[bufftester]

I have read quite a bit that says those RM conventionals are considered some of the best forks ever made, be curious to see how you like them.

[Dave B]

Yes, I have always thought conventionals were the way to go for single track. These forks are not that easy to come by (at least around here) and even harder with the resurgence of the two stroke. Unless you want to buy a complete bike for top dollar. I came across a front end that a guy was parting out. Other than knowing the seals were shot which is no big deal, they looked pretty good. Buyer beware!!!....the oil or what was left was like gritty gravy. Don't think the P.O. owned a torque wrench and was heavy handed. The bottom bolt ( with clickers) was bottomed out against the damper rod ... tight as hell and two turns. Would not come off as the rod spins with it. Tried eveeything but hate to say it , last resort was vise grips(I know) to hold the rod. Still tight as hell and almost didnt come off. The rod got marred up a bit but it doesnt matter as the threads were screwed up by the lock nut. That leg needs a new damper rod and who knows what else from the sand gravy slurry. The second leg will not come apart, the bottom of these forks are a bit different, hard to explain but there are two pieces that kind of hold each other till apart. These inside parts is spinning instead of holding... internally stripped. So both are junk!
But since I have the rest of the front end...wheel, triple trees, and brakes I picked up a set of DRZ 400 forks which will bolt right up into the RM clamps. They are also 49mm conventionals except they are open chamber instead of dual chamber not as desirable but can still be made to be a very good woods front end. And there are a ton of the Drz400's around here so used parts are relatively cheap.

[canamfan]

I think I ran the nut all the way up to the top of the threads, in an attempt to keep them from deforming. I used a socket that matched the stem to press it with. You don't want to push on the nut itself if you run it up to the top, you'll deform the threads. I believe the kdx stem is steel, so it's a little easier to not mess up. I squished the threads pushing the stem out of the RM clamp as it was made of aluminum.

[Dave B]

Thanks canamfan, im not too concerned about the donor Rm stem so I will do it first as a practice run before pressing out the KDX stem.

[KDXGarage]

On the KDX stem, if you intend to keep the lower bearing and don't have a puller, wrap the bearing in aluminum foil, then gently warm the triple clamp with a low heat torch so the aluminum will expand and make it easier to remove the stem. Jeff Emig's dad told me to warm the clamp. The aluminum foil was my idea. It worked well for me!

I don't know if the Suzuki bearing has a seal or not.

EDIT ADD ON: Warming the stem would be a no no, just the clamp.

[Dave B]

Heat is a wonderful thing!!! All useful info .... this I the kind of stuff I was looking for. Thanks