'81 fork tubes for '79 for tubes

[Pacman]

I am looking to replace my fork tubes on my '79 850 because I'm getting some lateral movement between the tubes which leads me to believe the bushing inside the lower is worn. (I think it is weird that they both seem to have the same amount of play in them but what do I know).

So a local guy has an '81 850 he is parting out but the part numbers for the lower fork is different on BikeBandit for the '79 and the '81. Anybody know if I can just swap out the two complete fork tubes and keep my trees, wheel, brakes the same?

Thanks,
Chris

[hampshirehog]

The whole set of forks should swap right over. However, if the US bikes are the same as the UK the 79 tubes won't fit the 81 lowers and vice versa.

[chiphead]

Do a search of this site. There is an article floating around here somewhere that explains how to shim all the bushings in the front forks with feeler gauge stock to get rid of that play.

[chiphead]

See here:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=118217

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=125622&highlight=shim+forks