Swap'em with your KLR. You aint takin that thang off road anyway

 

I have already done fork seal replacement on the KLX. It is an easy job with the right tools. When doing the seals, also replacing the springs for your correct riding weight is the best time to do so.

Moose Racing makes a complete fork seal kit. Which I used for my KLX. One of the reason why, its a lot cheaper than Kawi's cost. Saved me enough to use the extra I saved to buy some of the tools needed.

Post of when I did the fork seals, photos included:
https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...al+replacement

 

If you use the pivots works seal/bushing kit it does NOT come with all of the bushings. It comes with either the upper or lower but not both(I can't remember which ones).

 

Good write up.
Did you install heavier springs, and what is your opinion of the 10W?

 

Thank you, everyone.

How much oil do you need to do both forks? How many quarts should I buy? I think they come in quarts...don't they?

 

I don't remember the exact amount, as I used the oil level method. It took over a quart. Mine was completely dry, as I did a complete Race Tech revalve. The service manual says it's 540cc for an oil change and 633cc when completely dry per leg. Apparently you'll need 2 quarts. I've seen fork oil in 12oz. and 16oz. bottles too, but most of what you see for sale on shop and store shelves is a quart...a little over 900cc.

 

No, I thought about it long and hard. But I kept the stock springs. The 10w fork oil increased the dampening effects. It give more road feel back and the KLX seems to handle better in turns. Off-road wise, haven't got to try it out yet (tornado took out the riding trails). The forks require only 1x quart of oil. But becareful not to spill any, it takes just that much. Also, I highly recomend a fork oil leveling tool.

 

When I did my klx 300 forks, I think they took almost exactly 500 ml. I was able to measure it pretty easily, but I can't remember what I used
I have to do the seals on my 250, so maybe I'll try the 10W

 

On getting your fork oil level exact, you can also get a cheap vernier caliper from Harbor Freight or such. Extend the long, skinny, "pointy end" of the measurement length of the caliper into the fork with the flat end of the caliper body resting flat at 90 degrees on the top of the fork where the cap screws in. You can keep checking the oil level as you bring it up to the desired amount. If you get too much oil in, you can use a drinking straw or piece of tubing and just stick it into the oil and use your thumb/finger to close off the other end, and it will hold a certain amount of oil by natural vacuum to extract from the fork. It takes longer than using the factory tool, obviously, but one may not want to invest the money in a nice tool like that for the infrequent use it may see. But tools are cool. And you can always use the vernier caliper later for all manner of shop uses.

I've said it before, that 10wt oil is going to feel quite good at slow speeds and hard braking on smooth surfaces on the stock KLX fork, but when you hit hard successive bumps, or bigger bumps, or braking bumps, the compression spike inherent in the stock KLX fork will get worse. Trying to force heavier oil through already inadequate holes in the compression piston is the problem. John at MotoPro has a good description of this problem. I'm kind of thinking that some are trying to overcome soft springs with heavier oil. That sounds somewhat logical, but in the case of the KLX, it's best to address the springs. Then it's good to address the revalving next which is the real root problem.

 

TNC, would you care to explain what is "compression spike", also, why can't Kawasaki make properly sized valves and holes in the forks in the first place?

I'm relatively new to dirt biking and suspension seems to be a black art subject. You seem to have good experience and knowledge, thus my question.

Raymond