Gs1000g shaft drive rear wheel swap!

[thebrandonbeezy]

Ok so as some of you know, I recently completed a rear wheel swap on my shafty. I got the idea from post in the archives that for some reason i cant seem to find now. One simple sentence. "It'd probably bolt on to the hub because suzuki never changed anything, but its too wide so it wont work." This was in reference to the gsx1100g wheel which is a 4.5x17. The vx800 was also mentioned. This got me thinking what if the big zuk actually never changed it.. could they have been so lazy?? Knowing the 4.5 wide would most definitely be way to wide i looked into the vx800. 17x3.5. Boom ok that'll fit! Then i get on the vx forums and turns out the gsx wheel has been swapped on to the vx.. so i started looking around on ebay looking at the hub side of the wheel and youll notice its IDENTICAL to the gs hub


And thats all i needed after 4 modelos.. i didn't look up axel size or even the rotor diameter.. i didnt care i just wanted to see if it'd mate to the gs final drive. And it was only 50 with free shipping. 4 days later it ends up at my ex's house because my dumb a$$ forgot to update my shipping.. uhhg i hated that.. LOL so i picked up the rim with rotor and rushed home ripped the bike apart and slammed the wheel on and BROMYGAWD IT SLID ON LIKE IT WAS STOCK!


A couple things immediately stood out to me. The gs rotor is about 40mm taller than the vx rotor, and the caliper is too wide and hits the rim. Doing a little research i found that the 88 to 97 katana 600 us the same caliper and caliper mount, great news for me since i have a blown up 97 kat ive been robbing parts from already.
This is what i ended up with

Youll notice the factory gs dust cover spacer thing still in place and just the caliper mount with about 1/8 inch worth of washers to space it out. I know washers are ghetto.. ill be machining a real spacer with the lathe some time in the next few weeks. The second thing you'll notice is that im no longer using the gs brake stay, thats the katana stay as well.

Also the wider tire will need to be deflated to slide in.. yes its that much wider

But she fits. I am extremely pleased with this swap and its allowedme to run the complete katana 41mm fork set up with the 17x3 and 4 piston calipers up front. If you have any questions feel free to ask guys.

 

[Steve]

What size is the rear tire? :-k

.

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

140/80, what was on my kat. But everyone swaps 150/70 on the kats so thats what ima do here in a few weeks

 

[Steve]

The 150 might fit on the Kat, but I don't see enough room for it there. :-k

.

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

Yeah its gonna be tight, gonna grab a junk 150 and slap on it before i spend the money on one

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

Although the 140 is huge compared to the 130 when side by side, wider and taller

 

[bwringer]

The stock rear tire on the VX800 is 150/70-17. However, the 3.50" wheel width is a bit marginal for that tire width (Avon recommends 4.25", but 3.5 - 4.5" are acceptable.)

(Source: I've owned two...)

A 140 rear would likely be more appropriate for the rim width.

I once verified that the VX800 rear wheel would mate up to my GS850G final drive (swingarm and rear end parts are the same as the GS1000G), but I didn't take it all the way like you have. Even on the VX800, there's only a tiny bit of space between the tire and swingarm, and some tire brands would actually make light contact until a bit of rubber rubbed off.

Honestly not sure how a 150/70-17 would fare on a GS1000G.


Man, the VX was such a pretty bike...

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

They were beautiful, its crazy how much bigger the 140 is compaired to the 130/90 that came on the gs. Side by side the 140 just looks beastly

 

[Buffalo Bill]

140/80, what was on my kat. But everyone swaps 150/70 on the kats so thats what ima do here in a few weeks

I'd say 140 is the limit, not a MM more of room there. That 140 is gonna rub sometimes too.

 

[Guest]

What do you have planned for the front?

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

I have the 41mm front forks off the kat with the 17x3 wheel and 4 piston calipers

 

[Guest]

I have the 41mm front forks off the kat with the 17x3 wheel and 4 piston calipers

I just saw your "craigslist" post, that does look good.

 

[Dogma]

Do I have this right? That's a radial tire conversion for the GS shafty? So what would be a radial conversion for the front that preserves handling characteristics? V-strom?