KLE Fork Change help
 

Hey all!

I have hit a small bump in my project of swaping the forks on my kle. I bought a set of wp43 forks and clamps, I also bought anothe OEM lower clamp to get the stem out and put it in KTM Clamps. But today I noticed that OEM stem is welded in place .

Any Ideas how deep the weld is? Can I just grind it off and press the stem out?
http://shrani.si/t/1X/bP/2xg4wuu6/img36161.jpg

Thanks!

Mill out a new stem for KTM tripples which accepts KLE bearings. I did that on my conversion. If you want schematics of my stem, I can send it to you.

I would like those schematics please.

I ground down the weld and took everything to my local mechanic to press it out. He has a industrial 250t press. Well lets just say that the end result wasn't what I expected :(:(, there goes 50€ down the drain.....
http://shrani.si/t/3N/5B/5iXha4J/img3617.jpg

Thanks for the help!

Don't worry. KTM tripples and new stem made from quality aluminum and you are good to go. You just need new steering head bearings.

Btw, you've got new mail :) .

Thank you very much, hopefully one day we meet and I can repay this with some bierbier

I don't have a KTM stem as I got the triples without it. I will get it made from inox or 7075 alu.
http://shrani.si/t/7/jB/43LKfw8B/img35991.jpg

Thanks again!

Better go with 7075 Alu, if you can find it. Also, you will probably have clearance issues between upper KTM tripple and those false air intake pipes around dashboard. You can freely remove them, they are for show only anyway.

Well, I handed over the plans to my father to take them to work and see what he can come up with, only time will tell.

I checked the air intakes and was thinking of heating them up and moulding them out of the way, if it won't work I will remove them.

With the stem out of thy way, thanks to you svestenik:thumbup1:, I can focus on the next important task- making a calliper bracket and wheel spacers.

I will update as soon as I have something to show or tell.

I'm watching this thread with interest, hope it all works well for you.

Southern Cross

Geez, you stalking me Wardy? :rofl:

And you just bought the bloody KLE, why would you want to swap the forks?
I thought you liked how much better it was exiting your driveway than the Strom is.

These "little" bikes do get under the skin huh? :mchappy:

Even though the only riding I will be doing on mine for the next ten days straight is to and from work doh I'm loving mine. :clap:

When I get a weekday off maybe we will do a coffee run with some easy dirt and nice winding tar.

bier
Ock.

Oh, and maybe a set of Yamaha legs would be an option [if there is something in the right diameter that is] :blushing:

Well since you mentioned Yamaha, my first option was a wr 426 forks and trees. Forks are 46mm which looked it would be the biggest I would go on KLE, but I couldn't find a good set, so I opted for WP43's. WP48 would be a bit of an overkill on KLE in my opinion, though the best preforming option of these three.

My first impressions riding the KLE ( I have owned it for just over 1 week) in respect to suspension is that it is nice and plush, it reminded me of my R1200 GS. I want nice plush suspension that gives me a good level of comfort on both gravel and less than good bitumen. For the moment I have no intention of changing anything until I have ridden enough miles, say 1000kms, and then evaluate.
I can't wait for my first road trip I might just shoot off one day this week and do a few hundred KMS.
Southern Cross

Hey!

Things on this project are moving along very slowly. Slower than I would want it to move. I have still not found the material for making a stem. No company wants to supply such small amount of aluminium.

The good news is that I have managed to find a set of head barrings from my local engineering shop. I have talked to the Kawasaki seller and he wanted 31€ per barring, that's 62€. To much for my taste. At the engineering shop I managed to get both for 35€.

They are FAG barrings, here are the OEM part numbers and dimensions:
92116-1009 BEARING-ROLLER,HR320/28XJ 28mm x 52mm x 17mm
92116-1052 BEARING-ROLLER,HICAP 32005JR 25mm x 47mm x 16mm
http://shrani.si/f/G/8F/GpMx53m/img3678.jpg

Progress
 

Hey all!

I know this thread was dead for a long time now but hopefully that will soon change.

I have been riding quite a lot so there was no time for wrenching, but I managed to do a few things. Mostly designing stuff for the conversion.

