This swap was a pretty feckin' big deal for me. I did it all myself......with the help of Foggy123, my wife and another guy, and thanks to Speedymoto and Foggy123 for the parts. Found the 996 forks off ebay, Christian at speedymoto had a 53mm upper triple, Foggy123 had some extra risers and my wife helped with the cash.

So over the course of a few days I gingerly took the headlight/gauge cluster off. Then the upper and bars/controls. Then let it sit. Then got the jackstands and front stand (thanks again foggy123) then loosed everything else, supported the brakes, pulled the wheel, got so nervous that I nearly peed myself at this point.

If I remember right that the stock monster forks are 54 lower and 50 upper, so, you need to either get a new upper triple or have the stock bored to 53mm, then shim (and I used 1/16 inch or .478mm Al) from the local hardware store. I know that CycleCat makes a full SBK conversion kit, which supplies the 53mm upper and shim material. I just chose to order a new Speedymoto upper triple.

Then using some freshly emptied Pabst Blue Ribbon cans cut to size for shims for the lower triple, I installed the new upper and got the foks snugged down. I found that if I prewrapped the Al around the fork tube, then slide the shim up the leg to the narrow part of the new fork, that it helped slide the shim in....if that makes sense. Another way to say that is use the narrow part of the new sbk fork to aid in getting the shim in place. Once the new forks are in proper, if any shim is showing, use a narrow flat blade screwdriver and hammer and GENTLY GENTLY tap the shim down into the lower. Worked like a charm and you can't even see it unless you get really close.

By this time things are looking bettter.....at least returning to normal. Then the risers/bars came into play.......biggest frustration...I had the left on the right and the right on the left and the brakes weren't fitting. Thanks again goes to Foggy123 for clearing up the 'duh' moment. Once those where on everything went right back as planned. Short test ride, hmmmm, pretty well sorted kit. Let it sit, then rechecked everything and took her out again. Tracks really nice, clipons are about an inch lower than stock and forward a bit. Feels really good, but needs to be softened a bit. I'm still fired up that I did this on my own. Now just need to figure out the valve adjustments and I'm feeling pretty proud.

I swear, if I can do this anyone can. I freak out at changing the oil or adding air in the tires....... I was running completely non-adjustable stock forks before the conversion. This setup I have lowers the position about an inch lower than stock, then you can use the eccentric in the CC Clipons to rotate the position lower or higher, but I started out near the top position, just to get used to it. I do like the position, the forks just need to be 'softened' a bit. They are pretty darn stiff.

Side note - tools needed
Full set of allen wrenches
Torque wrench
rubber mallet
front stand (preferably the kind that fits into the lower triple)
jack stands and a piece of heavy rebar (for supporting the bike under the motor)

Difficulty level (1 - 5) probably a three.