GSXR/Katana Upgrades on my 550EF

just wait and see what I come up with on the tank!!

I will have the tank empty and air dried.....

then will tape under side of existing hole....

place assembly into the hole and mark where the 4 bolts will go, then drill and tap....

only thing left is to cut the existing filler neck out to make room for the new assy...... cutting will be done with a high speed jigsaw and fine tooth blade....

You're going to have to weld the 'hole' from a late model tank in to your tank to accept that cap with the 4 bolts, aren't you?

I will have the tank empty and air dried.....

then will tape under side of existing hole....

place assembly into the hole and mark where the 4 bolts will go, then drill and tap....

only thing left is to cut the existing filler neck out to make room for the new assy...... cutting will be done with a high speed jigsaw and fine tooth blade....

Looking good. I'm interested to see your plan with the non locking gas cap.

Here is what I'm putting in my tank.......

Thanks to my daughter for holding the front end for me while I took the pictures......

We all were hoping those were not your shoes

Looking good. I'm interested to see your plan with the non locking gas cap.

soon to come.......

Auto Meter GM style fuel gauge
'72 Suzuki T500 Clocks
Kerker Header with 95 GSXR750 exhaust can
2005 GSXR600 rear passenger pegs/holders
custom GS550EF rear sets
GSXR rear master cylinder/caliper
99 GSXR750 rear shock mounted upside down
ZX9 Rear Tail light with blue cat's eyes
Custom rear fender eliminator
Custom swingarm bracing with 2005 GSXR1000 rear hugger
custom late model GSXR NON-keyed gas cap
dual headlight setup in my 550EF upper fairing

stay tuned...........

BEFORE Shots.....what I started with!!

Thanks to my daughter for holding the front end for me while I took the pictures......

I've started putting the '88 GSXR 750 slingshot front end together....

89 Katana 600 front wheel/rotors
90 GSXR750 calipers
6004rs wheel bearings to fit 20mm axle
Banke Performance custom wheel spacers..... 20mm x 28mm x .25 inch(2)
Banke Performance custom inner wheel spacer.. 20 x 28 x 63 mm
Banke Performance custom riser spacers for the bars
Cafe Clubman bars
95 GSXR600 speedo drive/cable
2008 GSXR600 clutch lever assy
2008 GSXR600 master cylinder/lever assy
NEW Maier 88-90 GSXR750 front fender


I had to ream out the inner hole of the Katana wheel as there is a lip on the speedo drive side that holds the 15mm Katana axle spacer between the bearings.....I reamed it out to 21mm so that my custom Banke spacer would slide through.

I installed the 6004rs bearings that were 20 x 42 x 13 mm.....install the hub side first, slide in the inner wheel/bearing spacer, then install the remaining wheel bearing.

I had to grind the outter lip off the GSXR600 speedo drive to fit the Katana wheel.....but it spins the drive properly now and with the addition of the Banke wheel spacers to make up for the 3.00 Katana wheel it works as designed with the exception of the speedo drive stop on the fork....I am going to install a piece of steel that will extend to the drive to keep it from spinning with the wheel. The cable holds it in place enough to work that I won't need much to hold it.

I will have more on the custom spacer/bracket I need to mount the Katana calipers to the GSXR forks......this will be completed this coming weekend.

Pics to follow of the front end without the rotors/calipers in place....

Stay tuned for more to come.......

I had to use .25 inch spacers for the calipers to mount to the forks in order to make up for the skinner Katana wheel........everything lines up and works PERFECTLY!!

well gentlemen, I took it all apart today and have it all figured out!

PICTURES TO COME SOON.....first the write-up!

First thing I did was make sure I have the proper sprockets and chain setup.

You can utilize your 550E front sprocket and chain(520) and just purchase a 520 rear sprocket to fit your 88-96 Katana 600 wheel (3.5 inch wheel with a 140/70-17 tire) OR.....you purchase a new 530 front sprocket, rear sprocket, and O-ring chain!

I opted to upgrade to the 530 O-ring chain(112 links) and sprockets 13t on the front and 48t on the rear.

While mocking up the wheel the first thing you'll notice is that there isn't much room for spacers! But this is the critical stage to get the wheel properly spaced, centered, and sprockets in alignment! I have come up with needing a 10mm spacer on the sprocket side.....this spacer ended up being 17x30x10 steel and I purchased it at the local bearing shop here in town for $2.50.

Next I needed the proper Oil Seal for the sprocket side of the hub......this ended up being a 30x62x8 and was purchased for $5.91 at the bearing shop. New 17x42x14 sealed wheel bearings were installed into this wheel also for $45.

I utilized the original spacer between the brake caliper bracket and the wheel on the brake side, but had to grind off about 1/4 inch off the outside of the bracket to fit in between the spacer and the swingarm. I ground a little at a time until it fit. This keeps the caliper mounted in the exact spot it needs to be in on the rotor. I utilized the stock Rotor that came off the Katana 600, and the stock caliper bracket for the GS550E.

Parts I used:

88-96 Katana 600 Rear wheel/drive hub COMPLETE OEM minus the oil seal
Custom sprocket side spacer 17x30x10
Custom sprocket side oil seal 30x62x8
GS550E Axle
GS550E swingarm
GS550E Caliper
GS550E wheel spacer on the brake side
GS550E Caliper bracket, ground down to fit
530 13t front sprocket
530 48t rear sprocket
530 112link O-ring chain


I'll post pictures tomorrow.....

After searching around OVER and OVER on how to do this I decided to show a list of the EXACT parts needed. I did the hard part with finding the correct sized spacers/parts.....all you need to do is follow these directions. This is a conversion to use the 3.5 inch rear wheel off a Katana 600 in order to put a 140 rear tire on your 83-86 GS550E utilizing mostly OEM parts.....

I have about $150 in chain and sprockets, $180 in my rear wheel and tire, and $55 in the rear wheel bearings/spacer/oil seal. Putting it right at about $385 in this rear conversion!

You can save $50 if you can get a rear wheel WITH the bearings already installed.

You can probably save a little on the tire too, but I decided to go with a 140/70-17 Dunlop D208 Sportmax Radial to match the Qualifier 110/70-17 I'm installing on the front.

I'll keep you posted.

Paul