Givin Suzi a new front end.

[Anonymous]

Recently I have found numerous sport-bike front ends cheap, and I know that the later GSXR fronts will fit, but these are for Kawas and Yamis. My question is, if the steering bolt is the wrong diam/length, can I remove that "bolt" from the stock front end and machine the newer tripples to fit or is the bolt a solid part of the tripple. I know I've asked many a question about a mod like this, but I may have finally found an affordable, decent front end to try it with. Thank you, ~Ben

[Anonymous]

You did not mention what bike you would like to do this mod to. Early GS's had small neck diameters for use with bicycle type ball bearings. For me to mount a 1980 gs 850 front end to my 78 750 I had to machine a custom steering stem to fit the wider 850 front end. This whole project would have been a lot easier had the bike I was modifying come from the factory with tapered bearings. The handling is remarkebly better.
Good luck, Weirdo

[Anonymous]

suzi front ends

If your bike has the tapered rollers (I'm familiar with the 1980 and newer GSes), the 80s and early nineties GSXR front ends bolt right in. The same goes for the kat6and 7.5 front ends. Problem is length. A lot of the GsxR front ends are too short for the GS. The GSXR 1100 front ends are generally longer than the 750s.
I have a kat6 front end (30.5 in long) on my 82 Kat1100 with 17" wheels and 'Onda CB750 spec shocks to get the back end up and still have at least an inch less ground clearance ( and seat height). The geometry is the same as a 1989 GSXR1100.

suzookeeper ger

[Billy Ricks]

You'll probably find out they will work. There are a few things like suspension, brakes, and wheels that two or three sources supply all four Japanese manufacturers. The front end will need to be setup for tapered bearings. I've been wanting to see if I can find out if late model forks fit earlier triples with tapered bearings.

[Diamondj]

If you need to change the steering stem, you should be able to grind off the weld and press the old stem out. Then you can press in the Suzuki stem and have it welded (provided the diameters are the same where they fit into the lower triple). Chances are really good that stem height will be the real issue for you. It's possible you can get a good machine shop to cut out a stem section and reweld it if it's too tall or cut and weld in an extender made out of steel bar stock (on the inside of the stem tube - you've still got to get that lower bearing on there you know) for less than they would want to swap stems. You can go to www.pro-flo.com and look at their steering stem bearing comparison chart. It will tell you the inner diameter and outer diameters of a particular bikes bearings. For instance many Hondas (VFR, CBR) use almost the same bearing set as the GS. GSX. & GSXR series bikes except the ID on one bearing is 1 mm smaller..... One thing is critical if you don't want to drive yourself crazy - buy a complete front end! You'll spend forever trying to get calipers that work with the fork tubes, triple clamps, and the wheel you've chosen otherwise....

[Anonymous]

It's a 78GS750EC... I'd like to make this as painless as possible and lessen the squirmy handling in corners. I've found a promising front end from a 1985 FZ750

[Billy Ricks]

Looks like the FZ uses the same bearings so you might be in luck. As long as it's a complete front end it shouldn't be too tough.

[Anonymous]

well, the comparison is like this. upper: GS:25X48X16 FZ:25X47X15 so the upper inner diams are the same, so the GS bearing should fit, right? Lowers: GS:27X48X14 FZ: 30X55X17. So the lower I would need to get a different bearing. if they make a 30X48X14... those are inner, outer, hieght by the way.