please help with wheel swap

[Billy Ricks]

You don't have to do the front, but if you want matching wheels the only way to do it is with a whole new front end. The '89 and I believe '90 were conventional style 43mm forks with adjusters for preload, and both compression and rebound damping. After that the forks were the inverted type. If you stick to the stock front end the little 16" wheel up front may lead to some quirky handling.

[Anonymous]

OH yeah, I knew that I would have to do that whole front end, I just wanted to know exactly which front end. I dont know much about the parts interchangeability of the different Suzis yet. So, if I use the 17 rear from an '89-'92is it? Then make sure to get the front with 17" front as well, off of the same model/year, and it will fit right into the tapered bearing races that are on my '83 GS750E?

[Billy Ricks]

The '88 and '89 GSXR rear wheels were 4.5". Ed has stated that the late model Kat 750s use the same wheel. Front end is up to you. Up to the mid '90 models used the tapered bearings. Just a matter of whether you want a conventional style or inverted fork. If it were me I'd go inverted, even though mine is conventional. I just did mine so long ago that inverted forks were new on the scene and there was no Ebay. What parts a friend of mine couldn't supply I'd have to get new, salvage, or from the classifieds in Cycle News.

[Anonymous]

So, heres my dilemma, there is only one show in town for cycle salvage (I live near Omaha, NE) ALL the other nearby yards are CLOSED PERMANENTLY. For the newer wheels, etc I am looking at at least six hours of driving round trip or a small fortune in shipping. So I ask again. Is it worth $500.00 for the 87 gsxr750 front end (complete with brakes, lines, trees, basically everything but the fender, and the rear with complete brakes, sprocket, all with near new rubber and an extra $75.00 for the clipons? I was wrong about tire size. The rear is a 150 tire. I have called some larger yards and all are in the $800 - $1100 range for all the same stuff I listed. This stuff just isn't around anywhere locally so I would like to get moving on this if these parts aren't total and complete turds. The bike shows just over 4000 miles and suffered a blown motor. I only have $1100 in my gs1100 total so I prefer not to double my investment just buying parts. OldschoolGS, you got any other $300.00 rollers taking up space? Please, let me know where to find deals like this.

[Billy Ricks]

If it were me I'd be shopping Ebay, but it's not me. If you feel like you can be satisfied with a limited choice of rubber that will become more limited in time, and not look back wishing you had opted to get something newer then go for it. The results will fall somewhere between your stock bike and something world's better.

[oldschoolGS]

The chasis was on ebay-it did not make reserve, so I emailed the seller and bought it cash and carry. It was within 1 hr drive though. I agree with Billy, I would keep looking on ebay for something with 17" wheels. Good Luck, Ed.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advise, guys. I am now waiting for something a bit newer and better to fall into my lap. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

So, what works on my 1981 gs1100ex aside from suzuki stuff that does not require mods to the steering head? I can deal with different bearing sizes and all that, but I don't want to have to cut or weld anything structural. Some say that some kaw stuff works, some say that some h*nda stuff works. Just trying to give myself the best chance of finding something as possible. Let me know what models, years work. Thanks!

[80gs1000e]

Will the GSXR rear sprocket line up with the GS front sproket?

[Anonymous]

I was wondering the same thing as 80gs1000e, with the stock wheels & tires, there isn't much room between the tire & the chain. If you go from a 3" wheel with a 120 or 130 tire to a 4.5" wheel,with a 150 or 160 tire, the rear sprocket will surely need to be moved outward. You can't run the sprockets out of line, and there doesn't look like much room to move the front sprocket outward. Nobody's mentioned this, so I would guess everything will bolt right on, but it really looks like there would be other mods necessary.

[robinjo]

I was wondering the same thing as 80gs1000e, with the stock wheels & tires, there isn't much room between the tire & the chain. If you go from a 3" wheel with a 120 or 130 tire to a 4.5" wheel,with a 150 or 160 tire, the rear sprocket will surely need to be moved outward. You can't run the sprockets out of line, and there doesn't look like much room to move the front sprocket outward. Nobody's mentioned this, so I would guess everything will bolt right on, but it really looks like there would be other mods necessary.

I provide some info about clearance in the swingarm area in this topic. http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...ic.php?t=15897