Front Forks

[Snow Drifter]

Thanks,
Both of you great info and really good idea about those rivets! I think that is where the noise is coming from.
Snow

[Troll]

  The problem with the forks on the Kawasakis, in general, is that they have no fork oil drains. The only real good way to get all the old fish oil out is by removing and inverting the fork, and leaving it for a while. Factory manual recommends disassembly and draining the lower legs. I did this last winter, putting in the P.S. springs...what a difference...I used Dexron 3 auto trans fluid in the fork, ( I know what it says in the manual, but I've been using atf for more than 30 years in all my hydraulic forks, never been disappointed, yet) set to the specified level (The instructions with the springs are ok, and will give you a decent idea) I have about 3500 miles on so far this year, and everything is working great. As far as the noise you are hearing, check to see if the rivets holding your front fender to the internal bracket haven't gotten loose, especially the top ones. I replaced my upper rivets 2x in 12,000 miles due to rattle noises. When I bought the bike, the fender was very sloppy, and then 12,000 miles later, I noticed that the fender was loose on the top, again. I put in 6mm stainless button head screws in place of the top rivets. I tapped the inner bracket for the screws, and then put a little blue loc-tite on the threads, ran them in tight, put a little more blue on the threads, put a 6mm nut on them, tightened that, and then ground the part of the screw that was sticking out off flush with the nut. The whole thing is the same height as the rivet, and a lot stronger.

[griz01]

Best way I found to do front fork oil

http://www.gadgetjq.com/fork_oil_change.htm

[Snow Drifter]

Hey folks,
The front is sounding a little rattley and kind of springing on dirt/bumpy roads. What oil are you supposed to put in the shocks? It isn't leaking anywhere but I'm thinking the level may be low and I want to have some oil on hand before checking.
Thanks in advance for any info.
Snow