Bike pulls to the left "Bent Forks" I need new ones

[dsgs500f]

Okay, I got it figured out, my bike has bent forks! I need new ones now. I saw that everyone puts Katana front forks on. Are these a good match with no modifications need? What would you guys do?

[bucks1605]

Katana forks aren't a direct replacement. You have to either use custom spacers made by dgyver, or swap the stem from your gs to the kat lower triple.

It would be much simpler to just replace you forks with stockers from a gs.

Of course if you want to, it's a great mod.

[dsgs500f]

What year do I need the shocks from? Is the replacement easy to do?

[bucks1605]

What year do I need the shocks from? Is the replacement easy to do?

GS forks or kat forks?

[dsgs500f]

If I by 1998 Katana forks and wheels, can I just use the forks with my gs500 front wheel, or do I have to use a whole new assembly? I just want to replace the forks not the triple clamps and everything else.  Please help I want to ride... Oh, the dealer qouted me 525.00 per fork, I dont want to pay that. Does anybody know where I can Buy just the upper casing to the forks because thats all thats bent.

[bucks1605]

If I by 1998 Katana forks and wheels, can I just use the forks with my gs500 front wheel, or do I have to use a whole new assembly? I just want to replace the forks not the triple clamps and everything else.  Please help I want to ride... Oh, the dealer qouted me 525.00 per fork, I dont want to pay that. Does anybody know where I can Buy just the upper casing to the forks because thats all thats bent.

Katana forks won't fit in your GS triple, they're too big. You'd have to get a complete front end; forks, triple trees, top clamp, brake calipers, lines, rotor. It's a fair amount of work.


If you want a quick fix than you're interested in gs forks, keep an eye open around here and ebay. Darb85 and myself both just sold sets of forks a couple weeks ago. I sold mine for $130 shipped.

[pbureau69]

yeah keep an eye out on the for sale forum, I got a set myself from this forum a year ago, and they had springtech upgrade already done for 175.00

[mach1]

if your forks are bent than most likley you just need the inner tube(silver one) bikebandit sales them for $199. I got my upper from ebay for $99. but you may not need the whole leg

[beRto]

Okay, I got it figured out, my bike has bent forks! I need new ones now. I saw that everyone puts Katana front forks on. Are these a good match with no modifications need? What would you guys do?

How did you find out the forks are bent? (I'm guessing it's not obvious by "look", since you didn't notice right away)

[sledge]

Okay, I got it figured out, my bike has bent forks! I need new ones now. I saw that everyone puts Katana front forks on. Are these a good match with no modifications need? What would you guys do?

How did you find out the forks are bent? (I'm guessing it's not obvious by "look", since you didn't notice right away)

Several ways to check if the tube is bent and if its only 1 or 2 mm out over its length its difficult to detect using a MK1 Eyeball. Hold it against a straight-edge and look for gaps. You can roll it on a perfectly flat surface (Kitchen worktop or sheet of glass) and see how it behaves, or you can set it up in vee-blocks and check the run-out with a DTI (if you have access to this equipment)

[ben2go]

Please read this before doing a Katana front end swap.If you do not feel comfortable doing it then seek help.I along with many others have done this conversion.   http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=13673

The Katana front end replaces the whole GS front end.The GS triples are to small for the fork tubes from a Katana.

[dsgs500f]

I took my level out and turned the top portion of the forks very slowly, I found that after about a 1/2 turn the level was not flat against both sides( small gap on one side). They were bent to the right. Making it pull to the left when braking.