What will sporty front forks give me in terms of performance?

[Dawn Light]

this is for the wiki so wash your fingers first.

What will sporty front forks on my GS500 give me in terms of performance?

[TragicImage]

define "Sporty".

[Dawn Light]

from a sport road motorcycle - cbr, gsx, yzf, zx...

[TragicImage]

then, it will make it have characteristics of those bikes front suspension.... but nothing with make it handle like one of those.

[sledge]

You might improve the ride quality because the gs fork design is almost 20yrs old but I cant see you getting much advantage in terms of handling unless you also alter the rake/trail angles to match. Very difficult for the amatuer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rake_and_trail

[werase643]

they will give you weight...bigger = heavier
they will normally give you a second rotor and second caliper
they will give you free range adjustability for compression, rebound and preload....so you can screw with a bunch of knobs
the wheel is almost always a 3.5 x 17  better selection of tars in a 120 front

they will also lighten your wallet....most will not spend that much on the upgrade

[CirclesCenter]

Just slap in some straight rate Racetechs if you're looking for real "performance" out of the GS. Racing rate of course.

That's what I ride on. No regrets.

What does it give you? You don't bottom over every road hazard anymore. You can actually tell what the front end is doing.

[Dawn Light]

* Sport performance: With A fork from a sport motorcycle you may have:
** Two brake rotors providing more braking power.
** Adjustability for compression, rebound and preload... so you can screw with a bunch of knobs.
** A bigger wheel that means better tires.

Will it be okay to use 120 at the front and the original 130 at the back? i guess some of you did it.

[domas]

The sporty spring will give your bike performace without those you ar not performing, just roling.

[D-Day]

The sporty spring will give your bike performace without those you ar not performing, just roling.

I have put a '92 GSXR 750 front end on my streetbike, along with a GSXR shock and Bandit 400 wheel at the rear.  The difference when pushing the bike's limits is like night and day. Most people don't ride hard enough to tax the stock suspension past upgrading the springs. It is far too soft at the front and a bit at the rear for even light riders. If you are not wearing the chicken strips off of the stock tires, then there is no need to upgrade.


I have also put a '96 GSXR 750 front end on my track bike along with a '89 GSXR 750 rear wheel.  It goes pretty good even against late model sport bikes.  The video is shot from my son's bike.  He has a Katana 600 front end with Race Tech springs and emulators.

http://www.fototime.com/EC389D73F8CBA95/orig.wmv

[hmmmnz]

thats a cool video, just couldn't get past that srad, but was beating a lot of the others nice one, awesome position for the camera as well

[Dawn Light]

What if I were to ride the original fork like that? Not that know to ride like that...
Can an original fork with better springs perform like that in terms of damping?

[D-Day]

What if I were to ride the original fork like that? Not that know to ride like that...
Can an original fork with better springs perform like that in terms of damping?

My track bike originally had the stock front fork with Race Tech springs and emulators.  I actually upgraded it because I needed more brake.  The original fork is lighter, but the GSXR fork is much more adjustable, and gives better feed back when sliding the front end.  With the stock fork, it is a little harder to tell what the front end is doing.  Is it sliding, is it just twisting up?  I don't go much faster with the new set up ( a second or two a lap at most tracks) but it has much better feel.  Part of that also has to do with the fact the tire size went from 110mm to 120mm.

If you want to see how fast one can ride on a completely stock piece of cr*p, here is a link to me riding a 1976 Kawasaki KH500.  The last year of the legendary H1 two stroke triple.
http://www.fototime.com/610984E059521EA/orig.wmv

[D-Day]

thats a cool video, just couldn't get past that srad, but was beating a lot of the others nice one, awesome position for the camera as well

That's not a SRAD.  That is the tail section of a SRAD that I have on my track GS.  That is my son following me, and in the video that is not shown, he passes me and I couldn't get back past him. (I have been schooling him, figuratively and literaly.) That was a first for us, and kinda cool.  Pretty soon, I won't be able to lap as fast as him, although for the weekend, I had a 1:36:05 for a best, and his was a 1:38:5. 

[Dawn Light]

You are MotoDad

[hmmmnz]

hmmm so there is another person out there with the srad rear end on their gs, i didn't think there was any one else, i got lots of stick from the guys on the site for having a fat arsed gs
can you show me some pics,
your son was riding very nicely, no hesitating at all

[D-Day]

hmmm so there is another person out there with the srad rear end on their gs, i didn't think there was any one else, i got lots of stick from the guys on the site for having a fat arsed gs
can you show me some pics,
your son was riding very nicely, no hesitating at all

My son gives me lots of cr*p for my fat seat, but I love the width of the seat on the track.