GS750 Spoke wheel swap to GS850 (front only)

[Guest]

Can’t seem to get the exact info I’m looking for which is: can a similar year spoked GS750 front wheel directly swap onto a GS850 (dual disc)?

Im obviously keeping the rear wheel stock due to the shaft-drive.

Thanks for any help guys.

[Steve]

Probably any wheel from a 550 to a 1000 would work, just make sure it's the right width to support the tire (AND TUBE) properly.

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[hannibal]

I've heard that most spoke wheels came with holes drilled and tapped for the second disc. My early 77 750 wheel did. I've also read that some are drilled but not tapped, and some are not even drilled. Don't know how this applies to other models (400, 550, 1000).

You'll obviously have to swap your 850 disc(s) to the 750. I've only read about compatibility between 750 spoke and mag wheels. If the 750 and 850 mags are the same, it should be a straight forward swap.

[bwringer]

Probably maybe perhaps. Without specifics, that's all we can say. I guess with a machine shop and enough money and explosives anything is possible.


I think the crucial dimension will be the inner spacer between the bearings. If the spacer and bearings "stack up" to the same width, then the rest should fall into line. If the other spacers are different, you might need to use the 850 outer spacers.

The other crucial dimension will be the brake rotor spacing. I strongly suspect this will not be an issue (Suzuki tends to re-use a lot of engineering), but it's still something I'd carefully check.

I can't imagine why you'd want to go back to tubes, but I guess that's your call.


As far as a spoked rear on a shaftie, it should be theoretically possible to scare up a later model Suzuki 15" cruiser wheel (Intruder/VS/Boulevard up to 800cc) and lace it to a 17" or 16" rim (the driven spline is the same part, so there's a good chance the hub could mate up). You'd need custom spokes, and you'd need to be very careful about wheel spacing and alignment and do a lot of testing to keep from fouling the swingarm with a tire mounted. so this is a fairly advanced exercise in wheel building. You'd also need to convert to the cruiser's drum rear brake, and there may be some machining involved. Or perhaps fabricobble some sort of adapter for the brake disc? In any case, it all wouldn't be cheap, and I don't recall anyone who's actually done this.

And again, I personally find this impulse utterly baffling. Why would anyone in their right mind would voluntarily go back to tubed tires? But it is a fairly common question.

[Grimly]

Why would anyone in their right mind would voluntarily go back to tubed tires? But it is a fairly common question.

Fashions come and go.
Personally, having had a gutful of leaky tubes, rusty spokes and wheels that needed lots of attention, I was glad to kick the last of them into the scrapyard and live harmoniously with my lovely ally cast wheels for the past thirty years.