I have remade drawings of a stem that svestenik has sent me, thanks again mate, I have also made drawings for axle conversion from KTM (20mm/24mm) to KLE(15mm), inserts for top triple clamp and for handlebar mounts.

I still have to draw up wheel spacers, calliper bracket and ignition holder, but these will have to wait until I mount KTM forks on the bike.

http://shrani.si/f/A/hZ/2iH729nU/img3939.jpg

Now I only need to do is give some of the plans to my father and some to a friend that has CNC equipment and wait for parts to be made.

Cheers!

Progress!
 

Well... After a looooong time I have made some significant progress. Today at work I managed to get the stem made to fit KTM Applied racing clamps and KLE barrings and nuts. Here is the result:
http://shrani.si/f/40/Q8/9MoUK6j/imag0580.jpg

Pressed and glued the stem in the clamps and pressed on the bottom barring with a new seal:
http://shrani.si/f/2G/m8/27ApBrkt/imag0581.jpg

Now I only need to wait for wheel axle reduction kit (from KTM 20mm to KLE 15mm), than I can mount the wheel and figure out what kind of wheel spacers I need to centre the wheel in the forks.

Till next time!

P.S.: Sorry for bad quality pics!

EPIC! nice work Ghosty!

Thanks mate!

More parts coming in, I got axle inserts and top clamp insert. Due to really crappy weather :rain: here at my place, I am thinking of ripping the bike apart this week.

So here are the axle inserts that drop the size down from KTM to KLE:
http://shrani.si/f/v/gI/SBt8Rc3/img4111.jpg

And here is the top clamp insert:
http://shrani.si/f/3y/yG/rUY3K16/img4112.jpg

Now I only need to find a way to lift the bike up for the change, any ideas??:confused1:

Cheers!

Hey all!

Here are a few of my progress pictures:
http://shrani.si/t/1Z/45/8RsW18X/img4154.jpghttp://shrani.si/t/44/sP/2Iu2PoiM/img4159.jpg

But there is a slight problem. When I have installed a Kawasaki wheel in KTM forks, it all fitted like it was made to fit. And so I thought. After measuring the distance from each fork to the centre strip on the tyre I got 1mm off-set left-right. :eek1

Here is my question to you:

Can this 1mm of off-set cause any safety or handling issues?

Here is the picture:
http://shrani.si/f/2f/ko/eC8iqa0/offset.jpg

Thanks for your help!

Don't measure to centre of tyre.

Measure to the edge of the rim on each side [rotate your wheel slowly to check the rim is not buckled first though].

Sometimes a tyre can be mounted slightly off on a rim so your measurement may not be accurate that way.

I suspect such a small off centre amount will actually affect the ride or safety concerns, but only riding will tell for sure.

There are bikes out there with bent frames/misaligned forks/tyres not seated correctly that people ride every day without ever noticing something is off.

Also, while riding, a tyre flexes all over the place due to road surface irregularities.

I truly doubt you will even notice it is off.

What he says ^^

A tyre is not an 'accurate' measuring device in any situation...and tbh i wouldn't be worrying about a 1mm discrepancy at all.

http://shrani.si/f/1f/rD/23pElRvF/img4188.jpg

First test ride is done, I am super excited at how the bike feels and handles with WP43 forks, it's completely different bike to ride. So far I am happy with the conversion. I still have to fine tune compression and rebound dampening as I don't even know if both forks are set the same. Overall I am very happy how it all turned out and how the bike feels.

More info on how it all went down and more detailed picture will be posted in the coming days. Here is one more for tonight:
http://shrani.si/f/S/mb/1ngUsMR5/img4186.jpg

steerer stem dimensions
 

hi ghosty,
been looking through your thread with interest. I have a KLE500 and a set of Suzuki RMZ450 forks to retro fit to it.
I am lucky as I own a machine shop, so can make the parts necessary. TO save me time how-ever could you mail me the sizes (or the cad drawings) by PM.
any assistance would be good.
when I get mine done i'll post a thread.
bart

Hey!

Sure I can send you the CAD files, but let me inform you that these parts were especially drawn up for WP4357 forks and 00-03 Applied Racing billet triple clamps. So in effect they probably won't work with your RMZ450 forks and clamps. But if you are still interested, send me your mail in PM and I will sent them to you.

