wheel swap info 83 GS450E

[catfishk]

i've read on a few posts that wheels from larger model GS's, katanas, and/or kawasaki bikes may fit on the GS450E. i am about to pop new tires on the bike (the front is bad, the rear is good but i have read that they should be bought in pairs to match tread patterns) and i am curious if an upgrade should be done first. maybe i could bolt on the double disk wheel of a GS750E/GS1100E up front and grab a rear disk wheel (that drum scares me )? maybe i could even get smaller diameter wheels?

i am looking for the cheap swap. i like the bike the way it is but if something wider and smaller can be found easily and cheaply, i'd go for it!

thanks guys, in advance

[LeeGS550E]

I would look for later GS500 wheels. Single disc up front, but that bike would match yours for weight, and would let you run somewhat wider tires. Should be easy to find as there were lots made, and in somewhat low demand, because they're not necessarily a popular performance upgrade for other bikes. But in your case, it would work pretty well, I'm guessing.

[catfishk]

thanks LeeGS550E. i will have a look around.

funny, i see on my bike that the chain guard has been notched to make room for the tire in back. it is currently running a 90/90 18 in front and 120/90 18 in the rear. are these stock sizes for my bike?

[Nessism]

thanks LeeGS550E. i will have a look around.

funny, i see on my bike that the chain guard has been notched to make room for the tire in back. it is currently running a 90/90 18 in front and 120/90 18 in the rear. are these stock sizes for my bike?

The front is similar to the stock size (3.00x18 I believe) but the 120 rear is wider by about two sizes (stock is 3.50x18 or 100/18 ).

Nothing wrong with using mismatching tread profiles, been done millions of times with no issue.

[minime]

I just swapped wheels from an 82 450L into my 77 550L and there were a LOT of differences.

To start, the 450's forks are 2mm smaller in diameter compared to the 550's. So that made swapping forks out. The heads are different (one takes tapered rollers and the other open ball style)

In the rear, Swapping the swing arm was out because it was 3/4" too narrow, and I had to add a 16mm spacer to the 550 swingarm to accept the 450 wheel.

I went from a 550 with a set of 18"s to a 19 in the front and a 16 in the rear. A littler more bobberish now

HTH!