GSXR Conversion/Swingarm Questions

[tone]

And here's how to sort those issues, at least for a GS1000 with a 2005/2006 GSXR 1000 arm/shock/linkage which can be had on eBay for about $100.

Good post fella (mostly what already posted both on here & oss tho )

One major flaw in the thinking tho mate the 05/06 arm is a completly different arm to the 08 1000 arm

Most of what you posted still holds true as ive said before BUT & its a big one, the top shock mount will need to be a lot further back & higher up than for the earlier arms hence cutting into the battery box area which will need a lot more bracing & welding/fabrication to sort which is why i mentioned it........

The only way i could make the bike in the above pic work while keeping the shock at the correct angle because of this was to build a strong steel frame to hold the battery & hang the shock mount off the back of that Eg lots of head scratching & lots of fabrication work

[80GS1000]

Good post fella (mostly what already posted both on here & oss tho )

One major flaw in the thinking tho mate the 05/06 arm is a completly different arm to the 08 1000 arm

Most of what you posted still holds true as ive said before BUT & its a big one, the top shock mount will need to be a lot further back & higher up than for the earlier arms hence cutting into the battery box area which will need a lot more bracing & welding/fabrication to sort which is why i mentioned it........

The only way i could make the bike in the above pic work while keeping the shock at the correct angle because of this was to build a strong steel frame to hold the battery & hang the shock mount off the back of that Eg lots of head scratching & lots of fabrication work

Ay-up there Tone, that EFE looks the bollocks with that K8 swinger hanging 'round back there. My notes were more aimed at the OP interested in monoshocking a GS1000, since I ran into every one of those issues in my build. Switching back to my native colonial accent, what're the major differences between the K6 and K8 arms? There will be obvious differences of course in fabrication between an EFE and GS1000 as the frames are quite different. Sounds like you have to cut out your stock EFE top shock mount and re-fab/re-weld it into another location? What about the lower shock mount? Pics?

[tone]

No pics i'm afraid as i had to re formatt my computer & lost them all

I'll describe the later arm for you the best i can, the 06 gsxr 600 had the same arm that the 1000 got in 08 btw

The later arm has a different shock linkage setup almost a complete reverse of the earlier ones you will be used to ..... the linkage is attached to the bottom of the arm rather than the frame & the shock is bolted to that, the dogbones run back to the frame from the linkage ............. if you pick up your early linkage etc & spin it round that will give you some idea

None of the parts from this new setup are interchangable with the earlier ones apart from maybe the shock itself

the result of all this is that the shock if setup the same as it was in the donor bike as it should be will be much further back in the frame than it would be with an early setup, eg in the bike above 5" or more back from the original shock mount & much higher, my battery went up close under the back of the tank in a fabricated mount & the shock bolted to the back of that

sorry its difficult to explain but i hope you get the general idea

[80GS1000]

No pics i'm afraid as i had to re formatt my computer & lost them all

I'll describe the later arm for you the best i can, the 06 gsxr 600 had the same arm that the 1000 got in 08 btw

The later arm has a different shock linkage setup almost a complete reverse of the earlier ones you will be used to ..... the linkage is attached to the bottom of the arm rather than the frame & the shock is bolted to that, the dogbones run back to the frame from the linkage ............. if you pick up your early linkage etc & spin it round that will give you some idea

None of the parts from this new setup are interchangable with the earlier ones apart from maybe the shock itself

the result of all this is that the shock if setup the same as it was in the donor bike as it should be will be much further back in the frame than it would be with an early setup, eg in the bike above 5" or more back from the original shock mount & much higher, my battery went up close under the back of the tank in a fabricated mount & the shock bolted to the back of that

sorry its difficult to explain but i hope you get the general idea

Ah, OK, makes perfect sense. I roadrace a K6 750 (becoming a K6 600 shortly LOL) so I know what you mean. Kind of a funky linkage setup, but Suzuki must think it works better than the older stuff. Seems like the earlier K5/K6 1000 swingarms are much easier to retrofit into the GS bikes then....