Front end swap

[The Buddha]

no i want to get a bigger katana rear wheel and wanted to then just swap the front to get a stiffer front end bigger brakes and to match the bigger katana rear wheel

...if you want a Katana, buy one. If you want a Katana with a GS engine in it, buy the Katana, swap in the GS engine.

..just what I'm reading between the lines, here. Sure sounds like you want a Katana.

Dood #i - Kat FE and rear wheel swap is actually easier than stuffing a GS engine in a katana Frame. A katana frame is actually a POS. Ugly heavy pig.
Its FE and rear wheel though are really nice and definetly worth having on a GS. 170 rear tire easy with Kat wheel even a 180 if it will clear the chain. BTW on my GR motor fitted bike, it will clear everyhitng easy, I will fit a 5/8th offset front sproket if I have to and machine a carrier for the rear if needed.
I wont want the kat Front wheel, matching or not though, the 110 is plenty for the front, the Kat FE is great, and I prefer the 89-98 series. My kat FE swap uses most of the GS parts - just the lower and upper triples, the disks and calipers from the kat are needed. I mod the GS triple ears, mod the headlight things ... use GS wheel, fork brace and fender - need kat axle though but yea. Legs, lower and upper triples, disks and calipers only from the kat. Cheap conversion. I also only destroy the GS upper triple. All the rest of the GS bits are left alone or used in conversion.
Everything works like its supposed to and even looks stock.
Cool.
Buddha.

[The Buddha]

no i want to get a bigger katana rear wheel and wanted to then just swap the front to get a stiffer front end bigger brakes and to match the bigger katana rear wheel

Katana rear wheel OK and a matching front wheel - yea then you need to get it all from a katana.
Whole katana FE and katana rear wheel. BTW you want kat rear wheel - send me $200 and shipping and I'll drop one off at your door ...  .
Cool.
Buddha.

no thanks i can't afford that right now its lookin to be a better deal to buy it all at once

Remember though, the really wider wheels will start to hit the chain, you dont have too much leeway there with a GS motor, cos its narrow and the countershaft has a piddly little clip on the sproket. Offset sprokets aren't a viable option. I wont do any wider than 4 inch rim in the rear and a 150/160 tire. I am fitting a 4.5 rim on a bike that has a GR motor in it. You need a nut on the countershaft to be able to do offset sprockets.
Anyway, The bandit 400 rear is 4 inch and direct fit and will take 150/160 tires and not hit anything. It also matches the GS pattern in front and available in white. Kat FE 89-98 with GS wheel, and B4 rear wheel are all going to match. No problem there.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Mdow]

ya im trying to get ahold of a bandit 400 or a 88-89 GSXR rear wheel

i was also alittle interested in duel disk

[The Buddha]

Dual disk - that is front end. Your katana FE swap will do that. The 89-98 Kat FE only uses the GS wheel, it uses the katana disks and calipers. So dual disks.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Mdow]

wait there is a second set of hold on the left side of the GS wheel to bolt in a second rotor?

[The Buddha]

Under the plastic cap on 89-00 bikes. The Kat 89-98 has the same wheels as GS really. Front and rear.
Later ones have to be drilled and tapped but yea.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Mdow]

HAHA thats really pretty funny

[The Buddha]

I'm serious - not kidding. Look under the plastic cap on your F wheel. Katana wheels also are the same in the 89-98 models.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Mdow]

o no im sure your right i just think its funny they used the same wheel and could have just easily added a second disk and didn't

[Mdow]

07 GSXR wheels and front end will not work will it?

(mainly cause i can get a deal on it localy)

[Mdow]

i think im going to try and see if the 07 GSXR rear shock works tho

[The Buddha]

Wont fit, not even close, not unless you hack off 1/2 the bike. Just buy a freaking GSXR.
Cool.
Buddha.

