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please help with wheel swap

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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Anonymous

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Hey, I've been doing my best to sort all this stuff out but please help me here. There's been lots of discussions about swapping rear wheels onto older bikes for better tires, wider stance, etc. along with changing out front forks for better, newer suspension and brakes. I would like to pull this off myself but I'm still not clear on EXACTLY what I can and should use. To clarify, I am looking for the easiest bolt on type wheel upgrades I can get. I have an 81 gs1100e and will be keeping the stock swingarm. What is the widest wheel and tire combo that will fit without frame or swingarm mods? I looked at the major kat rebuild post but our swingarms are different. Also, what front end is best and easiest to install? I use this bike for fun on weekends and an occasional 1/8 mile blast. The tiny 130/90/17 tire just can't handle the power this thing has. There is a salvage yard in town that may have the things I need, I just need a really complete list of what I need to do this conversion. Please help me any way you can so I can get back to riding this thing and maybe be a little safer doing it. Thanks!!
 
Where is the post for a Katana swap, and will it work on an '83 GS750 E? :twisted:
 
As for front end mods any Suzuki or Kawasaki that uses tapered bearings will work. To make things easy get a complete front end. Even then you have to come up with bar mounts, headlight mounts, and guage mounts. The easiest wheel swap would be a 3.5" GS1150 rear. If you want something wider a 4.5" GSXR750 from '88 or '89 is a pretty simple swap on an 1100. The axles are the same size. Again, you need to use caliper hanger, caliper, rotor, etc from the donor bike. The brake torque rod has to be moved to the bottom of the swingarm.
 
Thanks for the info. Now more questions. What hardware do I need to have on the 4.5 wheel? Do I need the sprocket, wheel spacer, sprocket carrier, etc. The 4.5 is what I would be more interested in if it will fit. Would the 87, 88 gixxer wheels that have the thin double spokes work? I know they're not as wide, but it may be all I can find to work with. Also, the kaws seem to be higher in number around here, so what would work best for me to keep close to stock ride height up front and gain on wheel, tire, brake quality? Will a kaw wheel work for the rear also? Just trying to keep all my options open here. Thanks again!!
 
Katana 750 1998 and newer used 4.5" rears. I believe the Kat 600 same also. It is best to get everything together-sprocket/hub,rotor/carrier arm,caliper and all spacers. My 2001 Kat 4.5" rear came complete with everything for $200 incl shiping. A 160 rear tire will mount perfectly on this rim. for the front swap the 1989-1997 Katana's used 41mm tubes and are very plentiful for parts. As Billy said, they bolt right up. I used a 1993 front off a Kat 750, 17"x3" front with dual piston floating discs are an improvement over any stock GS front end. Good Luck, Ed.
http://groups.msn.com/SuzukiGSGarage/gs750edbacktolife.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=3335
 
Ok, even more questions. I have the opportunity to get rear wheel and all needed hardware, also front end and all hardware off of an 87 gsxr 750 for $500.00. These are the 18" wheels and standard style forks. The overall length of the front from bottom of forks to top of tree is 29.5 inches. My gs1100e overall length is 32.5 inches. Too much drop? Also, how much will I gain in performance from this setup? So many questions, just asking first instead of making a potentially bad decision. Thanks guys.
 
Don't go with '87 parts. '88 and up gives you 17" wheels. That's what the best rubber comes in. The '88 fork was the shortest of the bunch so go with '89 up 750 or 1100 parts. Performance-wise it won't even feel like the same bike. I will corner like it's on rails, stop like nobody's business, and stick like glue. With the sag set up properly ground clearance isn't a big issue. You probably won't bottom out any more than stock suspension would under the same circumstances.
 
Standard fork tubes are OK-most newer tubes are 41mm or better, but as Billy said, stay away from the 1986/87 GSXR stuff- 18" rubber is very limited. 17" is the way to go. I lost about 1.5" on the front when swapping over to the Kat 750 front end, but will make this up by setting up the front fairly stiff- just ordered Race Tech springs. Also modern bikes do not have the front end travel of the old GS bikes- radial tires do a good job of soaking up ride harshness. Be prepared for some fabrication too- I had to cut the fork lock bracket off the frame and modify the fork stops, fabricate a bracket to mount the instrument cluster and order new clip-ons. Good Luck, Ed.
 
