Upside down forks
 

Hi all i've got bored so i have decided to plunge into fitting upside down forks to my xtx, i've just bought a set of yam wr 450 04 forks off E Bay for a bargain price of �90.00 delivered an they have just been serviced. being 04 forks they are 48mm instead of the early 46mm (bigger is better ha ha!) Now the fun will start! triple clamp mod's ie top clamp, fitting a ignition and properly stem hight on the lower clamp, then wheel spindle and spacer's and even caliper mount but no problem i have access to a lathe a:bricks:nd i do fabricating and welding for a living. i will post a progress report as i go with all the pitfalls!!!

Nice price mate, I will be watching with enthusiasm.

I once did my XT500 with a set of Suzuki RM250 forks & triple clamps looked the part back in the 80'S.

I pressed out the steering stem from the XT's triple clamp & like wise on the Rm's triple clamp, welded up the XT's stem & got it machined to fit the Rm's triple clamp. Quiet an easy mod. Let us know in detail what you end up doing.

You will also need to re-valve the front end for the road, if you need a workshop manual for the Wr 450 forks let me know.

mod to upside down forks
 

Hi Kev and thanks for your reply, i will post photos as i am going along with all the details, good idea with the stem! the re valve on the forks isn't a problem,because my friend kevin owns one of the best suspension businesses in the UK called KB suspension he works on the top supermoto boys suspension, as well as some of the top MX boys suspension. I will let you know how he re valves the forks, with compression and and rebound stack settings as well as spring rate's keep you posted
Adrian.

triple clamps
 

just an update on the upside down forks. I have just ordered from the states a set of YZF 250 05 trtiple clamps so i should be in buisiness in the next two weeks!!:glasses9:

Just Recived Forks
 

Hi just an update, i have received the wr450 forks today and fair play they are mint!! Now i am waiting for the triple clamps from the states. as soon as they arrive i can start the conversion!

We all watching this thread.

Indeed we are :)

Re Valve On Forks
 

Yes The Forks Have Been Taken To My Mate Kevin For Re Valving, I Will Post On The Forum Site What Spring Rates And What Size Shims And How Many On The Compression And Rebound Stack He Use's, I Will Post Some Photos Of The Forks Strip Down And The Full Rebuild Glassopper!!

Wrong triple clamps
 

Hi all sorry for the late posting on the upside down forks, i didn't do enough research on the forks!! I ordered a set of 05 yamaha YZF 250 triple clamps for my 04 WR 450 forks thinking that all the 48mm forks would be the same but oh no Yamaha decided that in 05 they would build twin chamber forks, which are about 1mm to 2mm fatter so my 05 triple clamps are now too big so now back to the drawing board i will get a set of 04 triple clamps!!

You could always weld up the triple clamps & machine them to the correct size.

forks
 

Hi Kev i could weld up the triple clamps and machine them down but, i could make a set of spacers made to fill in the gap but, the spacer on the bottom triple clamp would only have to be half a millimetre with the top one one mill thick!! What do you think?

Yerr I thought of a shim spacers.

You could use a product called shim stock. It is different thickness shim plate in many different sizes & thickness.

I would use stainless steel shim stock.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/0-5mm-METRIC-SHIM-STOCK-PLAIN-STEEL-6-INCH-WIDE-ROLL_W0QQitemZ140311764318QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_De faultDomain_0?hash=item20ab3b9d5e&_trksid=p3286.m2 0.l1116

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/301-Stainless-Steel-Shim-Stock-004-x-6-x-50_W0QQitemZ350189097302QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Defa ultDomain_0?hash=item5188e59156&_trksid=p3286.m63. l1177

shimming steel
 

Hi Kev thats what i thought. I should begin the conversion this week i will keep you up to date asap!!

upside down forks
 

Hi Kev ive been sold down the river on these forks!! I was told when i bought them they were off an 04 wr450 so thats why i ordered 04-05 triple clamps, the forks are off an earlier model so that's why the triple clamps are to big by 1mm on the bottom clamp and 2mm on the top clamp so i am going down the road of shim spacers!!

Glassoper take a look here

http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=8397&page=2

feel free to ask

I have done this mod on my 660r. Quite easy realy. If you need any advise just ask.

What parts were used, from which bike & model was the front end from, any photo's?

Hi mate, I am from Spain and I have a 2005 XTR660. I wanted to fit a higher and better front fork with minimum changes. I'd appreciate having more info from the change you have done, photos, if you changed the clamps, wheel, brake lever, etc. And your impressions in the handling.

Many thanks in advance! Cheers

F

love to know how you guys are going with fork mods. I have a set of non-USD forks back home but I dont know what they are off! someone told me they maybe from an xr600 or xr400, but i just dont know! they are 43mm dia and 970 long from the top nut on the upper tube to the bottom of the lower leg. disc bolts are 103mm apart, so are way wider than the xt caliper mounts. Ive been down this path before fitting different forks to other bikes, but its hard when I have the forks so far away from where I am now!

good luck with the mods and please get some pics up to show the progress!
cheers...

turn up some spacer sleeves