ZXR 400 Fork Seals

[Two Smoker]

Hey guys and girls,

Milky and I are working on his new ZXR400, we need to replace the fork seals, I was wondering if there is anything special that needs to be done or any specialist tools needed, also what weight oil does it use?? We dont have a manual so all help would be great

Cheers Two Smoker

[pete376403]

In the absense of anything better, Auto trans fluid (Dextron) works well in forks.
You need a manual, if only to find the correct way to establish the correct oil level.
Go have a look in the library, photocopy the pages you need

[Two Smoker]

Yeah we have looked for a manual, Haynes makes a manual, but it covers Kawasaki 4's 1979-1991 400cc-550cc, does this cover the ZXR400? Better yet does anyone on this site have a ZXR400 manual, and if so can we borrow it or you send us some info???????

Cheers for the help

[Posh Tourer :P]

That will cover the ZXR, but the issue is mainly that orderign that manual is a few days away, cos it doesnt come off the shelf at tech books in Newmarket. Might have to visit redbaron or something to see if they have a manual.....Does anyone know where else we could get one?

[pete376403]

did a yahoo search for ZXR400 service manual and got a few hits, a number of UK sites claimed to have manuals for the H adn L models on-line, but they 404ed when following the link. I did find these pics at a german ZXR400 site,

[Jackrat]

Maybe give Mt Eden motorcycles a ring an ask them.They have helped me out abit with that kind of thing.I also use auto trans fluid and I put in a bit more than the book say's.That's only with my bike of course,Old springs you see.

[Hoon]

Changing fork seals does require a special tool to compress the spring while you take off the locating nut on the inner rod (USD forks that is - not sure about non-USD forks). It can be done without it but you need a pretty well equipped garage to jimmy things up and another pair of hands otherwise you could damage the tubes.

[Two Smoker]

Milky's Dad is a BMW Motocycle Mechanic so we have a garage full of tools..... so hopefully it will be ok, we will do them either tonite or tmoro anything else to look out for?????

Cheers for the comments

[sedge]

Check out this guys site if you haven't, doesn't quite cover this, but quite a bit of other stuff for the zxr400 http://www.scotiaredd.btinternet.co.uk/html

[Milky]

Check out this guys site if you haven't, doesn't quite cover this, but quite a bit of other stuff for the zxr400 http://www.scotiaredd.btinternet.co.uk/html

First of all thanks for all the posts...

I did find that site early on in my travels through the internet, searching for info before i bought the bike, but thanks anyway

I have found a manual for loan out in Mt Albert library so i might pick that up tomorrow. ATM the bike is strung up with the forks out of the triple clamps - not quite ready to be worked on because i wasnt too sure on taking the front axle out - seemed awfully tight to me, but that may just be cos i havent had weetbix for a few years

I *might* start on it tomorrow after going in to see Mt Eden MC and checking what they say about the procedure, though i was kinda hoping KK or motoracer might be able to lend some experience on this as well - i assume you have done the seals before as both of you have had zxr400's. On the point of the spring compression, I have done quite a few normal (non USD) forks, and they were reasonably easy to work on... the only thing I had trouble with sometimes was retightening the locknuts in the base of the forks. This post was in part to find out if there was anything like that i needed to look out for before i jumped into dismantling them

On a side note, if anyone has a front indicator stalk for a zxr400 - or something that will fit off another model - and are willing to sell it, give me a pm sometime soon.

Thanks for your help so far...

[Redstar]

How did you get on?
zxr400.org.uk they have downloaded the entire Manual
the important point is to hold the bottom Allen bolt while undoing the top or the botom bolt comes out and it it not poss to get it back in!
Spectrum did mine $60 side worth it.
Ps check for pits in the crome on the inside of the leg otherwise you will need to do it all again. Them pit can be just tiny (rub down with fine wet/dry paper
wash with sprit,fill with araldite and rud down If the pits are at the travel end think about adjusting the damping to keep away from the pit under brakes
so long as you dont mind harder suspension.
You can recrome the Legs if your rich

[Milky]

How did you get on?
zxr400.org.uk they have downloaded the entire Manual
the important point is to hold the bottom Allen bolt while undoing the top or the botom bolt comes out and it it not poss to get it back in!
Spectrum did mine $60 side worth it.
Ps check for pits in the crome on the inside of the leg otherwise you will need to do it all again. Them pit can be just tiny (rub down with fine wet/dry paper
wash with sprit,fill with araldite and rud down If the pits are at the travel end think about adjusting the damping to keep away from the pit under brakes
so long as you dont mind harder suspension.
You can recrome the Legs if your rich

I was flummoxed by the bottom allen-head bolt. It seemed to suggest on the diagrams from that german site that it was a left hand thread, so I tried loosening it that way but the allen key bent more than the bolt rotated. The top nut that locates the damping/pretension adjuster on the slider was easy enough to remove but then i didnt know where to go next. None of the bike shops would help for obvious reasons and the specifics I was after didn't come from ppl on this site, so in the end I gave up and got it done by Mt eden ($95 including oil for both forks - about 1.5hrs labour they said).

I have done the staunchions with a fine stone and some 400 then 600 wet and dry paper. seemed to work well enough. I did think of the araldite idea, but i was concerned about there being sharp edges on the glue where it joined the chrome. Maybe if I sanded it back enough it would be ok.... I dunno... Not having any markings on the forks doesnt help for the damping adjustment, so I am not sure if the settings are the same at the moment :s

I really dont think there is a chance of the last point happening... me being rich for one I talked to a couple of guys who said dont bother with rechroming - NZ guys dont generally do a good job - could be untrue, but I aint spending the $$$ to find out

[Milky]

I cant seem to find the zxr400.org.uk site - do you have the actual url?

[Redstar]

Um i might have got the sithe wronge try zxr400.co.uk
you will need to register then go to the downloads section

[_Gina_]

Stify just did my fork seals for me.

Mt Eden supplied 15W and it seemed a bit stiff, and after talking to Shaun at Manfield, he seemed clear that 5W was standard and that was why the shocks were a bit stiff (slow to return).

We have a downloaded manual - I will check with stify and get him to send the link.


Gg