So, what your saying is the 86-87 gsxr stuff is not worth the money? Thought that 500 was a fairly good bargain. Guess not. This still may be all I can get locally and I really don't want to hassle with shipping or travel so, honestly, will this stuff be a big improvement over stock 81 gs or should I just look for some new skinny tires? The 87 gsxr 750 has a 160/60/18 michelin in back and a michelin up front. Can't remeber the size but both tires are near new. Should I wait for newer stuff or just jump on this stuff?
 
Wait. And if I'm not mistaken they've shoe horned too big a tire on the back wheel. From what I remember they came with a 140 mounted. Keep an eye on Ebay, even with shipping you can probably do better than $500.
 
The GSXR did not get the 4.5" rear until 1988. If it has the stock wheels it should have a 140 rear . I would stay away from that year. That is an OK price but nothing I would jump at. I paid $300 for the complete 1993 Kat 750 chasis I used- It came with everything except motor and bodywork. I sold off the leftover bits and made all my money back. You will find the Katana stuff more plentiful and affordable. The mid 90's Kat 750/600 had 41mm fork tubes(same as 86-87GSXR), dual piston floating discs with a 3.0"x17 front and 3.5"x17 rear. That is good enough for a 120 front and 140 rear. Running good rubber such as the Dunlop 501's would make this a worthwile mod. This would be an improvement over the stock GS wheels in weight savings alone. Good Luck, Ed.
 
"The mid 90's Kat 750/600 had 41mm fork tubes(same as 86-87GSXR), dual piston floating discs with a 3.0"x17 front and 3.5"x17 rear. That is good enough for a 120 front and 140 rear. Running good rubber such as the Dunlop 501's would make this a worthwile mod."

Those are the rims that I am running on my 84 with a 150 rear, a recommended size from Metzeler for a MEZ4.

Kevan
GS750
 
Either a 140 or 150 will work on the 3.5" rear, it is just a matter of what will clear inside the swingarm on his peticular bike. I have used a Dunlop 140 on a GS1150 3.5" rim- it cleared just fine on my 1983 GS750ED with only the rear caliper torque arm needing to be modified. Either size , using premium rubber, will be an excellent improvement over stock. Ride On, Ed.
 
So please help me get this strait, if I use an '89 GSX-R 4.5x17 rear rim, so that I can use a 160 rear tire, what will I need to tak the front end off of so that I can have a matching front end? :twisted:
 
You don't have to do the front, but if you want matching wheels the only way to do it is with a whole new front end. The '89 and I believe '90 were conventional style 43mm forks with adjusters for preload, and both compression and rebound damping. After that the forks were the inverted type. If you stick to the stock front end the little 16" wheel up front may lead to some quirky handling.
 
OH yeah, I knew that I would have to do that whole front end, I just wanted to know exactly which front end. I dont know much about the parts interchangeability of the different Suzis yet. So, if I use the 17 rear from an '89-'92is it? Then make sure to get the front with 17" front as well, off of the same model/year, and it will fit right into the tapered bearing races that are on my '83 GS750E?
 
The '88 and '89 GSXR rear wheels were 4.5". Ed has stated that the late model Kat 750s use the same wheel. Front end is up to you. Up to the mid '90 models used the tapered bearings. Just a matter of whether you want a conventional style or inverted fork. If it were me I'd go inverted, even though mine is conventional. I just did mine so long ago that inverted forks were new on the scene and there was no Ebay. What parts a friend of mine couldn't supply I'd have to get new, salvage, or from the classifieds in Cycle News.
 
So, heres my dilemma, there is only one show in town for cycle salvage (I live near Omaha, NE) ALL the other nearby yards are CLOSED PERMANENTLY. For the newer wheels, etc I am looking at at least six hours of driving round trip or a small fortune in shipping. So I ask again. Is it worth $500.00 for the 87 gsxr750 front end (complete with brakes, lines, trees, basically everything but the fender, and the rear with complete brakes, sprocket, all with near new rubber and an extra $75.00 for the clipons? I was wrong about tire size. The rear is a 150 tire. I have called some larger yards and all are in the $800 - $1100 range for all the same stuff I listed. This stuff just isn't around anywhere locally so I would like to get moving on this if these parts aren't total and complete turds. The bike shows just over 4000 miles and suffered a blown motor. I only have $1100 in my gs1100 total so I prefer not to double my investment just buying parts. OldschoolGS, you got any other $300.00 rollers taking up space? Please, let me know where to find deals like this.
 
If it were me I'd be shopping Ebay, but it's not me. If you feel like you can be satisfied with a limited choice of rubber that will become more limited in time, and not look back wishing you had opted to get something newer then go for it. The results will fall somewhere between your stock bike and something world's better.
 
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