shaft drive to chain

[dpep]

Jim,

You are a little far away for me to make you reasonable deal and then pay for shipping. It would make more sense for someone around Chicago who could ride it home. It is middle of riding season, and if it is running well you should not have a hard time selling it.

Whatever difference there is between what you get for your 850 and what you have to pay for an 1100/1150 is going to be way, way less than the cost of the mods you want, even if they were possible. And the result of course is going to be way, way superior.

[Anonymous]

you all are prolly gonna be mad at me and wana slap the SH*T out of me but i havent even gotten the bike back from the shop yet and its my first street bike i have ever owned ( i can hear u all laughing right now) the reason why i had all the questions is cause i looked at everyone elses bikes on here and looking at how much power they have just wanted me to build mine thats why i was wonder about the 850 and u all say its pointless for the 850 so i am just gonna finish it up buy cleaning it the having it painted black and just ride it, the only other thing i need for it is an exhaust system does anyone know where i can order that from???? O and still wondering about a bigger back tire for it and where to get that from too.

thanks for all the input on all my questions, the GS850 will remain in stock condition lol well minus the sissy bar, blinkers, and mirrors.

Jim.

[bobasoozoo]

Swing arm extension on shaft drive should be pretty easy if you go to hard tail.
There are plenty of automotive shops that can extend and balance the drive shaft.

If you're gonna keep it as a swing arm, it's easiest to fabricate a whole new arm rather than modify the old one. IMO machined Aluminum with lightening holes would be the way to go.

I have a friend who is an aircraft machinist who could do it but you're gonna pay $70/hour chop rate. If you don't want to do your own engineering, I know another guy who's pretty decent ex-general electric mechanical engineer who is not too expensive.

I have a GS1000GT and gave extension a passing thought. It would be fun to be the only guy with one but there are a lot of other things I'd rather spend the $ on. There's a reason I buy cheap, not running, bikes in the first place!

You might have more fun customizing a Yamaha XS650 instead. Easy to work on. Classic Brit styling. Loads of them about. Cheap.

[flyingace]

This is really a sacrilege. When I decided to buy a used bike, I went right to the GS850 BECAUSE it had a shaft drive. I hate messing with chains and guessing if my wheels are alligned. Besides that, you will be giving up the best feature of the 850 - reliability. Home grown mods of this extent can only hurt the durability of this bike.

Please sell it to someone who wants the 850s' features and get a chain drive bike.

Ace.

[bobasoozoo]

That's the problem with religion.
One man's fertility sacrifice is another's most abhorrent taboo.

[bwringer]

As far as the exhaust, I believe Mac and Jardine make 4/1 exhausts. You'd then need to fit pod filters and rejet, of course.

Or just haunt eBay for stock.

That said, an 850 runs best with bone-stock carbs, intake, and exhaust. Smooth, quiet and PLENTY of power.

Ride it the way it is for a while, or sell it and get a 1000 or 1100 chain-drive model if you still think you need more power.

The swingarm extension on a shaftie is an interesting idea. Warped and sick, but interesting from an engineering standpoint.

One of the nicest things about the 850 is the way it handles (with upgraded fork springs and shocks, of course). If you know what you're doing on a GS850, you can easily embarrass 99.9% of the geeks on sportbikes. :twisted: :twisted:

Heck, any goober can yank a throttle.

[Jethro]

The 850G will go in the record books (or already is) for being one of the most perfectly designed motorcyles ever made. Durable (almost to a fault), powerful, reliable, nimble, and good looking.

I wouldn't change the shaft drive, you would simply be inviting premature failure unless it is done perfectly, and that equals huge money.

As far as the rear tire, it's the wheel you really need to worry about. I'm not sure if this works on the 850, but some of the 1100 guys go with an 1150 rear wheel. This would enable you to use the biggest rubber your bike could probably fit, but the limit would be a 150 or so.

[dpep]

You cannot put a bigger rear tire on an 850. Look at the clearance between your current tire and the drive shaft housing.