XR600 fork swap worth doing?

[spomey]

I have a 1992 cr500 CHASIS and a 1998 XR600 tht runs awesome.  Just wondering if there is any benefit in putting the cr5 front forks (upside down ones) in place of the conventional forks?

 

worth the hassle?

[Backwoods-Bomber]

They will feel more rigid and planted but forks have come a long way since 1992, do yourself a favor and pick up some crf twin chamber forks to make the time and money worth while. At very least find some kayabas off a late 90's or early 2000's cr. With my usd swap, the cost was almost all hidden in the little things needed to do it right. By the time it was all said and done spending another $100 to get way better forks is a smart move over saving some bucks on older model parts. I realize that you already have most of the required parts but I would bet you could sell a cr500 rolling chassis for enough to buy a nice set of 2004 or newer crf250r forks and some conversion bearings. Heck, you might even get enough to buy a complete front end with wheel and brakes!

[davek18]

Almost any forks are an improvement.  I have had both XR400 and CR125 forks on my bike.  The 400's were near bolt ons, as were the CR forks, I did have to do a little to mount the gauges and wheels and such, but not too painful.  Both were great improvements but I did do a re-spring on them.  That is the single most important factor on any forks, and shocks.  The 400 forks were revalved and worked so well that I almost didn't go through the trouble of mounting the CR USD's.  I finally did do it and with a respring and revalve they are much better yet.  i can't believe the difference in rigidity and compliance compared to the conventionals.  It always seemed with the standard forks that you were just kind of feeding inputs and the bike would do what it felt.  I thought it had an automatic rut finder on the trail because it would always drop into one no matter haw hard I tried to avoid it.  Now I can ride right on the edge of one and not fall in if I choose too.  The front wheel stays right where you put it instead of deciding for you.

 

I think the 500 forks will almost bolt right on too, may even be able to use your wheel and brakes with a bearing change.  They will be so much better than what you have at very little cash outlay.  With a little re-sping and re-valving they will be plenty good.  As BB said, better forks would be good, do your homework and shop.  You might be able to sell the roller and have enough to buy newer forks, but adaption costs money too.  In either case a re-spring will be needed.

[heart_of_darkness]

I think those 1992 forks use the later stem bearings, which will be just as expensive to convert as later (and much better) forks. It was only about the 89 and maybe 90 CR forks that use the same bearings as the XRs.

CRX450X forks are probably the best bolt on forks, in terms of design and spring rate and valving.

Edited April 10, 2015 by heart_of_darkness

[nailit69]

I've got a '95 XR600 and a set of '97 CR USD forks... what are the chances those two will play together nicely?

Edited December 6, 2015 by nailit69

[heart_of_darkness]

The All Balls website has a bearing conversion database.

[Backwoods-Bomber]

I've got a '95 XR600 and a set of '97 CR USD forks... what are the chances those two will play together nicely?

Your choices are simple, conversion bearings, conversion stem and stock xr bearings, conversion triples or custom machining of various combinations of stock parts.

Conversion bearings sound great but are not the best choice imo due to thin races and low quality seals. The next swap I do will be with an emig conversion stem.

[nailit69]

@Backwoods... It has a TAG Metals upper triple and what appears to be a stock lower triple complete with all the nuts, bearings, seals, axle and hardware for $125... appears to be in excellent shape.  What did you have to work with and where did you get parts for your conversion? 

 

The guy I got them from was going to do the swap on his CR500 but never got around to it and just wanted to recoup his investment.

[Backwoods-Bomber]

@Backwoods... It has a TAG Metals upper triple and what appears to be a stock lower triple complete with all the nuts, bearings, seals, axle and hardware for $125... appears to be in excellent shape. What did you have to work with and where did you get parts for your conversion?

The guy I got them from was going to do the swap on his CR500 but never got around to it and just wanted to recoup his investment.

I used 08 crf250 triples, 06 cr125 forks and all balls conversion bearings.

