'06 KDX W/ USD Forks/Photos

[stringburner]

I braved the cold this afternoon to install my usd forks and see if there were any major problems to be dealt w/. Everything seemed to fall right in place. No problems as far as the stem sticking up too far or anything like that, even w/ no spacers. The stem pressed directly into the RMZ bottom clamp, and it needed just a 30 thousands shim for the top clamp. I forgot to check to see if the forks hit the tank, but I know i'll have to make some aluminum stops to put on the lower clamp, just because the RMZ had stops on the frame, where ours have the stops on the clamp. It's just a mock up, nothing is torqued down. The bike was strippeed clear down to the frame, so I put the tank and plastic back on to make it look like something. The front fender holes don't match up, and therewill have to be some finagling to make the headlight fit properly, but otherwise, pretty straight forward. Whatcha'll think?

[m0rie]

Looks nice. Your going to like them a lot...

[stringburner]

Thanks Morie. I guess we know '05 RMZ clamps w/ Showas work pretty well now anyways.

[Jeb]

A heck 'ova sharp-lookin' bike stringburner!

I can't remember - is that an RMZ wheel or the stock KDXer?

[stringburner]

It's the RMZ 450 front wheel. I happened/lucked upon a bike shop that the owner was turning one of his (many) bikes into a dirt drag bike, and he was putting carbon fiber mountain bike front forks on it......He showed me the forks he already had made up for it btw. You could lift them w/ your pinky, wheel and all. I guess it will hold up, but I wouldn't want to see the results if it wheelied and slammed down on those teensy bicycle forks.

The kdx stem diameter and the stem hole in the lower clamp on the RMZ was identical, so it was a drop in deal. CC said that didn't mean anything, but I still don't understand why it wouldn't. He talks in riddles so much it makes my head hurt though. I know I still need to raise the forks up in the clamps to get the ride height proper (I wrote all the measurements down before I disassembled it), but I just socked it together so I could see how it would work. Now I just gotta figger out how to make a front fender work w/o it being a hack job, and the headlight mounting, and i think it'll be pretty ok.

Thanks for the compliment on the bike Jeb.

[Jeb]

Acerbis and UFO both make front fenders if it comes to that, they're like $20-$25. Sorry, no green. Black or white though.

Well, yella' too, but . . .

What doesn't fit about them, anyway? You've got me wonderin' if I'll have a similar problem when I manage to get the YZs mounted.

[stringburner]

Just thefender mounting holes/ lower clamp fender mounting bosses/holes don't line up anywhere's near the same. I guess you could redrill holes in the fender and put grommets around them, but it'll still be kinda hacked up I reckon. There's always a solution, just sometimes it isn't the greatest outcome. In my case, i'm thinking that around the time the bike I got my forks off of was made, Kawasaki and Suzuki shared platforms for one of the motocross bikes, and maybe the KXF version would bolt right up, but I think it was the 250F. I'll have to research it and see if they used the same clamps/forks as the 450 did at that time. If so, i'm good to go. If not, it's off to redneck engineering land. We'll both figger something out I betcha.

[stringburner]

Well, Kawasaki didn't make a 450 in '05, the '04 Bazooki and Kawasaki were the same, while the motocross bikes plastic went to the fourescent green in '05. It looks like it'll be self engineered. I'm surprised nobody noticed I don't have a pipe, silencer, airbox, or carburetor.

[krazyinski]

Well, Kawasaki didn't make a 450 in '05, the '04 Bazooki and Kawasaki were the same, while the motocross bikes plastic went to the fourescent green in '05. It looks like it'll be self engineered. I'm surprised nobody noticed I don't have a pipe, silencer, airbox, or carburetor.

looks like a RMZ rear shock in there as well.

[stringburner]

No, it's not, but that's an ideer. I bet that would be much more difficult to do.

[thebleakness]

Isnt the Acerbis Tecnik a all bike fender? It comes without any drilled holes so that you can use it for any bike? They come in green and white too, which looks really good too IMO.

[Indawoods]

Yep...they work well....

[skipro3]

I wrote a lengthy post about no pipe, carb, air cleaner, etc. Then I re-read your post where you said you just mocked up the bike for the photo and didn't want to show my ignorance.

[stringburner]

How do the Acerbis fenders work? Do they provide the grommet doohickeys so once you drill the holes where you need 'em, you can pop them in to support the fender, or do you just go to the hardware store and find something that'll work? Flat washers on both sides would work I guess. I'd think w/ just the bolts they would pull through eventually.

Funny Ski.....

[Indawoods]

Use your old hardware from your other fender....

[stringburner]

Oh yeah....