79 gs850 help

[Guest]

I need to switch the tires from my 78 gs550 onto my 79 gs850 same size tires just not dry rotted haha. The rims look the same except the 550 is chain driven amd 850 shaft? Is there any tips or rundowns anyone could assist me with ?

[Big T]

The tires, or the wheels?

If it's tires, break out the tire irons

[Jeffygonewilld]

The 550 has the same rims and good tires i was just gonna switch em

[Nessism]

The front may work, but the rear wheel is totally different.

[Sam 78 GS750]

Are you trying to put the 550 rims on your 850, or take the tires off of the 550 rims and put them on your 850 rims?

[bwringer]

Errrrr.... unless something has been modified, the front wheel on the 550 has one brake rotor and the 850 has two.

And the rear is totally different; shaft drive instead of chain.

So no, you can't swap either wheel. You might be able to transplant the 850 brake rotors onto the 550 wheel, but that would take some careful measurement to make sure all the spacing is really the same.

You'll need to remove the tires and tubes from one and transplant them to the other.

Not remotely worth it.


Personally, I'd just grab a set of Shinko 230 or 712 tires for just over a hundred bucks and enjoy fresh tires and spend about 1/4 the time farting around with this.