K0 Fork Rebuild/Upgrades?

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buzzbomb

New Member
Greetings - this is my first post. My name is Kirk, and I am from Atlanta, GA. I've been working on scooters and motorcycles for quite a few years, but have not worked on a CT since I was....oh, 15 I guess?

Anyways here is the deal - a fellow my wife works with brought me a CT70 (1971 K0) in actually pretty good shape and asked me to get it in good shape for him and his kids. As I'm inspecting the bike I noticed the front shocks are just....well, like springs. Almost no dampening at all.

I've searched the forums and was not able to find an answer. So I'll admit I am at a stopping point with the front end. I've tried to disassemble the forks to replace the seals, but now I'm not even sure if these forks come apart?

I've removed the upper clamps, ears, and of course the wheel and such - I don't see any way to pull the fork tubes out of the connection to the lower clamps - even though I removed the lower clamp bolt from each side. The last bolt that could be removed was at the bottom of the fork, and then nasty oil comes out - so maybe these ARE hydraulic forks?

Basically I've worked on enough bikes to know that when you DON'T know, best to ask the experts. My questions are this:

Are the fork tubes removeable?
Are they rebuildable?
Is it worth it to rebuild them, or are they still basically springs with friction dampening?
Can I upgrade to Z50 style hydraulic forks if not?

Also I'd like thoughts on the following Ebay auction I saw. $200 for the forks (what about the lower clamp??), disc assembly, master cylinder, and even two (nitrogen filled?) rear shocks. Now they are Chinese, and working on scooters and motorcycles I've found about 99% of parts from China to be absolute crap - but as I said, this is kind of a new thing for me.

Here is the auction I am referencing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ct70...798QQitemZ290093904798QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Thanks for any help, guys.

Kirk
 
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buzzbomb

New Member
Doh! Two major faux pas for the first time poster - not searching well enough, and responding to your own post.

I saw that the disc kit seems to be an OK fit as long as you're ready to either buy the lower clamps or bore your existing ones. Neither seems unreasonable - is my thinking correct here?

Also I noticed pictures of a K0 (which this bike I am working on is) however I noticed the K0 lower clamp is basically metal welded around the fork tubes - the forks on this bike seem removeable as there is a bolt on each side of what looks to be a clamp - but these puppies will NOT budge of of that lower clamp no matter what I do.

Again, my apologies - and any guidance here is greatly appreciated.

Kirk
 
makotosun

makotosun

Member
Several folks here, myself included, have purchased that front end from Dex, and some have also gotten the rear shocks. I just got the front end. I believe there is a thread (search for disk front end, and DEX) for a full discussion. Dex had some delivery issues at one time, but I always got what I requested. Sometimes he was a bit slow. Best thread is here: https://lilhonda.com/index.php?threads/disc-brake-upgrade.1040/

Installed it looks like this:

The disk front end is not really bad, and is quite good value for the money. Mine is making a small amount of noise, but I have not chased the problem yet. It seems to be almost a bearing noise, if so, I am probably in trouble. Note that the forks will not accept the stock axle so you cannot get them and use your old hub. However, Dex also sells just the replacement shocks for the standard front end, and there are a couple of others who do too.

These forks WILL be an upgrade from the KO forks, and are actually quite an upgrade from mine which is a '72. Issues you will have: 1. Get the bottom clamp. It is cheap compared to trying to bore out your old. If yours is welded to the tubes, you will need a bottom clamp anyway. 2. The stock speedo cable will not work, so you will have to fab up something from a universal type. I was able to adapt a yamaha cable - it is in another post.

I am not sure if your forks are "rebuildable", as I believe the first ones really were just a spring setup. The later ones, pre 1980, were still pretty basic, and the true hydraulic modern style came later. Someone else can let you know more on that part.
 
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Dan_Lorenze

Dan_Lorenze

Member
buzzbomb said:
I saw that the disc kit seems to be an OK fit as long as you're ready to either buy the lower clamps or bore your existing ones. Neither seems unreasonable - is my thinking correct here?
Kirk
Click to expand...

Kirk, you are correct! You will have to either bore your existing lower clamp or buy the lower clamps to accept the new style 27mm forks. Remember, you'll also have to figure out a way to use some type of fork ear so that you can mount the headlight. It's all about what you want to do with the bike, if you want to keep the bike as close to stock you could always rebuild them. www.hondanuts.com has good deals on rebuild kits, the cheapest I've seen... Good luck with the bike..
 
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buzzbomb

New Member
OK, then - if I go the rebuild route, how exactly do the fork legs come off of the lower clamp? Anyone?

Hey, I dont really care if they stay on. How do I disassemble them?
 
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