Katana 600 front end swap

[D-Day]

Has anyone put a Katana 600 front end on a GS?  Was wondering if it is straight drop in, or if the steering tube is a different diameter.

[werase643]

same diameter....but longer
need to either replace stem with GS one or work the KAT stem

I worked the kat stem.
a couple of washers below the lower bearing and i filed the upper bearing surface down....so the bearing could be slid down a little further
then added some spacers above the bearing to take up the room from lowering the upper bearing....takes about an hour with a hand file and a vise.....or you could take it to a machine shop.....

[Hi-T]

What year forks did you install?

[werase643]

I don't remember... the front end was built from about 4 bikes
pieced together to get a straight F/E

[dgyver]

Mine has '92 Kat 600 forks. JamesG would know more about the install, since it was his bike at one time. I believe he just swapped the stems. Easy to do with a press.

[octane]

Make sure your GS stem is pressed in and not welded. They vary from year to year. My '93 was welded in and even after I ground the weld out, I still ended up crushing the top of the stem in the hydraulic press - and the stem didn't budge from the bottom. If it's pressed it should come out easy and you can then just press it into the Kat triple. From there it's pretty much a bolt on if you have the complete F/E.