[the mole]

o no im sure your right i just think its funny they used the same wheel and could have just easily added a second disk and didn't

You're working on the premise that 2 discs are better than 1, and thats not necessarily true, especially on a lightweight bike thats not very powerful.
You need 2 discs if:
1. A single disc just doesn't have enough power. If you can't either lock the front wheel or get the back off the ground then you need more power, but I think the single disc has enough power for the weight of the GS (even if its loaded).
2. You have a problem with brake fade. You'll get fade on a long steep downhill when heavily loaded, or if you ride it like a race bike, as in accelerate flat out, then brake hard, then repeat that for the length of a race. If you ride on the road like that, you need more than 2 discs, you need a brain transplant. I don't believe the single disc is going to fade, because the bike just can't accelerate fast enough that the brake is going to get too hot.

Suzuki paid engineers to figure all this out, and they didn't put on the extra disc because it would be:
1. More expensive.
2. Heavier, so reducing performance and economy.
3. More complex to maintain and service.
4. Increasing the unsprung weight, which is detrimental to handling.

There are similar arguments about fitting a bigger back tyre. I did a lot of miles on big Guzzis and Ducatis in the '80s, and most of them had 120 or less rears, and they handled well. You might need more rubber if you've got a LOT of horsepower, but this does not apply to a GS! If your bike is not handling right you're not going to fix it with  a big back tyre. Look at your riding skills first, then get your tyres and pressures right for the riding you're doing, then tweak the suspension. A big tyre will mean more unsprung weight and the contact patch moves further as you lean, so if you're making less than 80hp don't worry about it!
In fact, I reckon that if you "blind tested" two identical GSs, one stock and one with a 120 rear you'd get a lot of riders preferring the handling of the 120. We're all conditioned to think the wide tyres are cool because thats what the big bikes and racers use. For them its a necessary evil to deal with the horsepower.
My 2 c worth!

[The Buddha]

Excellent point about the twin brakes not needed, and how 1 disc can be as effective - as in you lock up with 1 disc, that all the braking you need, and plenty of us have locked it up ... so we know its powerful enough.
The 2 aspects you have not considered is - brake pad + disk life and twisting action by the single brake.
The GS has a static pad which takes all the wear, 3-4-5-10 times more on it. Brake disc gets eaten the same way. A dual piston, dual caliper will wear evenly, make a lot less heat and hence wear out a lot less. Not just 1/2 as less, somewhere like 4-5 times less.
The single disc also twists the forks and we put on thicker fork braces or do various things to keep it manageable. A twin disk will not twist, it will only bend the forks as a unit inward. far better. A fork brace upgrade on a GS is very very noticeable, on a Kat (that uses the same brace BTW) you wont even know.
Wider rear - OK you are right here, its a lot of pain or little pain depending on what your threshold for pain is, its mostly for looks. Maybe tire life, but then you'd be running hard touring tires and not the gummy supersport tires.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Mdow]

alrighty so hows this for a plan

stiffer front springs and stiffer rear shock and i think i have a line on a bandit 400 rear wheel.  and then run some nice sticky tires

were do i get a bigger fork brace i searched some and everything for sale and stuff was about a year or two old

[dgyver]

chuck81 makes a fork brace. Also a signal generator cover. He does really nice work.

[Mdow]

Sweet PMing him now thanks

[SIKDMAX]

Bumpin this up.  Is there another thread I can refer to of a how to or tutorial on FE swap?  Looking at picking up a bike that needs a new front end, and have access to a 90 Kat front end complete, along with front and rear wheels.  Will the Kat rear wheel bolt up to the rear of the GS A.O.K? 

What will need to be swapped over to the GS on the front end?  Kat Rim/Tire, shock tubes, upper and lower triple clamp, clip ons....?

Thanks guys

[The Buddha]

90 kat real wheel is same as GS. You want 98+ kat rear wheel.
FE - 90 is fine. Its easier than doing fork seals esp on a GS.
Cool.
Buddha.

[SIKDMAX]

Thanks Buddah.  Im only really getting the rear wheel so it matches the front, and because the guy wants to sell me the front and rear wheels together with the FE.  The rims and have brand new tires on them. 

So rear wheel swap in will be just like a removal/replace of the GS wheel?  No spacers or anything need to be fabricated? 

Seems like swapping the FE should be easy enough as well.