Changing front-dampers GS450L with GS450E ?

[Dutch-Martin]

Hi All,

i just discovered a leaky right front damperon my GS450L. I thought "no problem, just change the seals and oil..." but after a better look it turns out my Inner Tube is damaged by rust pitting and its to far gone to fix... (economic at least)

Now after some websearching i found a set of front dampers ( L + R ) at a motorcycle-junkyard that disacembles bikes and puts the parts on a shelve.
The price is right ( € 60,-- = about $ 78,-- ) and they look pretty good, BUT there of an GS450E and not an L.

I have been checking a lot of drawings on CMS, and many GS450 models have the same dampers, but i also found some variations... I think they match but maybe someone here knows if these dampers always match with these models, or that there are diffrent sizes? ( like lenght or diameter at the fork assembly ? )

My GS450L is from 1989 and the GS450E is a 1988...

Martin

[hampshirehog]

I'm not sure on your bike in your market but if the L has a leading axle and the E doesn't then you will need to replace the brake caliper.

[Steve]

You will also need to change the triple clamps, as they have a different offset, to accomodate the leading-axle.

.

[pete]

Ok I can't figure it out I'm afraid... Alpha Sports only list an '88 450L, and no E's from around that era.

The part number I found for the RH damper is 51103-44900.

I looked on CMSNL and see the '88 450E but the damper is discontinued and they don't display the part number for it so I can't compare.

I tried searching by part number but again they show it as discontinued and therefore don't show what models it's used in.

The only Google results I see are for L models also, so I suspect they are different...

[Dutch-Martin]

Ok, so there`s a big chance they are different. I was a bit afraid of that...

I guess i will have to take them of and go to the junkyard to compare, because they look pretty good, or find another pair of dampers.

Thanks a lot guys for your efford! Greetings from Holland. Martin

[pete]

Good luck!

[hampshirehog]

Do you know how long the stanchions are and what the diameter is? They might be the same or very similar on another bike

[Dutch-Martin]

Hi,

i wanted to measure it, but i found a complete set of front dampers including the triagle clamps, for € 50,-- of an other L model!

I thought it would be impossible to find another set that isnt rusted or pitted, because of all the salt we spray on the roads here in Holland in winter-months, and giving the age of these bikes...

I can ad some more work to my to-do-list off the 450...

Thx all!

[pete]

Good score!

[Macmatic]

Just for future reference:

Two years ago I did a 450L project for a friend. Part of that project was installing GS550M forks so he could run a dual disc setup if he wanted to (no need, his single disc is better than my GS750) and there were no issues with the swap.

The donor bike was an '82 550M Katana and the GS450L was a US spec '85 model year. I used the L triple clamps, wheel and brake components and the complete 550M fork assemblies. This GS450L did NOT have leading axle type forks.

/\/\ac

[Dutch-Martin]

Ok, good to know, thx Mac.

Many times when i look on marketplace (the dutch ebay) i see complete GS550L and GS450L for little money... If i had more space it would be easy`er just to buy a donor bike...or 2...

Always handy in cases like these...