Yet Another GS/GSXR Hybrid Project.

[Quasimodo]

Listen to EVERYTHING Dan has to say..........it will ONLY make things better!

I do!

Good luck with the project, remember to post LOTS of pictures for all of us gearheads to drool over.....

I do plan on posting pictures, though I'm not sure if there'll be anything to drool over. I'm not much for cosmetics. As long as things fit, function and make the bike ride well, I'm happy. A bit of (cosmetic) rust, grime, dirt, mismatch paint/colour, etc. don't bother me. In fact, I sort of like them as they make the bike unique or, as someone else's put it, "organic."

 

[Quasimodo]

1. I don't know for sure as I bought it off a member here & he didn't know either. I assume late 80's 1100. I wouldn't change the axle I would change the wheel bearing if necessary.

Hmm... Didn't think about changing the bearing.

2. You should have plenty of room with the 160. You shouldn't need to mess with the welds. How do you know the wheel is in straight in the pics? You can't determine anything until you really start to bolt it up. You can move it back to create more room at the front where it's touching.

You're right, I don't know. I quite literally just shoved the wheel as it is in there and thread the axle through. Of course, I'll try again once the weather stops being so nice.

3. The 1150 Swingarm is similar (not identical enough to interchange) & the back end where the axle goes is identical except for the fact that it's the bigger 20mm (I think 20mm is right) axle. You could enlarge the slots to make the slots identical to the 1150 swingarm slots (it's what I had to do), but it's pretty difficult & time consuming to get it right... You could then run 1150 Axle & adjusters. - Again I would probably change wheel bearing first, cheaper & easier. You should be able to get bearing in any auto part store by number or you may find the ones out of your stock wheel will fit if they are in good condition. (Outer dia should be the same).

I'll see about re-using the stock bearing. I know the left side (i.e., sprocket side) spacer's outer diameter is too large for the new sprocket, but I didn't try anything else.

4. Buy the one I keep offering you... I've done all the work for you on that one. Failing that cut the ends of the stock one & weld something up yourself. You'll need to fabricate a plate with 3 holes in it to the correct dimensions to go with it as your rotor is different size to mine. You also need to determine whether there is clearance for the stock rear caliper otherwise you'll have to use a GS1000/850/750/550 one with the banjo bolt at the rear like me.

OK. I didn't see a space for the stock calliper bracket, so I didn't try to fit the calliper. I'll get in touch with you offline about the torque arm and bracket.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

The axle i swapped to is the same dia. as the stock 750 axle, (17 mm) it's just a little longer. The stocker was too short now. And changed the wheel bearings to some with the i.d. of 17 to match. The spacers are also that same i.d.

Not a very good picture but it is the best i have right now. I know that my wheel (4.5x17) is from an '89 1100. The caliper is from a gsx600f katana.

 

[Guest]

I shaved a bunch of the width off of my caliper bracket, at the axle end only, on what would be the outer side only. brake stay is a piece of round tube stock i bought at work (i run plasma cutting machines in a fab shop for a steel distributor) with the stock ends cut off and rewelded to it.

 

[salty_monk]

Dee's solution for rear brake may be better than mine for you as you can use the stock caliper bracket. With mine you'd have to fabricate one (mine is flat 10mm stock with 3 holes in it but they are BIG holes).
I also had to use a couple of hardened washers that were a good fit from the parts store (but remember I'm using a bigger Axle.

One thing that Dee has done (& so have I but mine is more extreme) is to jack the back end of the swingarm open a bit, that's why he needs the longer axle. I don't think Billy Ricks jacked his open though - I think he is using stock axle.

If you do jack it open then make sure you do it when it's on the bike otherwise you'll compress the front end where the rocker for the shock goes & it will no longer fit!

Dan

 

[posplayr]

One thing that Dee has done (& so have I but mine is more extreme) is to jack the back end of the swingarm open a bit, that's why he needs the longer axle. I don't think Billy Ricks jacked his open though - I think he is using stock axle.

Dan

What is a "bit"?

 

[salty_monk]

No Idea Jim.. you'll have to ask Dee. I think from memory he jacked it so that it settled about 1/2" wider.

My wheel is different & my swingarm is jacked open more than that but I don't have a precise measurement as I jacked it to suit the axle I had on hand & then made up the spacers to suit.

Dan

 

[Guest]

Yeah, about an 1/2 in. And i got the idea from Billy.

 

[posplayr]

Yeah, about an 1/2 in. And i got the idea from Billy.

So about 1/4" either side; you probably did not notice any distortion in the swing arm forks then.

 

[Colorado85gs550]

I jacked my 550 about 1/2" as well......but I'm running the 3.5 rear end

 

[Guest]

My caliper bracket is an 1100 one, had to use it because of the smaller dia. of the rotor. It (the bracket) has the spacer that sits between it the wheel bearing slightly recessed into it and a differant than stock (1100) spacer inside it due to the 3mm axle reduction.

 

[Quasimodo]

Blimey. Lots of good info. I'm seriously torn between, well, tearing the rear wheel apart and trying out all these suggestions, and leaving it be for as long as the weather is nice so I can go ride.

In any case, it seems like a day out at the local junkyard is in order.

Thanks for all these excellent pointers. I'll report back shortly.

