fat tire

[posplayr]

I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting larger or especially more modern rubber/brakes. The issue is that there are allot of posts around here that suggest it is a bolt on mod which it is but it is the things that go with the bolt ons that add the complications. Guage Mounts, Bar Mounts, swing arm swaps and the like.

There are obviously easier conversions that others. Most have the problem to change the tires you need to change wheel which means you change rotors and have to change forks which means triples and now you have to mount bars,steering stops and guage mounts to match.

Those that are experts at this having been professional or amateur fabricators for many years have forgotten the "Oh yea, I should have mentioned" or "of course you gotta's".

I've been documenting a 1st Gen gixxer conversion with Bandit swinger and 18" 3 spoke wheels for my ED if you wanna see part of what is involved from a newbie going through the process.

[Sunburn]

I can still scare the chit out of myself with a my "130" rear tire.

[TheCafeKid]

I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting larger or especially more modern rubber/brakes. The issue is that there are allot of posts around here that suggest it is a bolt on mod which it is but it is the things that go with the bolt ons that add the complications. Guage Mounts, Bar Mounts, swing arm swaps and the like.

There are obviously easier conversions that others. Most have the problem to change the tires you need to change wheel which means you change rotors and have to change forks which means triples and now you have to mount bars,steering stops and guage mounts to match.

Those that are experts at this having been professional or amateur fabricators for many years have forgotten the "Oh yea, I should have mentioned" or "of course you gotta's".

I've been documenting a 1st Gen gixxer conversion with Bandit swinger and 18" 3 spoke wheels for my ED if you wanna see part of what is involved from a newbie going through the process.

Agreed. IF i change over my ES to the 86 Gixxer stuff, my main goal is only to get the better brakes and more and modern rubber on the ground. However, I think the large misconception for people looking to do these mods is that it will somehow make the old GS handle like a modern sportbike. What doesnt seem to be understood to the full by the guys just poking around about it (like myself at first) is that the single most limiting factor at that point becomes the frame, followed closely by the weight of the bike to begin with. It will NEVER handle like a GSXR or R1 or the like, even if you go thru with bracing the frame, but it will help to do so. However, the cost factor in this endeavor becomes the NEXT limiting factor for alot of us. When you consider that to do all the necessary modification to make the bike actually HANDLE better other than just having better stopping power and stickier rubber, it simply doesnt make sense. The price tag, all said and done, can end up well over 3 grand, and for that, you can land a NICE Bandit, or a few years old FZ1 or ZRX...

[gsbobber]

well rj im not an oc chopper wanna be but i am a newb to this im accually trying to build a cafe reson why i want the fat tire is one the look and two the handling i want to be able to take it up to the canyons and be able to handle i just have a hard time trusting the skinny tires the real is currently a 110 and the front a 100 but like i said im a newb. my apologies

[TheCafeKid]

well rj im not an oc chopper wanna be but i am a newb to this im accually trying to build a cafe reson why i want the fat tire is one the look and two the handling i want to be able to take it up to the canyons and be able to handle i just have a hard time trusting the skinny tires the real is currently a 110 and the front a 100 but like i said im a newb. my apologies

You can fit a 120 or a 130 on the back of that 750 bro and be good to go. a 130 will pinch JUST a little but not much. If you hunt up an 82 1100 rear wheel you can go with the 130 with no pinch, and its also a 17" rim... Same wheel pattern so it will look the same, and its pretty much bolt on and go, might have to adjust the spacers a hair. Dont be afraid of the skiny tires...it will lean over way farther than YOU will before it gives up the ghost...Just gotta teach your mind to trust the rubber...btw, get GOOD tires on that thing...Avon Roadriders or Pirelli Sport Demons or the like...Good tires, even on a skinny wheel, are amazingly confidence inspiring.. No one here is trying to pick on you or anything, its just a lot of guys get on here and think they can turn these old bikes into new bikes....just cant do it man. Good Luck! We're here to help!

[tkent02]

Most riders can't go ANYWHERE near what these skinny tire bikes can do.
Are you an expert road racer?
If you were you wouldn't be asking these questions.

[posplayr]

Most riders can't go ANYWHERE near what these skinny tire bikes can do.
Are you an expert road racer?
If you were you wouldn't be asking these questions.

Agree most riders can't go as fast as the tires will go. If you can get the basic stuff done, like proper suspension setting and descent rear shocks then from what I have seen on GS group rides the major limiting factor is the center stand dragging, then pipes and engine guards. It is not the tires.

Having said that even the sporty bias plys will tend to hunt on the road especially when there are grooves. The one time I road on radial (120/70-17 and 180/55-17), then that effect was non existent. Of course hauling down a 550 lbs beast, I'm going to feel better with a wider front tire and the disks/calipers to go with it.

