fork tube removal//help needed

any tips on how to disassemble the fork assembly?? I see a special tool is needed to hold the piston while the allen bolt on the fork bottom is backed out....any home made alternatives to accomplish this?? thank you.

nothing found in forum search on this I could find.

I've read about owners getting a broom handle/long 1" dowel and putting a four sided taper with a flat end(maybe 1/4" to 3/8" in size) to fit the end of the dampening rod.

Try www.z1enterprises.com and see if they can get this tool for you, my understanding this special tool would fit on the end of a 3/8" drive extension.

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3\4" bolt with two nuts. Socket and long extensions works perfect.

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Must be some sort of bolt-nut combo that works, no?

There is some variability in the shape of the top of the inner fork tube. I have several 1977 KZ1000A1 and have also disassembled 1978 KZ1000 front ends and most had a smooth round opening on the top of the inner fork...which will not allow any device, like your picture, to work. Others may have an edged opening thus allowing a device like yours to gain some purchase (certainly the later KZ's do). The earlier Z1's had a raised area with two parallel beveled edges on the top of the inner fork tube and those can be easier to remove (and I have seen this configuration installed in a 1977 KZ1000A series front end). So, the broomstick thing may actually work as all you are attempting to do slow the inner fork (e.g. friction) from spinning as fast as the bolt inserted in the bottom of the outer fork tube. In most cases I have reverted to use of an airgun to spin the bottom bolt (this means, since I don't have compressed air in my garage, I take it to someone who does). No matter how easy it sounds, it is still a pain in the ass to do.

Clamp the tube in a vise, compress the fork leg, and hit it with an impact, it'll come right out

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thanks fellas, I'll let you know if and when I get this handled and what I used.

If your fork cylinder top is round as shown in the pic, you can make a tool by attaching a rod to a large bolt (as a handle) and supergluing a rubber vacuum cap to the business end as shown. I sleeved the rod with a piece of clear tubing to protect the fork innards. Have someone jam the rod into the top of the fork cylinder while you use an impact wrench on the cylinder bolt. It should come out. Ed

650ed wrote: If your fork cylinder top is round as shown in the pic, you can make a tool by attaching a rod to a large bolt (as a handle) and supergluing a rubber vacuum cap to the business end as shown. I sleeved the rod with a piece of clear tubing to protect the fork innards. Have someone jam the rod into the top of the fork cylinder while you use an impact wrench on the cylinder bolt. It should come out. Ed

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Great idea! I had tried something similar but still couldn't stop the inner fork from spinning...yours might actually work.