Upgrade a 91-95 bike to 96-03 Forks
To swap a 96-03 complete front end on a 91-95, you must purchase the forks, brakes AND the lower triple clamp and stem of a P model bike. The later front end has a tapered fork slider tube that is larger in diameter on the bottom triple and will not fit in the earlier triples.
The head of the frame is identical and uses the same steering head bearings and is the same length so the later lower triple and stem fit perfectly. This is a perfect time to replace your steering head bearings with new ones. I would recommend doing it whether they need it or not just for the simple fact that you wont want to take this all apart again later for something that is easy and inexpensive to do now.
You should be able to use the stock 91-95 upper triple clamp, however I did not try it, I actually purchased a Vortex billet 96-03 upper that looks real nice and is lighter than stock. Installation is straight forward, just reverse the procedure of taking your old forks off and install the 96-03 forks and clamps. I purchased Titanium pinch bolts for the clamps to shave a little weight while I was at it. One of the added bonuses is the fact that you can now utilize the Tokico 6 piston calipers of the P model ZX7R which are far superior to the stock 91-95 units. Your stock 91-95 brake calipers would not bolt up to the later forks anyway.
The parts you CAN use off the 91-95 are the axle, speedo drive, axle spacers, rotors and wheel. These will all go on with no issues.
I chose to upgrade both the wheel( with a light RC Components wheel) and the rotors (with EBC pro-lites). I also upgraded the rotor bolts with a set of lightweight but strong Titanium units. With the new front end you get increased adjustability (compression damping), better brakes, slightly stiffer front end and in my humble opinion a better looking fender. Go ahead be bold, try it, you WILL feel the difference!
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