So, what bike are the triples intended for? Cr500? Cr250?I dont know if those are the same in the aluminum frame versions. The bearings and seals that come on the forks will not work. Keep in mind you will need to buy a brake caliper, caliper bracket, front wheel with rotor and fork guards to make it work. You will also lose your speedo/odometer drive if that matters to you. I'm not trying to be a wet blanket on the idea, just trying to make sure that you understand that $125 is just the starting point and that this will cost some cash in the end to be done right. Like I said above, start with the best forks you can afford and go from there, not just ones that appear to be a good deal.

Assuming that they are 97 cr250/125 triples and you want to use them, you can buy conversion bearings and spacers from allballs racing or a conversion stem from emig.

[notoriousE-R-I-C]

$100 for the machine work. Less than 10 bux in metal. I make a new stem.

Example.

This is a honda vfr frame with a yamaha r1 front end. The stem bought was machine exactly like the r1 only at the bottom inch of the rod to get pressed into the r1 lower triple. The rest of the stem was machined to match the vfr stem. Now the vfr bearings fit and are the correct distace apart. Where the races in the frame are. Then the two sets of threads on top. R1 bolted onto my vfr frame like it was made that way in the factory. Then i just bolted on r1 brakes and wheel.

I can put any front end on any bike.

My 95 xr600 has an r1 front end on it...i love it. I would definitely change to mx forks if i rode dirt on it more. I still have the stock forks. Rebuilt and oilless. Just sittin there.

Edited December 7, 2015 by notoriousE-R-I-C

[nailit69]

@Backwoods... The forks are supposed to be from a 1997 CR250 and are 100% complete minus the caliper.  So if I can get the stem from emig, can I then use the XR bearings and races?  Sounds like a no brainer to me... and didn't you say this is how you would do it?  I want strong, reliable and want it to look like it's supposed to be there.  I'm not opposed to spending money to get this done and done right... I don't want to blow $1,000 but if it costs me less than $500, i'm all in.

 

@Notorious...  That's kind of how I think, if I need it and can't find it or afford it, I make it.  My future son-in-law is a CNC guy... I can probably have something made.

 

Now, a question for both of you... is it possible to machine the lower triple to accept the XR stem thus retaining the XR stem and original bearings?

[heart_of_darkness]

Reread some of the above responses. It'll be a similar cost for most USD conversions, so you'll want to get the best possible forks. 1997 forks are better than stock, but not as good as later forks. I've gotten several sets of later model forks/ triples from ebay or craigslist for $150 or $175. Assume that every used set will need a standard rebuild, which is easy to do yourself.

The later model stem uses bearings with larger OD and ID, and also larger stem diameter where it goes through the triples. Also the stem is slightly longer.

Edited December 7, 2015 by heart_of_darkness

[notoriousE-R-I-C]

@Backwoods... The forks are supposed to be from a 1997 CR250 and are 100% complete minus the caliper. So if I can get the stem from emig, can I then use the XR bearings and races? Sounds like a no brainer to me... and didn't you say this is how you would do it? I want strong, reliable and want it to look like it's supposed to be there. I'm not opposed to spending money to get this done and done right... I don't want to blow $1,000 but if it costs me less than $500, i'm all in.

@Notorious... That's kind of how I think, if I need it and can't find it or afford it, I make it. My future son-in-law is a CNC guy... I can probably have something made.

Now, a question for both of you... is it possible to machine the lower triple to accept the XR stem thus retaining the XR stem and original bearings?

[notoriousE-R-I-C]

Machine the lower triple? I wouldnt. Nothing is "changed" on my bike. I can bolt evrything stock back on. If you bought another triple maybe id do it. But its easier for me to machine a shaft than machine the hole. The stem on your new setups triple may be long enough. The bearings and nuts on top just need to fit. I machined the r1 stem for the vfr and it was a half inch too short. So i bought a new longer alum rod and lathed it. Cheap and easy if you know a good machinist which i do.

But if the xr stem is too diameter thin at the base, you can weld around it to thicken diameter. Then have it lathed smooth. I forgot how the xr stem is but the r1 has a snap ring so i had a groove machined in for it. If the xr stem diameter is too big at the base. Just lathe it down to fit.

Those bolt on and changeable bearing kits are cool.

I can do it for less than 500. You can too.

[nailit69]

That's kind of what i'm thinking... I don't want to change anything so it can be returned to stock easily if I need to.

