Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
GS300 out of mothballs. Front swap?
Collapse
X
-
GS300 out of mothballs. Front swap?
Hey guys, I have an 82 GS300 I am going to revive soon to ride just for giggles and good gas mileage.. It's in really good shape physically for its age. However, I do not like the atrocious (and ugly) drum brakes on the front. I'd like to swap it out with a disc unit. Should I be able to swap in two front forks from a 400 or a 450? Or do I need the whole tree unit? The 450 looks like virtually the same bike. I do have an 82 650 tree unit lying about with a caliper still on it...I am certain that has larger forks, but could I swap that whole unit on? Course I know I need a wheel as well....what size would be ok? Thanks in advance!Tags: None
-
Big Rich
Easiest thing to do is swap an entire front end (wheel, forks, tree, etc). IIRC the 450 has 33mm legs and the 650 would have 35mm legs.
-
James750tz
That's good info. Would the 650 tree still fit though on that frame? Since I already have them that would keep my cost down. I don't want to pump a ton of money in this old bike since it is small displacement. Thank you!
Comment
-
Big Rich
I haven't looked, but check the steering stem bearings between the two models. Good chance they use the same bearings, so it would be a pretty direct swap (steering stops might be different on the lower trees though).
Comment
-
James750tz
I'm going to look but not feeling confident on the 650. Parts fiche shows different part numbers for the bearings so maybe...maybe not. However, I did find this video which although it is just for showing a fork seal replacement, it does show a disc brake front on a GS 300. I'm guessing that is a 450 front.
Comment
-
James750tz
Originally posted by James750tz View PostI'm going to look but not feeling confident on the 650. Parts fiche shows different part numbers for the bearings so maybe...maybe not. However, I did find this video which although it is just for showing a fork seal replacement, it does show a disc brake front on a GS 300. I'm guessing that is a 450 front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c03wIKpF7gs
Comment
-
James750tz
Here is what I got...Single disk unit. Any idea what I came from? I thought it was from a 82 GS650G but that is a dual disk unit.Attached Files
Comment
-
James750tz
-
Big Rich
Maybe from a 550L? I really don't know - that leading axle mount is from an L model though.
Allballs has a thing on their site to help with front end conversions. Might be worth a look.
Comment
Comment