 

[Billy Ricks]

I spread my swingarm about 1/4" to get the wheel on and off easier. I used a bottle jack and actually spread the arm close to an inch so when I let the pressure off the jack and the arm relaxed it ended up around 1/4" or so wider. I took material off the outside of the caliper hanger like Dee did. On the brake torque arm I moved the mounting point to the bottom of the swingarm and simply bent the torque arm to clear the tire. I am using the stock axle. I did grind some material from the inner part of the head of the axle to give me a little more length to work with.

For sprockets I was originally using a 16/43 combo and it was very close to stock as far as rpm-mph is concerned. I'm using a 17 tooth front now. You have to grind down material around one of the countershaft cover bolts to use the 17 or it will make contact and the sprocket won't turn. It's not actually the bolt you grind, it's the cover itself. I'm running a 520 conversion as well.

 

[Guest]

I took off the stock wheel and try to fit the 4.5" one and here are some pictures:

Needless to say I've some questions:

1. Monk, which year/model Suzuki did the wheel come from? I found that the stock axle is too small for it, so I'll have to get the rest of the rear assembly provided I've a matching parts bike.
2. As the second picture shows, the wheel rubs against the swing arm on the right side. It doesn't seem too bad and I may be able to shift it to the left a bit more; but, if it's necessary, can I grind off a little of that existing weld on the swing arm?
3. Going back to the larger axle, how can I enlarge the existing slots in the swing arm? Kingofvenus, how did you do yours?
4. I'll have to come up with a new torque arm, for sure. Any tips on how I can make one myself?
5. A silly observation, the riding height will be lower with the lower profile radial tyre, yes? Which is fine since I'm a short bastard with an even shorter pair of legs anyhow.

I think that's all for now. Thanks.

I was looking at this set of pics again and i noticed that the sprocket carrier is not like the one i have, is that one a five bolt five paddle style? mine is a six/six. The sprocket looks (?) farther away from the tire than mine also....

 

[Quasimodo]

I was looking at this set of pics again and i noticed that the sprocket carrier is not like the one i have, is that one a five bolt five paddle style? mine is a six/six. The sprocket looks (?) farther away from the tire than mine also....

Now that you've mentioned it, yes, it is a 5/5 style. Also, yes, it is quite a bit thicker than the stock one and the one that goes with a 5.5" wheel. Does it mean it's not usable? Or, at least, it'd be better if I can find a thinner 6/6 style with a matching wheel?

Thanks.

 

[ironsheik]

You need to use the GS sprocket carrier which isn't as deep as the GSXR piece. Then you're going to have to figure out the correct spacers for the left and right to put the wheel into the middle of the swinger...

Here's some good reading on conversions:
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=147705&highlight=chain+alignment

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=150063

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=134832&highlight=5/8&page=1

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=120190&highlight=sprocket&page=1
J

 

[Quasimodo]

Sheik:

Thanks for pointing me to those threads. I quickly read through them and have learned a lot already. I'm sure I'll go back to them often once I really start this project.

So, one thing I've to get absolutely right is that I've to align the wheels first before anything else (i.e., chain). I've been thinking that I ought to start with the rear first and get that done---because it requires more work and possible custom parts---and then tackle the front-end because that's more "bolt-on" sort of thing. But, as I understand it now I'll do better doing the front first and then the rear, so I'll be aligning the rear with the actual front-end rather than with the stock one and assuming/hoping that the GSXR one will be close. Is that right?

I think I still need a slimmer 5/5 sprocket carrier or a different rear wheel altogether, though, because there really isn't much (any) room laterally with the one I've got.

Thanks again.

 

[salty_monk]

I didn't measure that wheel but I don't believe it was any thicker than the one that I used. Can you take an accurate measure of the sprocket carrier from the face that hits the Cush drive rubber to the face where the sprocket goes or compare it with your GS stock one & tell us what the difference is.

Worse case you can have some material machined off the sprocket face if you need to.

 

[Billy Ricks]

I'm using one of the 5 bolt GSXR carriers so using my 700 carrier was out. The fact it was a GSXR carrier really didn't cause me any grief. Everything was centered just fine when it went together. The only reason I ended up spreading the swingarm was so I didn't have to pry things apart to get the wheel on anymore. Next time I have the rear off I'll try to remember to take some measurements of the stock carrier vs GSXR. The Kat 600 carrier from the same era is the same except for bearing id as the GSXR carrier. I did find a slightly narrower left side spacer to use that still kept the carrier bolts off the swingarm. You might be able to mill a little off whatever spacer you end up using.

 

[Quasimodo]

I didn't measure that wheel but I don't believe it was any thicker than the one that I used. Can you take an accurate measure of the sprocket carrier from the face that hits the Cush drive rubber to the face where the sprocket goes or compare it with your GS stock one & tell us what the difference is.

Worse case you can have some material machined off the sprocket face if you need to.

Monk:

I can't measure the stock one right now because it's on the bike. The one I got from you is ~47mm from the sprocket's inner face to the inner lip (i.e., one facing the rubber cush). But, here's probably a better measure: the gap from the sprocket inner face to the lip of the wheel hub for the stock wheel is ~35mm while the same gap for the other wheel is ~42mm. So, there's about a 7mm difference.

I'm no machinist by any stretch of the imagination; but, I don't see how 7mm worth of material can be shaved off of either the carrier and/or the sprocket itself. I may have to resort to widening the swing arm like others have done to make room for adjustment/alignment. But, please let me know if you've got other ideas.

Thanks.