Frame Steering Tube Races

[spirello]

Hey macmac if you go to the kawasaki website and look at the parts diagrahm to kawasaki part#s are the koyo id #s they will cross also.

[VulcanE]

It's amazing that how something so difficult, is so easily done when you have the right tool! I got my race tool Friday morning and put it right to work, 15 minutes later I was installing the steering stem. I changed my fork oil (now 15 wt), changed the brake and clutch fluids, and I now have a grease fitting in the neck (it took a whole tube of grease to fill it up). I got it all back together and took it out for a test ride. My baby is back to being the smooth handling machine it once was. The 15 wt fork oil made it a little stiffer up front, but is very smooth with the added weight of the fairing, stereo, speakers, and other associated items.
I did run across a couple of things that were done wrong when the front was put together. ::)(I don't know if the dealer or Kawasaki assembled the forks and triple tree)
1- The forks were protruding too far above the steering stem head bracket on the triple tree. (the top of the inner fork tube should have been flush at the top with only the screw on cap protruding above the surface).
2- The lower grease seal was in up-side-down. (This may be the reason the lower bearing was shot and why the race was worn down, making it so difficult to get out)
3- When yo change your fork oil, go by the service manual if you have a 1600. Gadgets "How To" on this is for the 1500's, and it ain't even close to what's on the 1600's.
But any way, got it all back together and preforming well and now there is NO GAS to be had anywhere close to here . Before I started this, I ran the tank 170 miles to get it low in case I needed to remove it (which I didn't have to). I now have 190 miles on the tank, fuel light came on @ 179, and can't find any gas to put in. WHAT A BUMMER!!!! ???

[redjay]

Hi, Before I took out the fork legs on my 05 Nomad the fork leg was about 1/16th above the top triple clamp. Maybe this is the way they are supposed to be ? I put them back with 1/16th of the fork tube protruding above the clamp.

[twittercat]

I just finished putting my front end back together after replacing the upper and lower bearings on the steering stem. My fork tubes came from the factory sitting above the upper triple clamp approx. 1/32" both sides. After swapping out the rusted out stem bearings (dried out and frozen!), changing the fork oil (that was the easiest part of the whole job, just follow the instructions in the shop manual), I put the fork tubes back on flush with the triple clamp as per the shop manual. I bought a Park Tool Steering Race remover
http://www.toolsource.com/steering-r...3mk78um4hsa5m5
and it didn't do the job... mainly because there isn't enough lip on the race for the tool to grab onto. (However this tool works great on the KLR650). I ended up cutting the old races out. Now the Park tool Steering Race Press
http://www.toolsource.com/steering-r...-p-102950.html
worked like a champ and I had the new races pressed in perfectly. Also I did the grease fitting install on the steering stem as shown on Gadgets Fixit site and that came out great. After installing the upper and lower triple clamps I pumped the stem full of grease, disassembled the triple clamps just to see if this mod worked as advertised and it did.