92 GSXR11 front end

[joe.d]

SO I went out and bought my self a 92 GSXR11 front end, gonna put new seals in the forks and taper rollers in the head stock, I havnt got a manual for the front end so its gonna be guess work taken them down, any help would be appreciated,
how much oil in the forks. oil weight?
taking them apart putting back together, looks like im gonna have to by a few wrenches as well, you got to have the right tool for the right job HUH

 

[mark m]

Joe,

Check out:

http://darladog.com/forks/

It shows a generic teardown of a set of cartridge forks. For oil weight I would say 7.5wt, the cartridge forks use much thinner oil than our damper rod forks like. You should really spring for at least a Haynes manual on that bike, just to have a reference and for the exploded view of the front end, along with the appropriate torque specs. They are only about $25 at Canadian Tire...

You will find that you need some special tools for cartridge forks as well. A fork spring compressor is one. Check out:

http://www.traxxion.com/about.shtml

and look at their tools. Not really cheap, but good quality and VERY useful.

Unless you're cheap like me, you should also spring for a rebuild and revalve by a suspension tuner. It will make a world of difference and you will be amazed at how well a properly set up cartridge fork works. Cost for me locally for a full rework is about $250. That is to take a set of forks in and have all the work done. If you are not going to do the rebuild often, this avoids buying a bunch of tools for little work.


Mark

 

[Hoomgar]

Pics when your done Joe
This should rock!

 

[Guest]

How complete is this front end that you picked up?
And if you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for it?
I am looking to do the same setup on my bike and would like to know what I should expect to spend on the front end.

 

[joe.d]

So the forks come apart easy, I needed 30mm wrench for the top of the forks a 8mm allen key for the bottom, bobs your uncle,new fork seals installed, I put 10 weight oil in the forks, some one over at oldschoolsuzuki suggested it, and ill see how it goes, I was really supprised how easy these forks were to take apart, they need polishing but ill do that after ive put it all together, ive mounted the risers on the top yoke, and it all looks set to go together.
Ill take some before and after, I payed a $1000 for the complete front end, it included
top and bottom tripple tree, fork legs, wheel and decent tire, wheel spacers,speedo drive, the wheel bearings are good, speedo cable, clipons, that im not gonna use, master cylinder, stainless brake lines,discs, calipers, and wheel spindle I think its a good buy, maybe a little exspensive, but its all there and its all str8t.

 

[Guest]

Thats great to hear. I look foreward to seeing it completed.

 

[joe.d]

So I ran in to a few complications, front tire does need replacing, the original seals that were intheofrks were put in up side down, SO i put them in the same way, and they leaked like a sOB., so Iquickly relised that who ever put them in before must of put them in upside down.

thye dont seem to be leaking now. the head light mounts are just dummied up in these pics (need longer bolts), and I dont have the bolts for the front fender.

all in all a easy swap, ill just have to se how it handles, ive got the rear wheel, im jusrt waiting for a caliper hanger

 

[robben]

I was going to mention you need the rear wheel to match, but that last comment said you already had it. That'll be sweet, you're getting access to a much wider range of modern rubber. Are you mounting the rear caliper below like the gsxrs? Would it even be possible with the stock swingarm?

Looking great. 8)

 

[joe.d]

Im using a rear katana 4.5 inch rim that has the Caliper mounted on the top

 

[Hoomgar]

Lookin good Joe

Looks good on older GS bikes too:

 

[wrench]

That looks great Joe, congrats on a job well done

 

[Billy Ricks]

Joe,
Where'd you pick up your headlight brackets? They look like Lockhart but I'm not sure. That and a fender are the last two things I need to switch from an '88 to a '95 front end.

 

[joe.d]

they are lockhart, but without the rubbers, they may have to be ditched yet, at the moment tey need bolting up becouse the bolts I had wasnt long enough

 

[Billy Ricks]

I've seen some nice brackets on Ebay being sold out of the UK. They are nice but it's hard to justify close to $200 for a set of headlight brackets. I may have to experiment with fabricating something.

 

[Billy Ricks]

These are the ones from the UK seller.

 

[Hoomgar]

Billy, we have machinists here on the GSR.
It is conceivable that the ring mounts could be made
and then you could mount your brackets to them.

I hate to volunteer anyone but ask Dave DMPLATT for starters.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Joe, did you use your stock GS1150 upper triple clamp so you could run the handlebars, or did you modify the gixxer's clamp??

 

[joe.d]

the Gixer top tripple clamp I drilled through the Clipon bolt holes in the bottom of the yoke and mounted risers off a Victory for 1 inch bars
at the moment its running adapters for 7/8 inch, but i plan to run twin wall renthals at later date ( to stop vibration)