ZX10r - DLC forkleg coating (warranty issue)

[Bionic]

On the question of fork tubes Has anyone ever got theirs recromed before? IF so How much does it usually cost?

[mike-s]

i've heard figures from as little as 150 up to about 300, thats of course if you give them the bare fork itself and they dont have to do any (dis)assembly work.

[krusty]

good news

Kawasaki Australia has approved the replacement of the lower fork leg - i got the expected "corrosion from cleaning products" question, but thankfully it is the left leg only. 3 week wait for part. Yay

Jas.

They will probably put new fork oil in the fork being fixed, make sure they put fresh stuff in the other fork as well.

[Afrodesia]

Well the 10 is finally in the shop getting its new leg, so from time of notifying Kwak to now has been about 8weeks...
Being new to warranty claims, this sounds similar to the scary stories jap bike owners tell their children about the horrors of owning italian ;p Though i have heard these stories about rare parts like oil filters

I guess tomorrow arvo Ill discover if my bike still handles - though part of the approved claim included time and materials to change oil / balance both forks. Fingers crossed.... for some reason im troubled by this little job.. grr

Jas.

[ZZRCHIKKY]

just woundering how its a big deal like what does it do ??? or is it just to please the eyes ?

[mike-s]

Basically as you ride along your fork leg travels in and out of a "fork leg seal" (and a dust seal that sits external to that) that is made of rubber and is spring loaded by, well, a spring.

The smooth surface of the hard chrome coated fork leg* combined with the seals allows the varied travel that a fork experiences to occur without you loosing fork oil out of the seal (the weakest point in this equation).

Where things start going pear shaped is when you get "pitting" or erosion on the fork leg (be it via stone chips on the chrome, rust making a pit worse, or in this case, a faulty finish) as it allows the fork seal to basically get torn apart.

In this case though as the surface is stuffed so low on the leg, its more of a superficial "on principle" issue and wouldn't likely affect anything other than the appearance.

*hint* if you ever get a stone chip on your fork a handy hint is to get 1200 and then 2000 grit went and dry and then sand at the specific spot (first dry, then wet) to smooth out the edges on the pitting and reduce possible seal damage. It still doesnt beat getting the legs pulled apart and getting a grind and re-chrome, but it is a feckload cheaper!!!

*Very few places actually do hard chroming, i made a few enquiries and then gave up on a rechrome and sanded the pitting as i couldnt get anywhere reasonably close to do a grind and chrome for anything under $250

[Afrodesia]

All fixed

While at that stage my slider was looking bad below the range of fork travel, it was getting progressively worse - creaping further up the leg and loosing more and more of the finish. It may have never been a serious issue, but we pay dearly for our warranties, and this was a flaw

Resident suspension dude at Midtown did the work, and all feels fantastic. Maybe it will take a few 1000 to bed in again, as it feels like the front is sitting a little higher than before - nothing 3-4mm of fork wont fix.

Thumbs up to Midtown / Team Moto - I know they pushed hard on my behalf, and having 1 month of factory warranty left was very timely.

Jas.