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Swap 80 GS1000GL rear wheel to 82 GS850GL?

JTGS850GL

JTGS850GL

Forum Sage
Past Site Supporter
I was planning on using some of the parts from my newly acquired 1980 GS1000GL parts bike. The parts bike had a NEW rear tire and my1982 GS850GL's rear tire is bald. Sounded like a good swap, but I've run into a couple issues. It seems like the wheel hub is a little narrower and the rotor location is spaced a little off toward the wheel as well. Can I add some washers to the axle spacers to make up for the gap to get that right? Can I add some washers to the back side of the rotor to space it out as well. Everything else seems to line right up. The other plus side to this swap is a 17" rear wheel as opposed to the current 16". The other plus is the 1000 had the better black rear wheel splines. The 850's splines are gold and just a tad worn.

Any suggestions?
 
Do the caliper bracket and spacers from the '80 work with the '80 wheel in the '82 swingarm? At any rate, make sure to get that black spline swapped over.
 
Dogma said:
Do the caliper bracket and spacers from the '80 work with the '80 wheel in the '82 swingarm? At any rate, make sure to get that black spline swapped over.
Click to expand...

No, I looked at swapping and nothing will work as a straight swap. The rotors bolts on differently and the 80 spacers don't make up for the gap on the 82 swing arm. It's like the 82 swing arm is wider and Suzuki compensated for it by making the wheel hub wider.

I can't believe that this hasn't been addressed but I be dammed if I could find it using the search.
 
A former famously frugal GSR member had a collection of 16" and 17" shaftie wheels he swapped back and forth. He sniped tires cheap on fleaBay, so having a choice in diameters helped, plus he could always have the next tire mounted and ready to go when convenient.

He never mentioned needing to add washers to the axle to get the spacing right, but he did use washers as needed to get the brake rotors lined up.

I would definitely try to avoid using washers on the axle -- do you have the spacers from the donor wheel? Perhaps those would work better, or some combination thereof. Might want to mark the parts so you can be sure which were original.
 
bwringer said:
I would definitely try to avoid using washers on the axle -- ...
Click to expand...
Aren't washers just 'thin spacers'? :-k

I have moved an '82 1100G wheel onto an '81 850G, and it will soon be on an '80 850G. Yes, I had to play with spacers, and some of those "spacers" were thin enough to be called "washers". :p

.
 
I have all the parts from the 80 GS1000 and the 82 GS850. None of them work as a straight swap. Each bike has no issues as long as I use the 80 setup for the 80 and the 82 setup for the 82. It's when I try to swap the 80 for the 82 I run into a gap. I haven't tried the other way around. The first two parts (spacer and caliper mount) on the right hand side of the hub seems to be the exact same width. The last part that goes between the caliper mount and the swing arm seems to leave a gap of about 1/8". And yes, the rotor will have to be spaced over as well. I'll try to post some pics to let you see what I'm talking about.
 
Steve said:
Aren't washers just 'thin spacers'? :-k

I have moved an '82 1100G wheel onto an '81 850G, and it will soon be on an '80 850G. Yes, I had to play with spacers, and some of those "spacers" were thin enough to be called "washers". :p
.
Click to expand...

Ya, I'd call it a thick washer's width as well. If I use the 80 hardware with the 80 wheel I get the closest match, but not exactly correct. When I get a day that I don't need the 850 for transportation, I'll go ahead and try the swap again. I'll also make some measurements to see where the difference really is.
 
Well, I was able to complete the swap. It took 3 5/8" SS washers on the main axle and 3 8mm SS washers on each rotor bolt. Took her out for a test drive and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Bike looks much better with the 17" rear wheel, not to mention the better tread on the tire that was on the rim I transferred from the Frankenstein bike. Date code on the tire was week 3 of 2012.
 
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