[salty_monk]

Hard parts are definitely the limiting factor after "bottle" on my bikes

For a translation of bottle check Google UK

[posplayr]

Hard parts are definitely the limiting factor after "bottle" on my bikes

For a translation of bottle check Google UK

Everyone is speaking "American" and here you go thinkin again we will undertstand "English"

[tone]

Ive just read all the way through this thread again & am pretty confused after setting up stock gs suspension to my liking & raising the rear a tad i can pretty easilly run to the edge of the skinny rear tyre & often push the front to the point of it getting scary, i'm no racer either, in fact although i'm pretty quick & smooth i'm nowhere near the fastest in group of the people i ride with

The point of all the above is with modern suspension keeping the wheels in contact with the road & modern rubber i cant quite run to the edge of the tyre in normal riding conditions, therefore i'm leaving myself a safty margin which can only be a good thing

I'm also getting myself decent brakes & rubber that will grip rather than the wooden stock rubbish which wouldnt stop a wheelbarrow in a hurry

I expect some people to take issue with the above comments & thats fair enough but i suspect those people have never done a few thousand miles on a gs equiped with modern running gear, so in my opinion are not qualified to comment

cheers tone

[posplayr]

Ive just read all the way through this thread again & am pretty confused after setting up stock gs suspension to my liking & raising the rear a tad i can pretty easily run to the edge of the skinny rear tyre & often push the front to the point of it getting scary, i'm no racer either, in fact although i'm pretty quick & smooth i'm nowhere near the fastest in group of the people i ride with

The point of all the above is with modern suspension keeping the wheels in contact with the road & modern rubber i cant quite run to the edge of the tyre in normal riding conditions, therefore i'm leaving myself a safty margin which can only be a good thing

I'm also getting myself decent brakes & rubber that will grip rather than the wooden stock rubbish which wouldnt stop a wheelbarrow in a hurry

I expect some people to take issue with the above comments & thats fair enough but i suspect those people have never done a few thousand miles on a gs equiped with modern running gear, so in my opinion are not qualified to comment

cheers tone

I don't disagree with anything you are saying. It really is increased safety margin that I'm looking for on my ED conversion. Of course after I'm done with my conversion and I start taking high speed sweepers at 90 mph as opposed to only 75 mph then safety is a relative term.

My comments were coming from my most recent experience following a fellow member from here on the site. My ED although with stock suspension benefits from stiff front progressive springs, racetech cartridge emulators, Ohlins SU-143 and Sport Demons all round (no center stand and racing Yoshi pipe coming down the center). As I pushed to stay on his tail through some quick side to side turns, I could see him starting to run into suspension bottoming out and side stands drags keeping him from pushing the bike any further.

It would be a false impression to suggest that the stock GS without the center stand will go just as fast as an GSXR conversion on a GS without center stand. I hope I did not leave that impression

I think the original message that was being suggested at the beginning of this tread, was that there are at least a couple of issues with trying to shove a big tire on the back of the GS as a single upgrade.

1.) A bigger tire alone without being properly sized to a stock rim even if from another GS (like going to an 1150 rim and 140 rear) probably will not improve overall performance substantially if at all because it will likely not solve the bottoming issues mentioned above. The bigger danger is trying to put too big a tire on a small rim and ruining the grip characteristics of that bigger tire. So just doing bigger rear tire on an otherwise stock GS will likely do little. Overdone will actually hurt.

2.) I don't recall, but I don't think anybody was saying a full GSXR conversion was not going to be noticeable nor would not substantially change the ride, performance and safety of the bike.

So in my mind the issue is really pretty much an all or nothing proposition. You either upgrade the whole package forks,wheels,brakes (swinger as required) or you pretty much stick to 1 size over stock rims you can find on the rear and do few other things mentioned.

Of course within the "all" alternative, that could mean 18" 1st gen with RSU or 17" second gen with USD or even mono shocking.

Taking a stock GS and stuffing a 180/55-17 on the rear (using a GS1100E swing arm even) will not do a whole lot in and of itself if you are still dragging parts immediately when pushing the turns. The suspension upgrades will hopefully allow you to stop that parts dragging so that is why you have to go the "all" route. Modern radial tires are a big plus, but as you know you cant use those on stock GS rims. Brakes are a further bonus as has been mentioned.

