KLR Fork Service Part 2

[ehalling]

Thanks for the vid. I dont fear the fork anymore:)

[byersm66]

What PSI are the forks at?

[ghotioutofh2o]

@byersm66 Atmospheric pressure. Just hold the schrader valves open until they don't hiss anymore.

[daneboy34]

thank you for all your effort, keep it up

[pezis]

This could be a great help for me to change the fork seals on my klx (supose, they should have more or less the same forks). Just need to bring the laptop in my garage :)

[cengle4394]

thank you i had no idea what i was doing until i watched your video im redoing my ttr 125 front forks and these videos really helped so thanks again

[MarcVolf]

Good job and thanks for all the work!

[rideswift]

Awsome as usuall!!!! KLR's rule!!!!

[southbiked]

In the vid, you install the collar wrong-way up. The collar should be installed flat side up with the retaining ring fitting into the groove/shoulder cut into the flat side's ID.

[ghotioutofh2o]

What's your reference source?

According to the Clymer manual (M474: 1987 - 2003, ISBN 0-89287-852-5), Figure 40 on page 261, Figure 49 with step 6d on page 263 ("The open side if the collar must fully seat against the stop ring on the valve"), and Figure 53 on page 264, I did it right.

[newsomkd]

A great video. Thanks so much. It really helped me.

[MXIMERMAN]

KLR 650

[ack1961]

A great video tutorial - the forks are one aspect of maintenance that I dread. Your video really helps put it all in layman's terms. Thanks for the effort.

[ghotioutofh2o]

No problem; that's the exact reason I made the KLR series.

[jdr10r]

Somehow my second post was deleted. If you try to remove the tube caps without the upper bridge pins loose you will mar the 19mm hex head. Same with reassembly, bridge pins will interfere with torque reading. Torque tube caps first with the upper bridge pins loose. Clymer manual reassembly is vague on this point. Also, preload can be adjusted by replacing steel tube with different lengths of 3/4" schedule 40 PVC pipe

[pyrodog783]

aww man I'm not looking forward to this, I have to service my forks soon and it looks like the most confusing maintenance on the bike.

[hsiegel2]

I have a 1984 RM250 with conventional forks.I just replaced  both seals and replaced the fluid...BUT...now one of the forks is almost an inch longer than the other....what would cause this and how do i fix it? any help is appreciated

[jdr10r]

At the end he says to torque the fork in the triple tree and then the cap. From my experience, it is better to tighten the bottom (bridge pin bolts on the lower fork brace) first to hold the fork tube in place, then torque the cap. See next comment

[ifixipods]

A great alternative to the expensive fork seal driver is a piece of PVC pipe. Nice video!

[ghotioutofh2o]

Good call! Thanks.

[MarcVolf]

@ifixipods

And If you can't get quite the right size take a slightly smaller size and cut down the side to allow it to expand.

[PJL33ds]

Just when I needed it. An excellent tutorial. Really amazed at the simplicity of the 'special tool' made of extensions & 24mm nut. Will do this work now I have seen it done. Many Thanks.

[JLynnJohnston]

Good stuff, man! Slowly but surely, I'll be slogging my way through all these maintenance projects on my KLR. These vids really let me know what I'm getting myself into!

Thanks!

[eddiespencer1]

Near the beginning of part 1, you released gas pressure from the fork via the schrader valve on top of the fork. Does this mean that the forks should be pressurized with compressed air after reassembly? If so, is compressed air adequate or should it be done with nitrogen or C02 or something else and to what psi?

[ghotioutofh2o]

No, it does not. The forks should be set at atmospheric pressure (just hold the valves in until it equalizes. When the atmosphere changes (it's incredible dynamic), the air in the forks does not change (they're sealed), so you need to do this manually.

If you want to add air for a higher preload, you can. Compressed air is fine. As for "proper" psi (again, spec is atmospheric), I've heard of people going up to 30 psi without blowing seals. YMMV.