Have GS850, want lighter fr fender and smaller fr wheel: options?

[ironsheik]

Hey all,
I've looked around but couldn't find anything specific to my ride. I'm concentrating on lightening this bike as much as I can and saw someone who put an 18" front wheel on their GS550. Can I put an 18 from another model on my 850? I assume I then can find a lighter painted fender too. It also needs to accommodate the dual disks. Can anyone tell me what would fit? I don't want the newer look of the 83 1100 plastic fenders though. Thanks for any input!

Josh

[badbrown]

The 18" GS wheel will fit but it won't work with dual disc. The 18" front wheel comes form gs425 and gs450. It doesn't have threaded holes on the right side for the disc to mount to. You could remove the right caliper and run a single disc. I plan on running braded lines and drilled disc for better stopping power, instead of converting to dual disc for my 550's. If it's true performance and light weight you seek you'll want to explore a complete front end conversion from a Katana or GSXR. However if you have a shaft 850 your rear wheel conversions will be limited. If you must have dual disc 18" GS in front you'll have to figure out a way to mount the other disc.

[badbrown]

heres the side view of the hub on the 18" GS wheel. It's just an oval hole with no threads for mounting a disc.

[badbrown]

Here a pic of the 19" which is on most gs larger than 450. Note the holes are threaded and can accept a right side disc.

[Commodus]

Lightening a GS850? Why?

[ironsheik]

You mean why try to lighten an inherently "heavy" bike? I want to do a lot of long distance riding and want a slightly sporty bike so I went with a shaft drive for reliability. Plus this 850 is one of the nicer bikes I've seen. Basically I've always been of a mind to lighten and sharpen suspension tuning before adding power. Unsprung weight being the most important, changing the front wheel would help but I don't think it's an option I want to deal with since there doesn't seem to be a direct swap. Oh well. Hopefully I can at least find another fender. Thanks a lot for the info.

Josh

[badbrown]

The 18" traditional GS is what I would call a "direct swap", except you are losing the right side brake, which means removing the caliper and line. The only front wheels that MAY swap in also are the 16" wheels from early 80's GS 's. Beyond that you'll be either you'l be mixing and matching front end parts (PITA) or just swap the whole front end, much easier route depending on your wallet.