Cheers!

my steerer tube
 

hi ghosty,
thanks for the reply. I have blown up your pictures and taken all the dimensions I need from them. the RMZ forks have a steerer tube pressed (or heat shrunk) into them all ready. the diameters are bigger than those I need for the KLE bearing I.D's so I will simply turn them down to the correct sizes. have no fear, there is plenty of wall stock on the steerer tube as the inside diameter is 15mm.
In the real world, the bike / forks won't be taking the kind of hits an RMZ 450 is subjected to on the race track. I'm moving on quite quickly with mine, i'll post pictures as and when I can.

I also wanted to just turn down the KTM steering tube, but my clamps came without one so I had to made it from scratch. Good luck with your project and do show some pictures here.

Cheers!

Hi,

please check clearances between lower triple tree on RMZ450 forks and KLE 500 frame, you could loose a lot of steering circle.

I have at first mounted KTM forks on my KLE 500 and then curiosity got better of me and I mounted DRZ 400 front end on it. While KTM forks had enough clearance to achieve full steering lock, DRZ 400 lower triple hit the frame and left me with less than half of steering circle.

But, I am way more satisfied with the way bike handles with DRZ400 front end than with KTM front end, so I accepted steering circle problem as tradeoff. Now, I am looking into fitting DRZ400 rear swingarm and shock to KLE.

Make no mistake, both conversions I did are 10 times better than stock KLE suspension.

Regarding the steering stem, I have CAD drawings for steering stem that adapts factory Suzuki DRZ triples to KLE frame and bearings. I suppose that factory RMZ and DRZ stems are nearly identical, so you can use my drawings as template. Send me a PP with your email address if you need them.

I also made a new front wheel axle, to mate KLE 500 front wheel to DRZ forks, and mounted KLE front fender to it using jubilee clips.

Yea, turning radius is decreased with bigger diameter forks. I don't know exactly how much I have lost it but I sure did, I can feel it in the tight stuff.
Here is my total turn angle on the bars:
http://shrani.si/f/2j/E1/ahp7D3c/imag0157.jpg

And how much space I have between tank and top clamp (with custom frame stops):
http://shrani.si/f/24/ql/2CS1azzK/imag0158.jpg

Now a question, for those of you who have changed the forks:
Where the :censored: did you mount the ignition key switch? It's huge and I can't find any good spots for it.

Same space as before, both upper factory clamps I used (KTM and Suzuki) had threaded holes at the same location, so I fabricated two L brackets and mounted it. On my old KTM version, I even got the steering lock working, without any changes to mechanism.

^The Factory thing might be my problem. I guess I will have to make the entire bracket by myself. I was hoping to put it somewhere else on the bike but that thing is so HUGE :thumbdown:

Still consider it a small price to pay, compared with what you get :). Next project is finding a good rear shock. Tried with DRZ400 shock, but it is HUGE compared to KLE shock. Rear swingarm is too small to fit it. Might try Africa Twin shock next...

Could not have agreed more with you on this one :thumbup1:

Well, last weekend I have put the forks through some hard terrain and diverse riding conditions when attending a Croatian enduro event called Benduro 4. The front suspension handled really well, and soaked up the bumps without throwing me off course. At the end of the day there was still some room left to move on the forks and the wheel never hit the front fairing. Overall I couldn't be more happy with the front end of the bike, it was really worth all the work and money spent on it.
http://shrani.si/f/1x/pN/3nutQxPN/imag0182.jpg

There was approximately 40-50 mm of unused travel, which translates to around 250-260 mm of the 310 mm travel was used.

Unfortunately I have to sell my KLE so if someone is interested I am selling my USD conversion, you will get the whole kit forks, tripples, bearings, fork guards, all machined adapters, new bearings, ... A bolt-on to your KLE. More info and prices on private massage! Possible delivery with DHL/UPS/TNT,...

Regards

Pictures: WP43 forks on KLE | Adventure Dual Sport Riding

P.s: If anyone is interested in buying my KLE, it can also be arranged!

Hello MadM

Please shoot me a PM with more info & price...