[lurch12_2000]

i have a 80 gs750 want a fatter tire in the bike what would need to be dont/modified in order to achieve that. looking for a 170 even better 180

I took your original post and will answer it from a philisophical and practical view.
I recommend that you stay with the 120 or 130 rear tire that this bike was designed for and here are some reasons:

1. most riders don't even push the existing "skinny" tires to the limit now.
2. they are cheaper than the "fat" tires.
3. most buyers (75% by my guess) would prefer stock tires because they don't trust what the seller tries to tell them about their "improvements"
4. why spend $$ for expensive mods (rims, swing arm, etc...) to accomodate the "fat" tire, which again most of us don't trust what you might tell me about how much better it handles because some experts said so on the web.
5. after all those so called improvements in handling, tell me how often I can use it on the byways of New England. Between wet leaves in the fall, frost heaves in the spring, washouts and gravel on the roads after summer downpours, frequent rains, chopped up roads with 2" breaks in the pavement, blind curves with driveway entrances lurking around just about every one of them, slow moving farm vehicles that suddenly block your angle on back roads... do you still want try to prove to me that your expensively modded bike with a new "fat" tire handles better at 80mph on these roads and take a chance on "losing it" anyway due to above mentioned road conditions?

Do whatever you want...it's your bike. I'll stick with my 120(and maybe the 130 if I can't find the 120's) rear tire on all my GSes and will stay within 20-30mph "over" back road speed limits for thrills and never even push the bike to it's handling limits.
I don't own a racetrack, or have manicured roads up here, or have "spotters" clearing the road ahead for me, and am trying to hang on to my license, even though I've been stopped more than a few times for excessive speeds on back roads in the last year on my skinny, old, tired GSes with stock forks and no mods.....

[Jethro]

I just saw an 02 Bandit with 4800 miles on it in perfect shape that the guy was asking $2800 for. In this current economy I think it's pure madness to hack up and spend money on a perfectly good GS when you can get modern rubber attached to a modern bike for peanuts.

[saffa]

i find this thread to be quite incredible...you look through various threads and theres folks chopping up perfectly good GS's all the time . some turn out good , others worse than they started, loads of which get applauded and volumes spoken about how great they are.
then joe soap here wants to do the same sort of thing , ie chop up a perfectly good GS, and all he gets is negativity and reasons not to .
and as for just buying a modern bike for the same money .......wheres the fun in that ...

i have a 80 gs750 want a fatter tire in the bike what would need to be dont/modified in order to achieve that. looking for a 170 even better 180

find the parts i mentioned earlier and take it to a professional if youre a mechanical numpty. (but do the front too)

[posplayr]

I took your original post and will answer it from a philisophical and practical view.
I recommend that you stay with the 120 or 130 rear tire that this bike was designed for and here are some reasons:

1. most riders don't even push the existing "skinny" tires to the limit now.
2. they are cheaper than the "fat" tires.
3. most buyers (75% by my guess) would prefer stock tires because they don't trust what the seller tries to tell them about their "improvements"
4. why spend $$ for expensive mods (rims, swing arm, etc...) to accomodate the "fat" tire, which again most of us don't trust what you might tell me about how much better it handles because some experts said so on the web.
5. after all those so called improvements in handling, tell me how often I can use it on the byways of New England. Between wet leaves in the fall, frost heaves in the spring, washouts and gravel on the roads after summer downpours, frequent rains, chopped up roads with 2" breaks in the pavement, blind curves with driveway entrances lurking around just about every one of them, slow moving farm vehicles that suddenly block your angle on back roads... do you still want try to prove to me that your expensively modded bike with a new "fat" tire handles better at 80mph on these roads and take a chance on "losing it" anyway due to above mentioned road conditions?

Do whatever you want...it's your bike. I'll stick with my 120(and maybe the 130 if I can't find the 120's) rear tire on all my GSes and will stay within 20-30mph "over" back road speed limits for thrills and never even push the bike to it's handling limits.
I don't own a racetrack, or have manicured roads up here, or have "spotters" clearing the road ahead for me, and am trying to hang on to my license, even though I've been stopped more than a few times for excessive speeds on back roads in the last year on my skinny, old, tired GSes with stock forks and no mods.....

As a general rule, if we are talking twisty curves and speeds from 20-40 mph the advantage of the newer suspension are significantly less than when you start to push from 50-100 mph. Of course it would be reckless to suggest going any faster than that . Generally the faster you are going the more diff the suspensions make.

I recently did a ride with a new group to me out on Hwy 133. One guy was a GS'er here with a modded GS550 and I had no trouble staying out in front of him or passing anytime I had a chance (I'm talking curves more than straight line speed). His other buddies were all ridding modern bikes (GXSR 750, and a couple Buells). I thought I was being sporty with one of the guys on a Buell streetfighter as least holding my own in some 50-60 mph curves. Later in the ride, they stepped it up to what must have been 100+ into some nice sweepers that I felt uneasy at about 85 mphs. So there was a big step up there and they just were gone. No GS would have kept up with that unless you are talking an expert rider on a full out braced frame race setup.