Been thinking- fork swap

[GMP]

A 450F has a lot more weight up front than a 300 GG. Springs and especially valving should be different. I just put 35mm KYBs from a KX85 on a kids KLX140L. Way different settings. I know they are minis, but the same idea still applies.

[BrentMartell]

Springs are weight sensitive and valving is speed sensitive. I agree with you. I also know that according to the experts with my weight and rider level I should be running .46 springs with stiff valving on a 2 stroke. I should actually be running .51 on the Honda. I don't where it will all wind up in the end but it is a starting point. I am looking for a set of .42's. Mix and match and have .445's. The 250F comes with .45's so I might be able to find a set of those for a decent price as well if I need to just got that rate.

[BrentMartell]

I don't think boring the axle clamp is going to work. To bore the brake side the ID will butt up against the threads. Even though the showa fork is considerably thicker in the entire area then the zoke I am worried about weakening the area where the bolts go through. I have no clue how much pressure the axle clamp does and can endure.

[GMP]

That was my concern exactly. Work with axel/spacers for the GG wheel. Shouldn't be that hard.

[BrentMartell]

I know you did and appreciate it. I was just not sure until I got a fork in hand how much material I had to work with. I think a person could easily bore out 1-1.5mm. The non brake side is about that much thinner.

Anyway, I have an axle coming and will work with spacers stepped to the dimenions we need. The KTM rear axle spacers will be a good template to work from I think.

The remaining big question is boring the lower triple. Fingers crossed.

[Zhack]

I have an old race bike ('07 CRF250R) that's not worth selling but I LOVE the revalved Showa's on it. My idea is to just bolt the fork/axle/wheel brake from my CRF into the 2011 GasGas300 triple clamps (currently sporting 45mm 'zokes). It looks like all I would need is a 48mm lower triple clamp (gofasters?). From the dimensions earlier in this thread, it looks like that should work....comments?

This would essentially disable my Honda (which is currently trail ridden by my wife) but the 45mm zokes would be great for her. Could the stock Honda triple clamps be modified/shimmed to hold the 45mm Marzocchi's? That seems like a WAYYYY easier proposal than putting larger forks into smaller triple clamps. I'd like to essentially swap everything from the forks down between the two bikes

Comments?

[BrentMartell]

Yep, brake system, wheel, forks. You will need the lower clamp. Let me know what gofaster says, I was quoated 300 with shipping and 4-6 weeks. LOL. At the time I thought things would come together quicker. If we can get a better deal for two I will probably jump in with you. I will know very soon if boring my clamps will work. Speaking of, yeah just shim/sleeve the honda lowers with sheet metal or whatever. Just something that won't move and takes up the gap enough to tighten the clamp.

Update on forks- ebay seller tried to screw me. Well did I guess. The rebound adjuster bol was broken and they said it is my fault, there is a nasty ding as well I had to sand out. I ordered a new part to fix this issue.

Also, I made deal with a local guy who has the full race tech set up and we swapped out the internal assembly. Super stoked about that. He is an a/aa mx "dude" and he went plush with better bottom resistance. Might be perfect for me. At least I have a much better place to start. I also have a set of .46 newer springs and 1.6 inner spring. Should be just about perfect.

[Zhack]

Good news on the trade.

Thanks for the feedback on my swap. One issue I was concerned about is that the inner bore of the upper clamp is 0.5mm smaller (54mm) than the outer diameter of the Showa's (54.5mm) from the chart posted earlier in this thread. Do you think the "spread" of the clamp will accommodate the larger tube? Other than that, it looks like I'm home free.

To take up the space between the 45 Zoke and the lower triple clamp of the Honda, I thought I could roll on metal foil tape like tin badgers use to seal up ducts. I could just roll it on till it calipers to the right diameter. What do you think of that?

[pscook]

Originally Posted by Zhack

Good news on the trade.

Thanks for the feedback on my swap. One issue I was concerned about is that the inner bore of the upper clamp is 0.5mm smaller (54mm) than the outer diameter of the Showa's (54.5mm) from the chart posted earlier in this thread. Do you think the "spread" of the clamp will accommodate the larger tube? Other than that, it looks like I'm home free.

To take up the space between the 45 Zoke and the lower triple clamp of the Honda, I thought I could roll on metal foil tape like tin badgers use to seal up ducts. I could just roll it on till it calipers to the right diameter. What do you think of that?

I don't think the upper will spread properly to be safe. The clamp bolts will be out of alignment and not provide proper clamp-up force. Boring out the uppers might not be too difficult for a proper machinist.

Don't roll tin tape around the fork lower to make up the gap as the adhesive will compress and loosen over time, you can have a sleeve made to the proper dimension for a cheap price, I would assume. You could conceivably purchase some shim stock in the proper thickness and make a spacer, too. Roll it around the tube and cut to fit.

Find a good machine shop and ply them with the proper beverages to get the best price. Sometimes you can find a fellow that likes challenging projects and will help you for sport.

[Zhack]

Thanks for the feedback. Good ideas there.

I will trial fit the top clamp fit tonight and if it spreads too much to properly align the bolts, I will likely have them machined out to increase the ID by 0.5mm. I assume that will not weaken them too much as the previous discussion contemplates boring the lower by as much as 1.5mm and there is speculation that the GasGas 48mm lower clamp is the same OD as the 45, just thisnner walled. If I do need to bore the top clamp, I can always shim it as well when its time to put the Marzocchi's back on the GasGas if the clamps won't take up the slack.

I will probably roll a spacer for the lower from aluminum stock.

Should be interesting.