Yet another Kona... 96 Kilauea

[jinjrich]

Yes that's right retro fans, another Kona!

I bought this fully intending to ride it as i got it. But as usual i couldn't help tinkering...

Here is the bike as i bought it a couple of weeks ago. After a couple of rides it became evident i was going to be changing it. The aim is to have a use-able everyday retro ride for local bridal tracks and gravel access roads...

The Curve canti's and forks had to go...

 

[jinjrich]

So the plan so far...

Keep the frame as it is with its present 'patina'.....
Change the forks! An Indy C was my first ever suspension fork back in 1997 on my old blue cinder cone. Back then they seemed amazing. Fast forward to now and i've had all sorts of forks since then, and these are, well... disappointing.....

I have an Orange P7 from 1997 i've broken for parts- including a nice Marzocchi Z2. Always been a fan of these, so these will be going on.
I also have most of an M739 groupset, minus the chainset and front mech.
Wheels will be XT hubs (period correct) on Mavic 721's

Over the last couple of days i've rebuilt the fork. Pics to follow...

 

[mk one]

We like Kona's here, can never be too many

Looking forward to more pics

mark

 

[jinjrich]

We like Kona's here, can never be too many

Looking forward to more pics

mark

Cool!

Next step was sorting the forks.

Originally they had a 1" threaded steerer, which was too short and too narrow for the impact headset. I decided to find a replacement steerer in a threadless version, to give me more options. It means loosing the Impact headset and velocity stem, but i don't mind that.

So how the fork looked to begin:

I asked in the MTB chat section about a replacement steerer, and one absolute star sent me an 1 1/8th threadless steerer bonded into a cracked crown! Cheers, MR OX!

Removed old steerer and shim...

Cut out new one and fitted in my crown...

So far so good!

 

[jinjrich]

Lost count of how many of these i've done... they are so nice to work on, just like a motorcycle fork.

I'm really pleased with these. The internals are in great nick, as are the oil and dust seals. The rebound damping didn't seem to be working but pumping new oil through the damper has worked like magic. Bit of a shame about some of the paint damage, but all in all i reckon they are great.

Nice.....

cleaning some of the bolts up with a bit of caustic soda..

And that's as far as i got for now!

 

[enc]

cleaning some of the bolts up with a bit of caustic soda..

And that's as far as i got for now!

watching with interest.. was gonna soak mine in white vinegar for a few days but ill wait see the result of yours after the caustic treatment..

 

[BentRims]

Re:

Hey! Mine's just like yours :shock: LOL

Looks like your's is the more greenish Jade color like mine and a small or medium.

Build it up, these can get pretty light.

 

[jinjrich]

Forks Finished!

They look beefy against the indys!

 

[jinjrich]

Re: Re:

Hey! Mine's just like yours :shock: LOL

Looks like your's is the more greenish Jade color like mine and a small or medium.

Build it up, these can get pretty light.

Gives you a better idea of the colour...

 

[jinjrich]

Spent a bit more time cleaning up the frame..