mtnmason Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 i was about to do a painstaking fork rebuild plus resurface/polish (somehow) until I found a set on fleabay for $20 USD! for both! why work on it when you could be riding? so..... why would a '79 (xs4Special) not fit a '77 (xs4d)? I wanted to check with the all-knowing yama-geniuses on here. Any response to my noobish query would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedshop Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 could be a number of reasons, different length, different diameter or more basic such as the mudguard fittings being different. They might even bolt straight in. As to refinishing them, the way its done is to have the old chrome removed, hard chrome applied then reground to size. A very specialist job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtnmason Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 Thanks, Speedshop. I'm well aware of the things that COULD cause the forks not to fit (bore, fender brackets, length, etc.) I was simply wondering if anyone had done this before or new off-hand whether or not Yamaha used the same forks on these two year models. As for the refinishing, I need to figure out how to refinish the receiver part (or female piece) which has the kind of micro-ribbed(?) finish. Theyre scratched all to hell. Thanks anyway, though! And happy motoring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted April 24, 2010 Moderator Share Posted April 24, 2010 the special fork stantions are longer (and the springs) this will make the bike higher at the front. I have a set-up on my tracker, but deliberatly did this along with rear shocks to raise the overall height of the bike. they are all 33mm up to the dohc models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepperami Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 the special fork stantions are longer (and the springs) this will make the bike higher at the front. I have a set-up on my tracker, but deliberatly did this along with rear shocks to raise the overall height of the bike. they are all 33mm up to the dohc models. Excellent bit of info there I take it the caliper mountings are the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted April 25, 2010 Moderator Share Posted April 25, 2010 Have a look in the parts manuals for download that I posted, maybe you can compare part numbers if you can find the relevant bikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepperami Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 will do .... many thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted April 27, 2010 Moderator Share Posted April 27, 2010 Excellent bit of info there I take it the caliper mountings are the same? yep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtnmason Posted April 29, 2010 Author Share Posted April 29, 2010 STANCHION! Thats the word I was looking for. Wow! I got replies from some real pros. Thanks Drewpy and ol'git. I could tell that the caliper mounts looked to be the same. I'm not expecting anymore replies on such on old post - but if you happen to revisit - about how much height difference am I gonna get? When parked, the bike already looks slightly higher in the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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