Not sure if there’s been any action on this since the whole thread/argument posted a while back but I figured I would post my intentions... Have the bike on a stand to check valves (over 15k on it- it’s time) noted slop in the steering bearings... yay me! Top of the list of things I CANNOT STAND about the Terra is the front fork. I’ve found better forks on Chinese pit bikes Well, not quite... but it’s the worst I own by a wide margin. So off it comes, in the bin. Ebay provided me with a Kayaba off of a 2002 YZ426... along with the front wheel, caliper, axle. All arrived last week while I was gone on business. Before I left I removed the triple and machined the lower 1mm larger. Well I didn’t, but the machinist at work did. Next week I’m hoping to pop new seals into the fork and some fresh oil. Leaving the travel as is (50mm too much) as I’m curious about raising the front of the bike slightly anyhow... leaving the stock springs in the new fork. I’ve got room under my bars to slide the tubes up a bit, I’m shooting for 25mm. The axle I got with it is missing the nut so I’ve gotta find one of those. No big deal. I’ll machine spacers to CENTER the wheel cause if it’s not dead nuts it’ll drive me crazy. That’s going to necessitate making modificatioms to either the Yamaha caliper (possibility) or I’ll end up making an adapter to use the factory parts.. OR (best of both worlds) I’ll put the husky disk onto the Yamaha hub and go with the (arguably, I get it) better front braking setup, but getting rid of the husky front wheel (JUNK) and losing 5lbs in the process. There’s a fresh set of Mitas E-07’s to go on once it’s all set to go... undecided as to how I’ll set the sag right off the bat and that may just be a trial and error type scenario. Should be fairly straightforward work and I know it’s been covered before in the past- but in case I stumble onto something interesting to share I’ve started this as a way to arrange my random thoughts. And I’m bored sitting on a flight home from a 10 day work trip to South Florida so I’ve got a case of “fork swap fever”
Forgot... need to order a longer brake hose. Gonna use the stock master cylinder in either scenario so that won’t get ordered till I hammer out which caliper I’m using.
Hey Kyle, thanks for sharing your thoughts and progress on this. I have nothing to add but am keen to see how this goes. I was considering an 800GS front end with the Ohlins NIX fork cartridges, but your solution looks much more affordable. Would be nice if the Ohlins cartridge fit straight into our forks. It will be the first thing I test out when i get the time. http://advrider.com/index.php?threa...cartridge-kits-bmw-f800gs-kyle-racing.925764/
Ouch... $1461. I don’t know much about the suspenders that come on the F800 but my guess is that you’re starting with a substantially better piece of kit. I’ve had Marzocchi on my gas gas and loved that fork. Also have had good experience with a WP on my ktm. That being said, I LOVE the Sachs fork on my Beta- but it’s a far cry from the bottom feeder on the TR! You can do this swap for far less, the guys who have done them have nothing but good things to say about them and you can buy the caliper bracket/axle/spacer from CH member Aquatic- he does a beautiful job on the parts. My guess is you could get the job done for about half of the F800 swap- not including getting your hands on an F800 fork though! Only reason I’m going it alone is that I’ve got the mill/lathe/raw materials at my disposal (along with a big new 3D printer if needed- but doubt that’ll be necessary) and I like learning from making mistakes...
Hey Kyle I supplied parts for a BMW/Kayaba conversion here in Aus. The customer kept the Yamaha front wheel and axle. But used the BMW caliper and disc. I machined the disc to suit the Yamaha hub and it lined up perfectly with the Ratel hanger and OEM caliper. The wheel is only slightly off center.(to the caliper side) See here You can see how the disc has been modified TR forks are wider apart. So if you go this route you will have add some spacing to shift it to the centre.
That’s AWESOME!! Man... your caliper bracket is beautiful as well. You got any of those on the shelf?
I did this swap and used the stock husky brake line . You will love the front end when it’s done. . I left my wheel off center and I can’t feel anything different. The kayaba forks sag more than the stock ones so you may end up with the same ride height, mine sits on the kick stand the same way as stock with the forks to the top of the triples. I have 3 k on my swap. I also would like to mount the stock rotor and caliper , although the stock Yamaha works well I was looking into a larger rotor as used in the super Moto setup. What is the part number for the Ratel hanger and source?
If Aquatic has the caliper hanger I’ll most likely go that route, it’s a nice looking part. If he doesn’t I’ll get to making one when I’ve got a minute. I’m absolutely modifying the stock disk as he did above... was going to use the Yamaha components and I believe they’d stop her just fine but when I have all the parts side by side in my garage the YZ disk/caliper is so much smaller. I figure, I’ve got the ability to use the one I want so I might as well do the extra work up front.
Ive had Aquatics part on my bike for probably 2 years now with the KYB conversion. It works really well but yeah you will probably have trouble with that moto cross bike brake. I tried it for a few months and then had a custom axle made up so I could use the terra wheel and the big disc. Aquatic was doing some axle kits as well, not cheap but worth every penny if he has some. If you go the hog and have the forks shortened and put correct springs in you will have a night and say improvement to the bikes preformance.
