Lowering kz400 forks????

hey guys, ive been paroosing around this site for a while now, and finally feel the need to ask my first question..Im wondering if the process of lowering the forks on a 78kz400 is the same as say a cb350? i have searched a bunch of forums and cant find any information on the kz forks....any input would be greatly apperciated.


thanks in advance

I'm not sure how it works on the CB350 but I can tell you how it works on the kz400 - I'm sure they're similar though.

optional but recommended step: depending on how long it has been since your forks have been out you may need to remove the front wheel and the front fender and brace so you can twist the forks to get them loose from the clamps. And this will allow you to do one side at a time.

If you don't remove the front tire and fender and brace then you'll have to do both sides at the same time and you may need to get help from someone to hold the back of the bike down while on the centerstand or hold the forks in the new position while you tighten them.

Loosen the two bolts on each side that clamp on the forks - one on the top yoke and one on the bottom. You may need to twist the forks a bit to get them loose or try tapping the forks to get them loose.

Then just push them up through the top yoke as much as you desire and retighten the clamps. Make sure both sides are the same.

I moved mine down about 3/8" and it looks like the most you'll be able to move them down is about an inch when using any kind of traditional handlebars. If you go with clipons you could go more though.

thanks diggerdanh


i now notice that i was not to specific in my first post. Im looking to lower them internaly not just raising them through the tripple trees.


So i guess thats my "reivised" question......How do you lower them Internally?

lowering them internally is pretty easy and cheap- one 3/4" copper coupling per side. I did it on my forks when I replaced the fork seals.

My bad, I was so happy that I thought I could answer a question that I just blurted it out as quickly as I could without thinking about the real question!


I like the copper coupling trick. I wish I would have found that before I replaced my seals and boots a few weeks ago.

Yeah copper piece works great, I also used a 1/2"PVC coupling on top of the spring to tighten them up (can you tell I like Home Depot plumbing section), bike handles much better now.

so the copper piece is the length of spring you cut of the top spring? just trying to put 2+2 together. after seeing some of the internal parts of the kz forks, it looks pretty similar to the cb forks.


thanks again for the help

No cutting the springs, just put the copper piece in, add spacer at top to stiffen spring if you want, and reassemble. I never cut the springs.

ok awesome. one last question just to clarify....whatever size spacer you put in, is the amount to lower it? cause i need to drop these bad boys like 4 inches..haha call me crazy but im doing it

Just measured last night to confirm, length of spacer was how much it dropped it. No idea what will happen if you run longer spacers, probably will decrease your suspension travel (these forks did not have a ton to begin with). I lowered mine the length of spacer plus an inch in trees. Good luck, love to see how it turns out.

definitly will post up some pics as soon as i get a day off to work on this dang thing!


thanks again for the input.