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How to put Modern wheels on a gs

Nerobro

Nerobro

Forum Mentor
So... I have a GS550. I hate that I'm stuck with these "baloon" tires. I am very interested in finding out what modern rubber could be on the wheels that I have. Or what modern wheels could be put on the bike.....

I"m not interested in a much wider rear tire. I'm more interested in cornering than accelration. So... say 17" wheels front and rear.. and whatever width rim/rubber I could squeeze in?

My biggest concern is just being able to easily buy "good" tires for the bike.

*feeling blind as usual*

Thanks for the advice.
 
They're closer. but they are still narrower than the popular rubber. they are the same size an an EX500 IIRC. And you need to add nearly an inch of width to the EX wheels to make "modern" rubber fit.
 
I have Matzelers on my 550 and they perform awesome. Laser on the front and a ME55 Metronic on the rear. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet! 8)
 
You could probably find Dunlop GT501 tires in your size.

I run them on my GS1000S and love them,actually time for a rear.
My E model will probably end up with them also..once these IRC tires wear out...hopefully soon......
 
Guys.. You're saying a bit, but not mentioning the important stuff ;-) what size tires you're buyingfor what size rims!

I went to a shop today, he pointed me at those dunlops. He had a good opinooin of them. And pointed me at a 4" tire instead of a 3.75. Because nobody makes 3.75. What size tires CAN I fit reasonably? Can I get radials?
 
So... I have a GS550. I hate that I'm stuck with these "baloon" tires. I am very interested in finding out what modern rubber could be on the wheels that I have. Or what modern wheels could be put on the bike.....
Click to expand...

Can't speak for what fits on your specific bike, but you want 17" rims to be able to fit modern rubber. To get anything that is fairly current you will need a 3.5" F / 4.5" R combo. That will allow you to fit a 120/70 front tire and a 160/60 rear, which will be lots of tire for your bike's power and will handle like nothing you have ever tried. For the front, you can use almost any sportbike rim from about 1990 onwards (front tires have not changed size in 15 years). A 4.5" rear is tougher to find becasue rims rapidly progressed from the 4.5" width to 5.5", then 6.0". 88-89 GSXR750's had the 4.5" rim and I believe all 600 Katana's (from the late 80's up) have the 4.5" rim. Early 90's GSXR stuff will fit pretty well onto your GS (at least it does on the GS1100's) with common axle sizes and the like. You will have to make up new axle spacers and maybe mess with the rear sprocket carrier (on the rear rim) to line up your chain with the front sprocket. Do some searching on the forums, this topic has been discussed many times and there are lots of posts with more details of fitment issues to specific models of bikes.

One other thing to consider is ground clearance. You will drop the front end about 1" with the 17" rim/tire and the rear about 5/8". This means that you will hit things significantly sooner in the corners. Consider fitting longer shocks, +1", or even +1.5" is a good place to start and it will speed up the steering as a bonus. You will also get the benefit of tossing the tired old shocks for nice new ones that will work much better than the OEM ones did new. To compliment the rear end, add Progressive Suspension fork springs, Race Tech cartridge emulators and a fork rebuild along with a fork brace and your bike will be transformed.

If you want to try some better rubber in the stock sizes (before embarking on a long winter of rebuilding and fitting new rims), Bridgestone BT45's work exceptionally well and are reasonably priced.

Mark
 
Forgot to ask this... what is the widest tire you can fit in your stock swingarm?
 
For a 550, I would go with the mid 90's Katana 750/600 wheels. They are 3.0 front and 3.5 rear. These wheels are plentiful in salvage yards and on ebay and will mount a 110 front and 140 rear. This is plenty of rubber for a 550, anything larger is going to be heavier and overkill and will probably require spacers and offsets to get the rear wheel lined up. 1998 and up Kat 750/600's used the 3.5 front and 4.5 wheels. The rear is fairly easy to swap if you do not go too large- the front will require more work. It is best to buy a complete front- wheel, brakes, forks and triples and just bolt the complete front end on. good luck, Ed.
1983 GS750ED
http://groups.msn.com/SuzukiGSGarage/gs750edbacktolife.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=3337
 
you can't go bigger then 130 on the rear, i am running a spitfire 130 on the rear on the orginal rim and i have about 1/8" clearance between the tire edge and my brake arm. i run 90/90-19 front and 90/130-18 ? rear on teh back and this combo works fine for me.

-ryan
 
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