1975 Z1 front forks

Over the winter I have rebuilt the forks on my Z1. Everything seemed to go well except when the bike sits it starts to leak fork fluid from around the fron axle. I took the tire and axle off and check to see how tight the alan bolt were. There were a little loose and allowed me to tight them a little more.

I put them all back together and as it sat it started leaking again. I again took the from tire and axle off and the left side is tight and the right side just spins.

What am I missing? Why does it continue to leak?

Any and all help is welcome. Thanks in advance.

"I again took the front tire and axle off and the left side is tight and the right side just spins. "

what do u mean , just spins. is the bolt stripped, or just loose again.. if it is just loose again, aply some loctite blue and retorque it. remember that there is a gasket under that bolt, so u may need to replace it or at least, add sealer to both sides of it .

Sounds like the lower fork bolts and inner cylinders were not tightened to spec when reassembled. It may be that you pull the forks off and reassemble according to FSM directions (e.g. using a tool to hold the inner cylinder motionless while tightening the lower allen bolt, including using blue loctite). Good advice from mark1122...check for the presence of the metal washers...they are easy to overlook.

Mcdroid wrote: Sounds like the lower fork bolts and inner cylinders were not tightened to spec when reassembled. It may be that you pull the forks off and reassemble according to FSM directions (e.g. using a tool to hold the inner cylinder motionless while tightening the lower allen bolt, including using blue loctite). Good advice from mark1122...check for the presence of the metal washers...they are easy to overlook.

Also be sure to use new copper washers on those allen bolts. They are still available from Kawasaki. Ed

Yes, the washers. Early Z1's used the red fiber washers.
If you can't get new washers, take apart and clean what you got and use some RTV on the bottom's , top's of all of the parts and re-assemble. If you don't have the correct holding tool, at least use an air impact gun. 3/8 drive with the allen head socket.

z1kzonly wrote: Yes, the washers. Early Z1's used the red fiber washers.
If you can't get new washers, take apart and clean what you got and use some RTV on the bottom's , top's of all of the parts and re-assemble. If you don't have the correct holding tool, at least use an air impact gun. 3/8 drive with the allen head socket.

I don't doubt they were fiber originally, but the current Kawasaki.com diagram shows the same washers (they call them gaskets) as 280 other models including the KZ650-C1. When I bought mine they were copper washers. I suspect they were changed by one of the new superseded part numbers. They are still an active part and so still available.

I did replace the washers with I put them back together.
When I say that it spins I mean it never gets tight. It is not stripped I think the inside is spinning in the tube.

What is the correct holding tool?

What are some of the home remidies people have used?

Can anyone offer more details on how to actually hold the tube and tighten the bolts?

Weld a piece of metal on a rod. Grind it to look like a "D" Or use a piece of wood, like a broom handle, and pound it down on it! Snap On Tools has a piece that cost's $28.00 bucks to use.
But whatever, Use Americam Ingenuity to work this out! Ask your Frioends that work in the industry or automotive community and ask them!

davej6997 wrote: I did replace the washers with I put them back together.
When I say that it spins I mean it never gets tight. It is not stripped I think the inside is spinning in the tube.

What is the correct holding tool?

What are some of the home remidies people have used?

Can anyone offer more details on how to actually hold the tube and tighten the bolts?

Dave,

I just went through this scenario the last couple of days. Just some background, here was my plan. Have two sets of forks, one came installed on the bike and the other was purchased off of eBay by PO and came as part of the purchase. It was apparent the one on the bike leaked, the eBay ones didn't. And besides, the eBay one had the inner tubes which are not rusted and pitted, unlike the other set. But I wanted to change the seals on this replacement set for extra insurance. As practice, I took apart one fork that had been installed on the bike. Had some trouble with the allen bolt but used a broom stick and it worked. Great! So next I tried the one of the eBay forks. Allen bolt would not come off. Tried everything, air impact, even fashioned a tool out of a steel pipe by flatting one end. This wasn't working. Finally, read a post here forum about using a Gator Grip from WalMart (by Mcdroid I think) and went out and got me one along with an long enough extension. Works like a charm with no damage to the damper head unlike some other methods I saw (screw driver bit on an extension, etc). Good thing I decided to service the eBay set, very little very grungy fluid in them, that's why I didn't notice any leaks. And I am confident the gator grip it will work just as well on assembly. Good tool to have around anyhow. Good luck.

Fork cylinders often need to be held with a tool in order to tighten the bottom bolt to the factory torque spec. Some fork cylinders have a hexagonal depression in the top that can be held using the head of a bolt welded to a rod. However, some fork cylinders only have a round hole in the top (that's how my KZ650-C1 is). The following link shows an easy to make homemade tool to hold the round hole type:

kzrider.com/forum/21-tools/318027-fork-cylinder-holder

Yeah Ed, I tried that method as well. No luck in my case. Just tore/shredded the rubber vacuum tip. These forks were the forks from hell. But I wasn't going to be beat. What I lack in brains I make up in persistence.

Just posted these on you tube to try to save others the hassle I went through on these forks. Hope its useful.