 

There is a stem in it now that I can only assume is from a CR250... it's a Honda for Honda swap... so did they use different stems for ea. frame, model and year or just a few that were used according to bike frame and size?  Once I open it up it'll be clear what exactly i'll need to do.

 

I'll have it over here in a few days and can start measuring things up... I don't really want my bike to be down during the swap so I might need to disassemble and reassemble a couple of times before I can get the parts I need to do the conversion.

[davek18]

I always had the thought of being able to go back to stock easily if I decided to, but in the end once done there was no way in hell I had any desire to do that, rather instead worked on improving or revalving what I now have. 

 

A lot of the Honda stems are similar length but different sizes.  Check All Balls site and there is a conversion bearing list showing bike and stem combinations.  With a little comparison you can see if the bearings you have are the same as the conversion or not.  I was able to use a CR 125/250/500 stem on my XL with one bearing swapped to put on 46mm USD forks.  The All Balls chart will give you stem size but not length, but Honda to Honda is usually pretty close that way.

[notoriousE-R-I-C]

I always had the thought of being able to go back to stock easily if I decided to, but in the end once done there was no way in hell I had any desire to do that, rather instead worked on improving or revalving what I now have.

A lot of the Honda stems are similar length but different sizes. Check All Balls site and there is a conversion bearing list showing bike and stem combinations. With a little comparison you can see if the bearings you have are the same as the conversion or not. I was able to use a CR 125/250/500 stem on my XL with one bearing swapped to put on 46mm USD forks. The All Balls chart will give you stem size but not length, but Honda to Honda is usually pretty close that way.

Which bearing was it Dave? Top or bottoom? Id imagine honda dirt bikes have similar distance bearing to bearing. Too long you can use washers. Too short you gotta make a new stem.you want the threads right. That nut under the triple then the nut above the triple.

I had this switchable cause this is my only street legal dirt bike. So if i ever went on enduro on/off road rides id swap. Cant hit dirt with street tires. Done it. Wont do it again. But the serious off roading i did id rather be on my light snappy 4 stroke mx bike. Long trips and trails. Double track. Id go back to stock. My rear shock is still stock. Just revalved and resprung for street riding.

But my the xr6 is my street bike. Itll stay that way. Im not riding dirt yet. And im not even riding much on street anymore.

[nailit69]

I always had the thought of being able to go back to stock easily if I decided to, but in the end once done there was no way in hell I had any desire to do that, rather instead worked on improving or revalving what I now have. 

 

I doubt i'll ever go back either... just want to have them in case I or someone else ever REALLY wants to return it to stock.  I bought this thing from the original owner and he said he bought it new in '95, rode it for less than 1,500 miles by his best estimates before buying a BMW adventure bike... it still had the original air filter, tires and chain all in decent shape (got all the original paperwork too)... the chain is/was still like new but I put a new one on anyway.  This is the closest thing to a new bike i've ever had and now that I can "afford it" (ya right) i'm gonna build the baddest bike i've ever owned.  I've only had it a few months.

Edited December 8, 2015 by nailit69

[nailit69]

Well, I checked out the All Balls website/conversion page and the forks are compatible and they do have the bearings and seals for $29 ea., top and bottom bearings are the same, i'll have to check the length of the stem to see if it's long enough.  I think i'll go ahead and order them on payday... unfortunately my "disposable income" has been disposed of this week.

 

So since my bike ('95) and the forks ('97) are only 2 model years apart does anyone know off hand if my wheel, caliper, and rotor will work or should I be looking for a CR setup?  They both look identical but I haven't done a side by side comparison.

Edited December 8, 2015 by nailit69

[DamnitJuice]

I'm doing the USD swap to a 96 xr600r as well, I already had a complete front end and wheel from an 05 crf250r. All I needed was the conversion parts. Emig is $140 for the stem, all balls is $30 ea for the 2 bearings, so I went with all balls. After I purchased the bearings I found out that XRs only is also making a conversion stem for only $90.

The mechanic that is supposed to be found the work for me might end up doing the ball and not being anything done, of that's the case I may return the all balls and go with the XRs only stem.