GSXR front end on Kat 1100

[John Kat]

I'm currently upgrading one of my Kats to "racing" spec.
As such, I decided to graft a complete front end from a 1st gen GSXR 1100.
Once again the Suzuki magic worked, the fork slips right in with no modification.
Too bad Suzuki didn't standardize on the stop locks aswell.
Here's the before ( 19" wheel) and the after (18" wheel).

 

[El Giablo]

You are on your way. El G.

 

[posplayr]

You will get a big step up with the radials, You going to get a 18x4" 1100 rear wheel as well? Run a 160/60-18.


BTW, the GS antidives will fit on the GSXR forks. I went with cartrige emulators so the antidive is not functional anyway

 

[John Kat]

Yes, I managed to find the matching rear wheel in 18*4 dimension
I'm still unsure about the tire dimension as theoretically the maximum size should be a 150?
The 18" tires are rare and I was wondering if I would not fit the kind of tire that goes on the modern "trail" bikes like the BMW GS 1200 or the Ducati Multistrada?
The 150/70*18 dimension for a Contitrail Attack BTW develops 2014 mm per rev that compares almost exactly to the 130/90*17 with 2011 mm/rev.
What do you think?

 

[Guest]

I have the same front end on my 1980 1100/gsxr/bandit conversion. Ride quality is 100% better. I love it.

Paul

 

[Greg B]

Aren't the GSX-R anti-dive units electricly activated?
I had an '87 & the anti-dive actually worked on that bike.
At least so that I noticed a difference.

 

[John Kat]

Aren't the GSX-R anti-dive units electricly activated?
I had an '87 & the anti-dive actually worked on that bike.
At least so that I noticed a difference.

Yes, they are but I believe Posplayr's remark is to keep the bike looking standard.
I disconnected the anti-dive on my other Kat as the front brake feedback diminishes quite a bit...

 

[John Kat]

I have the same front end on my 1980 1100/gsxr/bandit conversion. Ride quality is 100% better. I love it.

Paul

No doubt!
What tires are you using?
Cross-ply or radial?

 

[Guest]

Pirellis radials front & back. The Bandit swingarm & gsxr front end lowered the bike & gave me modern suspension & ride. Handling is great!!
Here's a pic

Paul

 

[John Kat]

Pirellis radials front & back. The Bandit swingarm & gsxr front end lowered the bike & gave me modern suspension & ride. Handling is great!!
Here's a pic

Paul

Very nice combination!
It looks like you have 17" wheels?

 

[Guest]

Yep, 17's helped with the lowering. If I enter a driveway aggressively, I sometime get a minor scrape so I try to be careful.

 

[posplayr]

Very nice combination!
It looks like you have 17" wheels?

The 18" 3 spoke wheels came on the 88 GSXR 1100 only. The front appears to be 18" (see first generation rotors), and likely the rear also.