Picked up a 636 the other day.
Noticed the forks were empty and fluid everywhere.
Began swapping out the seals but after expelling the air w/ new fluid it started leaking, not from the seal but from the bottom of the inner fork tube!! Putting the fork in a vise and rocking the bottom of the fork, while holding the inner fork tube I saw a gap between the inner fork tube and bottom of the fork (whatever its called). Is this a common problem with kawasaki?? A local shop here said the inner tube is pressed in at the factory and there's nothing i can do.
Im guessing if the problem got bad it might have something to do with people breaking fork tubes like Ryan from Div1. A friend of mine had a set of forks but they were leaking too. Checked em out and they had the same problem.
This **** should be a factory recall or something.
Can they be re-pressed in or something.
Anyhow if you have any advice from experience Id be happy to here it.

 

those rims r lookin gangster!! why don't u reply to my pm hooker

 

the o town boys told me that this happens alot....

are you sure there isnt a bolt on the bottom of the fork tube ?

take the front wheel off and look straight up thru the bottom of the brown part ,i know gsxr forks have a bolt there ...........

let me know if there is or isnt

 

are those 06 rotors ?

i noticed the caliper spacers

 

The picture isnt from my bike its just for a visual.
Yeah theres a bolt on the bottom but it only seperates the inner rod and parts from the inner tube but not the tube from the bottom axle part. I heard a few people had problems with these front ends breaking. Damn this sucks.

 

well my buddy had a gsxr that just puked out all the fork oil and we tightened that bolt on the bottom and it was good to go with just some new fork oil

 

mmmm
I could be wrong with the bolt on the bottom but I'll give it a try since if not its a worthless inner tube. Thanks for the help.

 

let me know if it works ,i have an 03 636

 

your correct, there is nothing u can do that i kno of..they are pressed in from the factory...at least from what im told...same thing happened to my old set of forks at the end of last season...

 

Really? damn
Did they just leak or break?? Were you coming down hard or just after riding it alot it developed the problem?? Did both forks go bad or just one??

 

Fork bottoms thread onto the tubes their not pressed on

 

mine didnt break, just leaked like a mutherfocker...but they were my orignal forks on my 03 so it was ALOT of riding, rob aourn 20k miles plus the last 1 1/2 years of hardcore stunting not to mention im a big guy, 6'6 275 so im sure all of that had a lil summin to do with it....and it wasnt both my forks just the left one if ur sittin on the bike...

 

There not pressed in!!?? So are they fixable? Can I keep the bottom piece and replace the inner tube?? Is there a gasket/washer between the two?? Have you had this problem and fixed it??

 

my left tube is bad too, atleast so far. This bike is tuff to withstand that much from a big guy. Well hopefully when its fixed or replaced it should last a long time, specially since Im only like 180lbs. thanks for the info.

 

Every USD fork Ive worked on or seen dissasembeled the fork bottoms thread onto the tubes. On most there is a set screw, sealing compound on the threads, even an O-ring at the bottom...If yours are leaking there they must have came loose, problem is due to them being loose and all the pressure that put in that area, you brobably warped the hole and threads in the fork leg so their probably fucked by now.....I have never had forks leak there but I have removed and reinstalled the bottoms for polishing or powder coating the bottoms, or to have the fork leg coated with a non sitck coating(gold or carbon nitrate like Ohlins or newer forks with black bottoms).......

You can buy a new fork leg but they come with the bottoms already attached, and each side is $300 retail from a dealer, so your better off just gettting a used set of forks...... .

 

I have a junk set of 636 forks at my house that I can experiment with if I get some time tonight or tomorrow, but i doubt ill get to it until next week.

The bolt in the bottom holds the inners n place, and ahs nothing to do with the lower leg.

There is a set screw on the 636 bottom part, if i can get that set screw out i will try to unscrew the inner tube from the bottom part.

I agree with Johnny, best bet would be to just buy a set of used forks, i know Wheeliest had a set for sale...

 

that i do. im liquidating now people.. check the damn classifieds

 

What is the size of the 03/04 636 forks?

and the 05/06?

 

i dunno, same dia for tripples& clip-ons, but 05 stem is shorter and 03-04 forks are 30 1/2 inchs from bottom to fork cap

 

ps, those are aftermarket 05+ rotors.. in that picture with 03 wheel and forks...