Sacrilegious Fork Swap on 1980 GS1000G

[CornbreadPDX]

Alright, I'm expecting to get some flack for this, and I get it. I'm ruining a perfectly good complete bike. 

I have searched/skimmed the few posts I've seen discussing mounting a USD fork onto the bike, but haven't seen anyone fitting a 1980 wheel onto the USD Fork of choice. I have purchased a 2005 GSXR fork. I also purchased the Cognito Moto conversion stem with bearings. I know the forks are slightly shorter, and was hoping to use the factory wheel, to not lose as much ground clearance with the 17" gsxr wheel. I found bearings to fit the GSXR axle for the factory GS wheel. Has anyone done something like this? I've included a pic of the start of this nonsense. 

[Gixer1460]

No reason not to do it, if that's what floats yer boat! Biggest hurdles you'll have is matching all the braking components (whichever type you choose - GSX or GSXR) to either forks or wheel and mudguard mounting. Oh and you probably won't have space / fixing for the speedo drive either!

[TonyGee]

ive done it but it wasn't on a Suzuki.  to me it just didn't look right so I ended up changing the wheel. but it might look ok on your GS ???  the thing to do is fit the forks and throw the wheel on and step back and have a look. if you like it then it doesn't matter a fuck what others think   

[Joseph]

Technically not too hard of a job, although the biggest bit to overcome is the offset of the discs in relation to the calipers (easier done on non radial braked forks)

One thing that could look a bit weird is the width of the wheel in relation to the spacing of the forks. Might look a bit skinny

However, depending on how you handle the wheel spindle accommodation (diameters to be sorted out), you might be able to retain a cable drive if the hub width of the 19 inch rim is narrow enough

[TonyGee]

1 hour ago, Joseph said:

you might be able to retain a cable drive

yeah, what I found was the hub width is narrower on the older wheels than the newer 17" wheels. so I had plenty of room for a speedo drive.  Ive also had a speedo drive thinned out a few mm as well to get it in the gap. 

[slayer61]

FWIW I put GSXR RSU forks on my GSX and kept the original wheel. It takes a bit of fettling, but it came out & I like it.

[TonyGee]

1 hour ago, slayer61 said:

FWIW I put GSXR RSU forks on my GSX and kept the original wheel. It takes a bit of fettling, but it came out & I like it.

better forks and looks OEM 

[Joseph]

Yep, i did SRAD 600 and slabside rims on mine. For some reason i don't see fit to use USD on non faired bikes

[Blubber]

15 hours ago, CornbreadPDX said:

Alright, I'm expecting to get some flack for this, and I get it. I'm ruining a perfectly good complete bike. 

I think that line was destined for another website 

 

"we dont care about stock on here"

[Gixer1460]

4 hours ago, TonyGee said:

yeah, what I found was the hub width is narrower on the older wheels than the newer 17" wheels. so I had plenty of room for a speedo drive.  Ive also had a speedo drive thinned out a few mm as well to get it in the gap. 

I wasn't thinking about gap to get it in - that should be sufficient, it was locking it to the fork to prevent it spinning, as original forks have a stop lug cast in for this purpose!

[TonyGee]

59 minutes ago, Gixer1460 said:

I wasn't thinking about gap to get it in - that should be sufficient, it was locking it to the fork to prevent it spinning, as original forks have a stop lug cast in for this purpose!

what I wrote had nothing to do what you wrote ??????  I was just saying what I thought. but looking back at your post you did say " you probably won't have space / fixing for the speedo"    

 

[Joseph]

Can't be hard to add a tab for that purpose

[wraith]

Your putting shorter forks in which are meant for a lighter bike, then putting a 19" wheel and mud guard on.

The first thing I'd look at, is on full comparison of the forks with the 19" wheel in place, will the wheel or mud guard hit anything?

[Isleoman]

6 hours ago, wraith said:

Your putting shorter forks in which are meant for a lighter bike, then putting a 19" wheel and mud guard on.

The first thing I'd look at, is on full comparison of the forks with the 19" wheel in place, will the wheel or mud guard hit anything?

My concern as well.   Not sure if the OPs 2005 forks are candidates but they do make 50mm and 75mm  fork extenders

 

https://www.extremecreations.com.au/fork-extensions-50mm-75mm

[CornbreadPDX]

Hey almost everyone, thanks for sorta making me think it’s not that sketchy, for the most part. 

I’m honestly not concerned about A speedo, this bike will not be a daily/regular ride. 

As far as the fork length, I’m losing an inch or so. I’ll be changing the springs/oil and sorting that out. I'm also looking at fork extenders. My main concern was more with the axle/spacers, and if that’s really as easy as I’m seeing it. 

And yes, I know as this sits, it's not gonna work. The clearance isn't there, but there's ways to fix that. 

 

Edited May 21, 2022 by CornbreadPDX

[wraith]

That doesn't look good to me, looks like your going to put the front wheel into the exhaust or frame at any time you ride it, sometimes a bad idea is just a bad idea.

[denisd]

Sorry but that wheel doesn't suit those forks imo. 

[TonyGee]

it looks just like the bike i did  as I said I ended up putting a smaller wheel on and it looked good.  but if you like it then fair do 

Edited May 21, 2022 by TonyGee

[Gixer1460]

On 5/21/2022 at 6:18 AM, CornbreadPDX said:

Not wishing to state the obvious, but the wheel axle isn't currently anywhere near the forks axle clamps - when repositioned its gonna look like a chopper LOL!

[CornbreadPDX]

Alright, so my picture from a day or two ago was a complete mockup. The bearings/race in the neck were out, and the GSXR stem was still mounted, making for a very sloppy visual. The angle, was far from reality, and the way the wheel was mounted, I caught a goofy angle. Here's a less mocked up visual for everyone. And yes, this dirty/pitted wheel/motor looks horrible next to these shiny forks. 

For the people that have played with wheels with different sized axles... where did you source spacers from? 

[TonyGee]

looks a bit better, the gsxr spindle will be way to big for the gs wheel bearings and I dont know if you could find the right bearings to match ??????  but you could reduce the hole in the forks to take the gs spindle with the right size spacers. 

[CornbreadPDX]

3 hours ago, TonyGee said:

looks a bit better, the gsxr spindle will be way to big for the gs wheel bearings and I dont know if you could find the right bearings to match ??????  but you could reduce the hole in the forks to take the gs spindle with the right size spacers. 

I’ve already sourced bearings, working on spacers now. 

[Fazz711]

Make my own spacers but sounds like not an option for you.

Find a local engineering shop and they should be able to make them to you size and spec

[CornbreadPDX]

On 5/22/2022 at 4:17 PM, Fazz711 said:

Make my own spacers but sounds like not an option for you.

Find a local engineering shop and they should be able to make them to you size and spec

Ya, I'm working out of a pretty simple home garage, but there's a solid machine shop down the street that I think I need to become friends with... 

[Fazz711]

You may find one of the machinest will do simple spacers on there break