81 gs850 gsxr swap?

[Guest]

I have an 81 gs850 and one the studs broke on the forks so its new forks time. Id like to do an early gsxr front end swap. How straightforward is this? I have access to a early gsxr600 . If all else fails can iput gs1000 forks on it? This is kinda a retrocafe build. Dont naysay, its what i want. Thanks!
David.

[Steve]

Which stud broke?

Just in case one of your other options is not possible, I have a pair of lower fork legs that came off my 850 that are available.

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[dstygg90]

The stud that holds tire on

[dstygg90]

Two each side so 4 total

[bwringer]

The stud that holds tire on

These studs can be replaced, you know... you're sort of throwing the baby out with the bath water here.


The biggest issue with fork swap (aside from the obvious stuff like finding a way to make the steering stem bearings work, etc.) is that the GSXR forks and 17" front wheel are a good bit shorter than the GS forks. So you end up with a bike with fancy upgraded forks but severely reduced cornering clearance. And it's still attached to the same flexible frame and (on a shaftie) the rear end is the same even if you upgrade the shocks, so the usefulness of the swap is pretty questionable.



Plus, GS850 forks can be made to work VERY VERY well -- the GS850G can be one of the best-handling vintage bikes. Add some Sonic straight-rate springs, fresh fork oil, and perhaps cartridge emulators or even a Tarozzi fork brace, and you'll be shocked at how well the front end works.

Put some decent shocks on the rear, spoon on some nice sticky modern tires, and if you know what you're doing, you'll easily embarrass the squids in the twisties.

[dstygg90]

The allen screw on bottom of fork legs are stripped out

[bwringer]

Can you clarify what's broken? If the damper rod bolt is stripped, drill the head off. Order up new ones from Suzuki -- they're an oddball thread.

[hillsy]

Biggest problem with (modern) fork swaps is getting ones that are long enough. I doubt GSXR600 forks will be.

The good news with Suzuki is they ran the same neck bearings on the majority of their GS / GSX / GSXR models.

Upper: 25 x 47 x 15
Lower: 30 x 55 x 17


There's a comprehensive list over here:

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=20951.0

But yes - cheaper / easier to fix what you already have.

[mmattockx]

I have an 81 gs850 and one the studs broke on the forks so its new forks time.

The allen screw on bottom of fork legs are stripped out

So, is it the socket head capscrew #8 or the studs #6 that are toast?




Mark

[Steve]

Again, I have two lower legs in near-perfect condition. I don't have item #8, as I stripped the heads trying to remove them.

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