GSXR Conversion/Swingarm Questions

[makenzie71]

It depends. The KYB's on my '81 were 31.5" from fork cap to center axle. The Showas on my '79 are 29". I put the Showa forks on my '81 (built and clean vs. leaky and spongy) and I have ground clearance issues with the stock rear end. Even if I loaded the front another inch to match wha tthe K4's should be I'd still have clear travel (not much) before my Kerker header/muffler.

 

[80GS1000]

Remember that you need enough ground clearance under your header so that it won't ground out when your front forks/rear shocks are fully compressed. I have about 5" of ground clearance under my header. Springing the front end for the combined weight of bike + rider really helped, as did the custom 4-2-1 header.

 

[makenzie71]

Just for the sake of noting...an acquaintance of mine has a k4 1K front end on his GS750 with dual shocks. He's using RM250 shocks. He's trying to sort out what year for me.

1994-era RM250 rear shocks with one inch cut off the springs. Says it put his length at 14" eye to eye.

 

[Sc0ttzi]

GSXR swingarm

GSXR swingarm

Does anyone know how a 2007-08 gsxr 1000 swingarm fit on one of these projects. I would assume it would fit similarly to a 2006 but I wondering if anyone knew of any specific differences between the years. Found a complete setup on ebay for a 2007-08 gsxr1000 for a good price and was wondering if anyone, especially you 80gs1000, knew if it would fit the same way yours fit. I know how you talked about everything fitting well with 750 spacers and wondered if it would be the same with this setup.

 

[tone]

Does anyone know how a 2007-08 gsxr 1000 swingarm fit on one of these projects. I would assume it would fit similarly to a 2006 but I wondering if anyone knew of any specific differences between the years. Found a complete setup on ebay for a 2007-08 gsxr1000 for a good price and was wondering if anyone, especially you 80gs1000, knew if it would fit the same way yours fit. I know how you talked about everything fitting well with 750 spacers and wondered if it would be the same with this setup.

Ive done this swap into an 1100ef, the problems are..........
#1 Pivot spindle size is bigger as is normal
#2 The arm is wide so will interfere with rear footrest hangers
#3 The top of stock shock for the arm will be just where you need to put your battery
#4 A new top shock mount will need to be built out rearwards from the original position to get the shock to work correctly
#5 The bottom shock mounts will need re-making as the latest models work in a different way to the earlier stuff
#6 The stock wheel is a 6" rim so you will need to swap it for a 5.5 to have much hope of getting the chain run correct

All this refers to the bike in the pic below but the same things will apply for putting this arm into any gs/gsx

Hope that helps

 

[Guest]

#6 The stock wheel is a 6" rim so you will need to swap it for a 5.5 to have much hope of getting the chain run correct

Tone,

I am mounting an R1 swingarm with a 6" wheel. Am I not going to be able to get her ligned up? I am going to be attempting a 200 tire on a busa wheel.

 

[80GS1000]

Ive done this swap into an 1100ef, the problems are..........
#1 Pivot spindle size is bigger as is normal
#2 The arm is wide so will interfere with rear footrest hangers
#3 The top of stock shock for the arm will be just where you need to put your battery
#4 A new top shock mount will need to be built out rearwards from the original position to get the shock to work correctly
#5 The bottom shock mounts will need re-making as the latest models work in a different way to the earlier stuff
#6 The stock wheel is a 6" rim so you will need to swap it for a 5.5 to have much hope of getting the chain run correct

All this refers to the bike in the pic below but the same things will apply for putting this arm into any gs/gsx


Hope that helps

And here's how to sort those issues, at least for a GS1000 with a 2005/2006 GSXR 1000 arm/shock/linkage which can be had on eBay for about $100.

1. Have some top hat spacers made up to make up the swingarm pivot bolt size. The pivot bolt goes through the center, the outside rides on the swingarm bearings. The brim of the tophat keeps the spacer in place. These go in lieu of the stock GSXR 1000 swingarm spacers. The top of the brim is flush with the pivot of the swingarm.

http://www.slcelectronics.com/GS1000_Build/030307/DSC01345.jpg

2. Passengers? Are you kidding? I cut off the frame bits which held on the passenger footpegs.

3. Relocate the battery and electrics, not hard.

4. Look at post 415 here: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=97905&highlight=shock+mounts&page=42
Shock, swingarm and linkage angles are critical for correct damping rates so make sure you get those right.

5. Look at post 421 and on: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=97905&highlight=shock+mounts&page=43

6. A 2005 GSXR 750 5.5x17" rim using the 750 rear axle spacers will bolt right up into the 2006 1000 swingarm. This centers the wheel in the arm and centers the wheel with the bike and front wheel. You'll need to shave some material off the cush drive rubbers for proper chain alignment. From my experience, you have to go with a 520 chain conversion with a DID ERV3 520 chain so the chain won't foul the frame.

Katman- Never say never, but it's damn near impossible to run a 6" rear wheel in a GS frame as the chain would have to go right through the frame for it to work. Maybe with an outrigger chain or something it could work....

 

[Guest]

I'm gunna give'r a try.

I will run a thread when I get to it.

 

[tone]

Tone,

I am mounting an R1 swingarm with a 6" wheel. Am I not going to be able to get her ligned up? I am going to be attempting a 200 tire on a busa wheel.

