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Front end swap 85 550 to larger bike

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    Front end swap 85 550 to larger bike

    Hi all, I have a 85 gs550L that I am trying to bring back to use as my 2 up bike. It has the 16 inch front wheel, and while I absolutely love the style of the mag, I don't like the small diameter for what I plan on using the bike for, which is very calm 2 up rides. I want to use the 19 inch wheel from an ~82 gs550 or larger bike ie 650, 850, etc, and I would really like to keep the single disc setup as it fits the style of the rest of the bike.

    I have looked into just swapping the wheel, but the brakes seem to be an issue. I've heard that the stock 550 caliper hits the wheel, but I can't find any pictures as to what it hits exactly, or if it can be remedied with a bracket between the caliper and the fork. I also believe that my stock forks are a good bit longer than the others, and I don't want it to have the raked out look when bolted up. This brings me to the idea that it may be easier and simpler to swap out the entire front end to a 35mm '82 550 front end (from my 37). The bearings are the same size, but I cant find if the stems are, or if the stems from the larger bikes are the same length as well.

    There is a chance that a 37mm fork set from a larger bike would slide into my stock triples, but, yet again, I can't seem to find any definitive information. Any details, links, measurements, ideas, or a nudge in the general direction would be greatly appreciated.

    Hopefully I haven't bored everyone to death with my lengthy post, I am not usually one to post questions on forums but there is a great deal of knowledge here and I'm coming up with dead ends.

    #2
    I think later years of this bike had a 19 inch front wheel.
    Ebay may have the forks that fit properly.

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      #3
      Thanks for the quick reply. Do you mean on the 550s? As far as I know the 19s were pre-83, when they went to the 16. On the bigger bikes is where it gets a little hazy. I was planning on either picking up all the needed parts from ebay or possibly a few local salvage yards.

      This is the wheel I'm wanting (borrowed from google images)


      So, any ideas on if a stock 650-850-older 550 front end will bolt up stem and all?

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