05 636 forks on a 81 KZ1000 LTD

My 05 636 forks n triple just came in and i noticed somthing I havent seen here or on the customfighters site. The steering stem on the 636 and the 81 kz1000 are the same length. Instead of pressing the stems out and swaping would it be possible to turn the larger 636 down on a lathe to accept the kz stem bearings? and re-thread the end? Look at the pic and tell me if this has been done before.

Although the stems are the same overall length, the distance between upper (blue circles) and lower bearings (red circles) are different. The upper bearing, on the ZX stem, will be about 1/2" lower than the upper bearing on the Kz stem. You can see in the pics that the threaded part of the ZX stem is equal to where the Kz stem upper bearing would be. So really the Zx stem is about 1/2" too short.

Later, Doug

I see what you are saying but there appears to be enough meat on the zx stem to relocate the upper bearing locations and threads. Im not a machinest but this looks possible to match the kz stem. My concern it weaking the zx stem too much. I dont think im going to be the guinea pig. I think im just going to hack off the zx stem, machine what is left and press in the kz stem like everyone else.

cutting the weld on a lathe and pressing out the stem is way faster and easier

Go to www.allballsracing.com

They have fork swap bearing kits available for darn near any japanese bike. This would be MUCH easier, MUCH faster, and MUCH safer than taking material off of the 636 stem, and just plain makes more sense..

Any time you think about swapping forks, think about swapping bearing out first.
All you need is:

-The I.D (interior diameter) of the bearing (which is the O.D. of the steering stem)
-And the O.D. (the Interior diameter of the steering neck)

Match top and bottom sizes to the steering neck/steering stem and thats it! that way you can use the bearing seals from your front end as well!

BTW, I am NOT an employee or affiliated in any way to All Balls Bearings... Just spreading useful info to fellow KZ'rs

Thanks for the info, I did look at the All Balls solutions and it was not possible with the large difference between the stems.

I found a great deal on some 03 z1000 upper triples. These are a great match for the 636 triple and forks and make it easy to mount the high bars. I need help with making a sleeve to take up the space between the kz stem and where the z1000 stem was. The Machinest says between $50-100 and me supplying the material. Can this be done another way? Ideas?
(it looks offset because the forks are mounted loose and the weight of the bike makes it sag)