Hi mate I'm interested to see how this idea works out but suspect you will struggle as the last time i tried a 6" rim & 190 tyre it would have involved trimming the inside of the frame by a few mm to get a clear chain run & even then would have still been very tight to the tyre, i suppose it depends on the exact frame & the actual measured size of the tyre you will be using

This is maybe where a 520 chain would help with clearance, i'd also be wondering about a support bearing for the front sprocket as you will be putting a lot of extra strain on the output shaft :-k One more thought i dont know what you intend for this project style wise but wonder if you had realised the R1 arm is very long

Without going into it in a lot more detail i cant say for sure wether it can be done or not but do suspect it will be more hassle than its worth

please keep me updated on this project as i'm very interested to see how you get along with it & what problems you find with that particular selection of parts
cheers tone

 

[Guest]

Hi mate I'm interested to see how this idea works out but suspect you will struggle as the last time i tried a 6" rim & 190 tyre it would have involved trimming the inside of the frame by a few mm to get a clear chain run & even then would have still been very tight to the tyre, i suppose it depends on the exact frame & the actual measured size of the tyre you will be using

This is maybe where a 520 chain would help with clearance, i'd also be wondering about a support bearing for the front sprocket as you will be putting a lot of extra strain on the output shaft :-k One more thought i dont know what you intend for this project style wise but wonder if you had realised the R1 arm is very long

Without going into it in a lot more detail i cant say for sure wether it can be done or not but do suspect it will be more hassle than its worth

please keep me updated on this project as i'm very interested to see how you get along with it & what problems you find with that particular selection of parts
cheers tone

sorry for the hijack. moving to seperate thread in performance mods.

 

[tone]

And here's how to sort those issues, at least for a GS1000 with a 2005/2006 GSXR 1000 arm/shock/linkage which can be had on eBay for about $100.

Good post fella (mostly what already posted both on here & oss tho )

One major flaw in the thinking tho mate the 05/06 arm is a completly different arm to the 08 1000 arm

Most of what you posted still holds true as ive said before BUT & its a big one, the top shock mount will need to be a lot further back & higher up than for the earlier arms hence cutting into the battery box area which will need a lot more bracing & welding/fabrication to sort which is why i mentioned it........

The only way i could make the bike in the above pic work while keeping the shock at the correct angle because of this was to build a strong steel frame to hold the battery & hang the shock mount off the back of that Eg lots of head scratching & lots of fabrication work

 

[80GS1000]

Good post fella (mostly what already posted both on here & oss tho )

One major flaw in the thinking tho mate the 05/06 arm is a completly different arm to the 08 1000 arm

Most of what you posted still holds true as ive said before BUT & its a big one, the top shock mount will need to be a lot further back & higher up than for the earlier arms hence cutting into the battery box area which will need a lot more bracing & welding/fabrication to sort which is why i mentioned it........

The only way i could make the bike in the above pic work while keeping the shock at the correct angle because of this was to build a strong steel frame to hold the battery & hang the shock mount off the back of that Eg lots of head scratching & lots of fabrication work

Ay-up there Tone, that EFE looks the bollocks with that K8 swinger hanging 'round back there. My notes were more aimed at the OP interested in monoshocking a GS1000, since I ran into every one of those issues in my build. Switching back to my native colonial accent, what're the major differences between the K6 and K8 arms? There will be obvious differences of course in fabrication between an EFE and GS1000 as the frames are quite different. Sounds like you have to cut out your stock EFE top shock mount and re-fab/re-weld it into another location? What about the lower shock mount? Pics?

 

[tone]

No pics i'm afraid as i had to re formatt my computer & lost them all

I'll describe the later arm for you the best i can, the 06 gsxr 600 had the same arm that the 1000 got in 08 btw

The later arm has a different shock linkage setup almost a complete reverse of the earlier ones you will be used to ..... the linkage is attached to the bottom of the arm rather than the frame & the shock is bolted to that, the dogbones run back to the frame from the linkage ............. if you pick up your early linkage etc & spin it round that will give you some idea

None of the parts from this new setup are interchangable with the earlier ones apart from maybe the shock itself

the result of all this is that the shock if setup the same as it was in the donor bike as it should be will be much further back in the frame than it would be with an early setup, eg in the bike above 5" or more back from the original shock mount & much higher, my battery went up close under the back of the tank in a fabricated mount & the shock bolted to the back of that

sorry its difficult to explain but i hope you get the general idea :-k

 

[80GS1000]

No pics i'm afraid as i had to re formatt my computer & lost them all

I'll describe the later arm for you the best i can, the 06 gsxr 600 had the same arm that the 1000 got in 08 btw

The later arm has a different shock linkage setup almost a complete reverse of the earlier ones you will be used to ..... the linkage is attached to the bottom of the arm rather than the frame & the shock is bolted to that, the dogbones run back to the frame from the linkage ............. if you pick up your early linkage etc & spin it round that will give you some idea

None of the parts from this new setup are interchangable with the earlier ones apart from maybe the shock itself

the result of all this is that the shock if setup the same as it was in the donor bike as it should be will be much further back in the frame than it would be with an early setup, eg in the bike above 5" or more back from the original shock mount & much higher, my battery went up close under the back of the tank in a fabricated mount & the shock bolted to the back of that

sorry its difficult to explain but i hope you get the general idea :-k

Ah, OK, makes perfect sense. I roadrace a K6 750 (becoming a K6 600 shortly LOL) so I know what you mean. Kind of a funky linkage setup, but Suzuki must think it works better than the older stuff. Seems like the earlier K5/K6 1000 swingarms are much easier to retrofit into the GS bikes then.... :-k