Front fork replacement

Howdy gents,

This winter I'll be revamping the handling of my bike- I'm looking to replace the front fork. I'm keeping the traditional style (no modern USD forks), preferably even staying with an OEM Kawasaki fork. I'm 99% sure I'll be installing a RaceTech cartridge emulator, only decision I have to make is whether I want to grab an early KZ1000 fork (that way I can keep my triple tree) or if I want to go to a KZ Police front fork (and replace the tree). I believe the tubes on the police models were 2mm thicker and the whole point to my exercise is to freshen up the handling, so I 'm thinking the police forks are the way to go.

Any thoughts?

(Anyone have KZP forks and trees for sale?)

if u really want to improve the handling, u need newer forks. the kz forks are terrible compared to a newer fork.
i would recommend the zrx forks. There are a lot of options out there. Of course if u want to keep the stock front wheel, this will require some research and mods.

I have a set of forks that come from a 1986-87 GPZ1000. They are still conventional, super beefy, have twin disks, I have all the associated hardware, and they are as long as my stock KZ1000 forks. The only thing is that they take a 16" alloy wheel as stock. Obviously this would look different on your bike, but I sure you could come up with some combination of wheel and spacers to make it work with a 19" spoke wheel or anything else. If you are interested, shoot me a pm and we can work something out. I'm not into these things for a huge amount of money and I won't ever use them, so I'll make you a decent deal if you are interested.

Josh, does your kz dive in the front end still,with the racetech gold valves? did u get a chance to ride it before and after the valve job??

mark1122 wrote: Josh, does your kz dive in the front end still,with the racetech gold valves? did u get a chance to ride it before and after the valve job??

Mark, I haven't done the gold valves in the fork yet. I just have one in the rear shock. I didn't want to have to get in there again for a long while. I did however put the correct Race Tech forks springs in place so that I have enough spring rate. Anyway, with the stock Suzuki valves and the new springs, it is adjustable enough to control the dive on the street. I just adjust the preload so that it leaves me about 3/4" of travel on the hardest stop that I would make. That way if you encounter a bump while braking hard, you will still have a little travel before hitting the bump stops.

testarossa wrote:

mark1122 wrote: Josh, does your kz dive in the front end still,with the racetech gold valves? did u get a chance to ride it before and after the valve job??

Mark, I haven't done the gold valves in the fork yet. I just have one in the rear shock. I didn't want to have to get in there again for a long while. I did however put the correct Race Tech forks springs in place so that I have enough spring rate. Anyway, with the stock Suzuki valves and the new springs, it is adjustable enough to control the dive on the street. I just adjust the preload so that it leaves me about 3/4" of travel on the hardest stop that I would make. That way if you encounter a bump while braking hard, you will still have a little travel before hitting the bump stops.

OH, my bad. i had a brain fart . i was thinking u had stock forks with gold valves.
i was hoping u could advise mtbspeedfreak on the improvment, but i screwed that 1 up. :blink:

Testa, thanks for the offer, but I'm not any fan of the anti-dive mechanisms on GPz forks, it looks like a cartoon alien taser from the 50s. I like the dual bolts to clamp the sliders to the tree though. the KZ Police tree mounts that way. Any timeframe to get the Gold Valves installed?

Dutchz has them in and he likes them. I was re-reading his build thread for the umpteenth time a few nights ago. I believe he originally threw them in his Z1 fork, then went to the KZ Police front end for rigidity reasons.

testarossa wrote: I have a set of forks that come from a 1986-87 GPZ1000. They are still conventional, super beefy, have twin disks, I have all the associated hardware, and they are as long as my stock KZ1000 forks. The only thing is that they take a 16" alloy wheel as stock. Obviously this would look different on your bike, but I sure you could come up with some combination of wheel and spacers to make it work with a 19" spoke wheel or anything else. If you are interested, shoot me a pm and we can work something out. I'm not into these things for a huge amount of money and I won't ever use them, so I'll make you a decent deal if you are interested.

Man new to Kzrider I live in Houston and I think I want the forks. My bike is recovering from a hit and run, so is my arm.
The kz750 is getting a major over haul.
PM me what you want for them

vwgtiguy wrote:

testarossa wrote: I have a set of forks that come from a 1986-87 GPZ1000. They are still conventional, super beefy, have twin disks, I have all the associated hardware, and they are as long as my stock KZ1000 forks. The only thing is that they take a 16" alloy wheel as stock. Obviously this would look different on your bike, but I sure you could come up with some combination of wheel and spacers to make it work with a 19" spoke wheel or anything else. If you are interested, shoot me a pm and we can work something out. I'm not into these things for a huge amount of money and I won't ever use them, so I'll make you a decent deal if you are interested.

Man new to Kzrider I live in Houston and I think I want the forks. My bike is recovering from a hit and run, so is my arm.
The kz750 is getting a major over haul.
PM me what you want for them

Get to know testa!

mtbspeedfreak wrote: Testa, thanks for the offer, but I'm not any fan of the anti-dive mechanisms on GPz forks, it looks like a cartoon alien taser from the 50s.

I had an identical front end on my gpz 900 back in the day.
I REMOVED the anti dive,blocked it off with alloy plate and fitted uprated springs. I also cleaned up the look with braided lines and no balance pipe/excess bracketry. I used a 17 or 18 inch stock kwacka wheel, can't remember which. Made some simple spacers to fit it with no speedo drive. This bike handled well enough to wear through the belly pan!

These forks would work really well for a budget big diameter set up. Can't believe they are same length (which is?) as kz 1000 though....

I have the same calipers biting Z1R discs on my current project. Awesome ,but low key/cheap brake mod. just sayin'....

mtbspeedfreak wrote: Testa, thanks for the offer, but I'm not any fan of the anti-dive mechanisms on GPz forks, it looks like a cartoon alien taser from the 50s. I like the dual bolts to clamp the sliders to the tree though. the KZ Police tree mounts that way. Any timeframe to get the Gold Valves installed?

Dutchz has them in and he likes them. I was re-reading his build thread for the umpteenth time a few nights ago. I believe he originally threw them in his Z1 fork, then went to the KZ Police front end for rigidity reasons.

No sweat man. Time frame to get Gold Valves installed? Do you mean on my bike? If so, then whenever I decided to get back into the fork again. Probably another year would be my guess. I'm going to focus on the engine this winter if possible. I have proven to myself that my mods work and will hold together, so now it's time to start refining. The 1075 kit is first up.

vwgtiguy wrote: Man new to Kzrider I live in Houston and I think I want the forks. My bike is recovering from a hit and run, so is my arm.
The kz750 is getting a major over haul.
PM me what you want for them

vwgtiguy, I sent you a pm about the forks.

So what time of day were you riding around downtown in that video? Early in the morning, I'm guessing. If I tried to make that video it would be 11:17 of me sitting at one traffic light. :laugh: