VX 800 wheel on a GS850

[Hmar02]

Good evening everyone. I just found this site when I was searching a question, and I hate to ask right off the bat but I need help. About a month and a half ago I picked up an ‘81 GS850 GL that had previously been used for parts. Now I’ve got an ‘82 parts bike and GSX-R forks i picked up to avoid the need to rebuild front forks and calipers, not to mention the added looks and added handling benefits. This is my first build but I wouldn’t say that I’m in over my head, just short on time and money so things are moving along slowly as parts arrive. Right now my biggest focus is getting a title so I’ve put a hold on things until then, but thats all beside the point. Now that I’ve given a brief introduction of my bike and myself, I have a question. Someone on a Facebook group recently mentioned to me that a VX800 rear wheel will bolt right up to a GS850. Is this true? If so which caliper should I use? I thought the 5 point design would look cool with the 3 point look of the GSX-R wheel up front. Then both wheels would be 17” but im not sure if that would cause any issues. Lastly, what would be a good tire size and psi to run front and rear witb the wheels mentioned? Sorry if this is a stupid question, if you’ve read this far thank you and I look forward to learning in this group.

[wraith]

So, the answer to will a vx800 rear wheel fit the gs850, is yes.

The main pain with this, is you need to remove the hub to put the wheel in/out as the tyre is a bit fat to go past the inner hub. (I had a 160 on it but you can fit the 150) us the xv800 caliper hanger and disc, you can then use a vx800/gs500/gsx600f/gsx750f rear caliper.

Tyre pressure is down to the rider, I ran 38psi in the rear. Front try 36psi.

And welcome to OSS  

[Hmar02]

5 hours ago, wraith said:

So, the answer to will a vx800 rear wheel fit the gs850, is yes.

The main pain with this, is you need to remove the hub to put the wheel in/out as the tyre is a bit fat to go past the inner hub. (I had a 160 on it but you can fit the 150) us the xv800 caliper hanger and disc, you can then use a vx800/gs500/gsx600f/gsx750f rear caliper.

Tyre pressure is down to the rider, I ran 38psi in the rear. Front try 36psi.

And welcome to OSS  

Thanks for the reply. I’ll see if I can hunt down the extra parts. 

[Hmar02]

Alternatively, has anyone used the stock wheel for their bike on a fork swap with the newer brakes, but maintaining the old school speedo gear?

[TonyGee]

23 minutes ago, Hmar02 said:

Alternatively, has anyone used the stock wheel for their bike on a fork swap with the newer brakes, but maintaining the old school speedo gear?

yeah im sure people have and it wouldn't be too hard to do, but most people fit more modern forks so they can use more modern wheels and tyres as well. 

[wraith]

Which gsxr model front forks have you got? 

We need more info to answer some questions