Looking to swap front wheel to Katana to match rear wheel

[nicoyastyln]

Looking to swap front wheel to Katana to match rear wheel

So I've already swapped the rear wheel on the GS with a Katana wheel off of an '06 Katana, and also swapped the rear caliber rod from a Bandit 600 for more clearance and installed a Dunlop 150/80 R17 tire.

What I'm looking to do now is sand blast & coat the wheel's white but want both wheel's to match on design even tho there is not much difference. According to web search an '06 Katana model series front wheel rim size is a 3.00 x 17 is this the same size on a GS? If so, will a 120 tire fit or would I have to stick to a 110 tire?

Similar thread:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=43181.msg484925#msg484925

Thanks!

[Big Rich]

If I'm not mistaken, a straight spoke Katana front wheel is 3.5" wide. If so it will take a 120 width tire, but a 120 tire might not fit under the fender. That, and your speedo ratio will be off unless you swap out to a digital speedometer.

[gsJack]

A 150/80 R17 rear tire? Not a 150/70? 

I have a 120/70 front Roadrider on my 02 GS now on a stock 3.0" GS wheel and it's a real close fit.  Doubt it would fit if it was on a 3.5" wheel which would make it about .2" wider.  The 98-06 Kats have a 3.5" front wheel.

If your matching wheels a 110/70 on the 3.5 might work depending on tire.  I'm just trying the 120/70 front for size, the rest of my 180k GS miles have been on 110/70 and 110/80 fronts.  I liked the 110 tires better even with 150 rears.

http://www.gs500.net/gallery/data/500/GS500tirelogs.jpg

[nicoyastyln]

Jack, has the riding handling changed any since you mounted the 120 tire?

I think I might go that route just mount a 120 on the stock front wheel.

And yes, 150/80 R17 in the rear. I got it for a good price when my local mechanic was out of 150/70's and it doesnt lool to bad. It raises the rear as well.

[joshr08]

I ran a 120/160 combo on my gs and loved the feel of the bike.

[nicoyastyln]

Thanks Josh ... I plan on ordering & mounting the 120's on the stock front wheel rim. As for my rear tire it is do to be changed out now I'm going to try to fit in a 160/70 R17 but might have to make one minor adjustment to make it happen. When I initially swapped out the rear wheel I installed a Bandit 600 caliper rod which gave the 150 tire just enough clearance. If anything I might have to order a Bandit 1200 caliper rod or pull the current one off, heat it up, and bend it enough to give clearance for a 160 tire.

Do you have any recommendations on tire brands for sportier look?

[gsJack]

A 150/80-16 rear tire is a common size but I've never seen a 150/80-17 rear tire.  Only 150/80R17 Dunlop radial tire I can find is the Elite 3 Radial front and it is a biggie, as wide as most 160 tires.  Is that the one you have?

Largest diameter rear tire I've run is a 130/90 which has a 26.2" calculated diameter and it really quickened the steering and I liked the way it fell into corners but the one I had didn't have enough traction.  That was years ago on my first GS.  Doubt you'd have any handling complaints with a 120/70 front along with the big 150/80 rear.  That 150/80 would be as big in diameter as the 160/60 rear that joshr08 ran with a 120 front and liked.

By the way I never heated my brake rod to bend it, just laid it across a piece of 2x4 and hit it with a BFH cold. 

[joshr08]

160/60-17 Shinko raven rear 120/60-17 I also had to shim the rear sprocket just a bit to get the chain to clear the tire.  I put 8k miles on that tire combo before trading the bike in on a cruiser with no issues at all.

[nicoyastyln]

GsJack,
Sorry I missed your message ... so I checked my tire and it is a "DUNLOP D251F 150/80-17" FRONT tire -    .I guess for the price I paid for it was not bad $20 mounted, and balanced. I'm just    about it! But on the bright side I ordered my new set of tires this past weekend should be in 1 week from Cali.

Josh,
Thanks for the details. I checked out the Shinko Raven's and like the look with the price tag too! I glanced at the 011 Verge's and even better. While I was searching for Shinko's online I came across a new combo set of Metzeler M3 Sportec Tire Combo 120/60-17 and 160/60-17 for $250 including shipping. I thought it wasn't a bad deal since I could get them shipped in within a week compared to the Shinko's ranging just over $200 including shipping but would take 2 full weeks for the set to arrive. I'm kind of in a hurry to get my GS back on the road so didn't mind paying the extra.

BTW, I've read a few threads about shimming the sprocket. Do you remember what size shims you used?

Thanks!

[gsJack]

That 150/80-17 D251 front is an OEM replacement for a VTX1800 Honda cruiser.  It's common practice to reverse the direction of rotation when putting a front on the rear or a rear on the front, not so common anymore but some of the current Roadriders are listed as universal and have 2 arrows on them like this:



Doesn't matter now with new tires on the way. 

[gsJack]

This was the first 160/60 on 4.5 Kat wheel conversion posted so I saved the link, might be helpful:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=25426.msg382917

[nicoyastyln]

Thanks GsJack! The link should help me out a lot.

[joshr08]

be careful all 160/60 tires are not the same width and some just wont fit.

[gsJack]

I thought of that late last night Josh and just checked the spec sheets and the Sportec M-5 is 161mm=6.34" wide on a 4.5 wheel and your Raven is specked at 6.34" wide on a 4.5 rim so hopefully nicoyastyln's M-5 will fit up same as your Raven.  They are not always the same as specs say though.

Recalling now the 160/60 M-1 Turd used in his write-up was narrower than a 160 would normally be and the next user tried a Dunlop supersport that was wider than normal and it didn't work out.  That thread from Turd is over 7 years old now.

[nicoyastyln]

I understand that I might have some issues getting it to fit so hopefully it will work out if not I have 14 days to return.

I attached the specs on each tire. Shinko .vs. Metzeler


VS


dimensions seem to be similar but YES tires always differ a bit according to the spec size.

Thanks!

[gsJack]

 

[joshr08]

Ok I just wanted to put it out there some people don't understand that each manufacturer makes molds for there tires and they differ in size.  Just don't want anyone to think they were given bad info.

[Joolstacho]

So are you guys shimming out your rear sprocket so it doesn't align correctly with the front sprocket? -Maybe I missed something?

[Big Rich]

I believe the shimming of the rear sprocket is to help the chain clear a wider tire. And if I'm not mistaken, the Kat wheel is physically the same in the hub area as a GS5 wheel.

But that's just from reading about wheel swaps Jools - I have no first hand experience with a Kat wheel.

[nicoyastyln]

Yes will be shimming the sprocket to clear the chain. On the other side, with the rear caliper break rod, I might be ok since I took out the GS rod and put in a Bandit rear caliper rod. It cleared a 150 but will see about a 160 when I go to mount the new tire back on.

The new combo set should be here this evening so I should be able to get to this tomorrow or Saturday. I'll post before & after pics and as I go pics.