Has it been done?

[jdmae92]

So I was thinking about my gs550 (77) resto-mod project that I will be undertaking this winter, and I was thinking about putting a modern sportbike engine in the frame, such as a gsxr600. Have you ever seen or heard of anyone doing this? I figure I would have to weld some different mounts on the 550 frame to hold the engine. Would the sprocket line up or be close? If it didn't line up would I be able to shim it a little to get it in line? What are some other obstacles I would be facing to get this done. I am not trying to make a crazy sport race bike, if I wanted that I would just buy a gsxr600, I just want to do something different and fun. Any input is appreciated.

[Ironriot]

Well seeing as dropping in a 750 from the same era would involve alot of custom work I'm pretty sure the gsxr600 would be the same amount of work. You any good at welding?

[jdmae92]

Not yet ;-) I have a friend who has welding equipment and talent and is willing to teach me so this is a perfect excuse to learn.

[Ironriot]

Good enough excuse for me. Although seeing as you're planning on doing this much fabrication why not drop in somethign bigger now that you're there?

[tone]

This sort of mod gets done on a regular basis over here in fact ive done a few myself :-D

if you intend using a gsxr watercooled engine there will be a lot of fabrication work to be done so i suggest you use an oilcooled engine from a gsx600f oil cooled or any oil cooled engine for that matter this will reduce the amount of work & expense involved considerably

Taking a 600f for example & from experiance i'd say the bottom rear engine mount will line up but the bolt sizes will be different, the rest of the engine mounts will need to be remade, the 600 exhaust will need to be modded to clear around the sump & foot rest area, the fuel tap may well hit the cam cover & you are unlikely to get the cam cover off for servicing without dropping the engine slightly

The sprockets will not line up & mounting the oil cooler will pe a pain but all of these things can be sorted reasonably easilly :-D

The best advice i can give is to get a very cheap engine & have a measure up before spending loads of cash all the above problems will become apparent straight away, the solutions too hopefully

hope this gives you some idea as to the work involved
tone

[jdmae92]

Thanks for all the info. What methods did you use to line up the sprockets?

As far as dropping something bigger in, a modern 600cc sportbike has more than enough power for me.

[tone]

Thanks for all the info. What methods did you use to line up the sprockets? .

When doing this sort of conversion i usually also change wheels & forks etc for more modern stuff so start with some simple measuring to check wheel alignment you will still need to do this even if you dont change the wheels etc you canot rely on the marks on the swingarm as they are notorious for being well off

Always push the wheel fully forward & lock it off while checking alignment by use of a straight edge or lazer line layed along the rear wheel facing forward & measuring into the front wheel ( i'll explain this fully if needed)

Once alignment is acheived you can then check the sprockets using a lazer line from the rear sprocket to the front & measuring the differance

An ofsett front sprocket can be bought easily enough or made quite simply or a few mm can be removed from the sprocket carrier to acheive alignment it usually ends up a combination of the 2 to get clearance between chain & tyre or frame & chain when fitting modern wheels as i normally do but i cant say exactly what will be needed in your case

hope it helps :-D

[LeeGS550E]

This thread is right up your alley:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=107143