Are gs500 forks interchangeable between model years?
I'm currently struggling to loosen my cartridge bolt on my 2006 forks.
I'm considering buying a pair of older forks that you could use a tool to hold the cartridge in place.
It looks like I can get a decent used pair off ebay for around $100. If they're plug and play, this would be worth it for me.
https://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php/topic,72265.msg870079/sslRedirect.html#msg870079
Quote from: HPP8140 on September 04, 2023, 03:29:31 PMhttps://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php/topic,72265.msg870079/sslRedirect.html#msg870079
Awesome, thank you! I've done a few searches, but hadn't found this thread yet
:D
That's a good link.
In short, any year gs500 fork will work with any year GS500. They have the same exterior dimensions. Many of the internal components are different and not interchangeable. The '04+ forks have stiffer springs, so they are not as in desperate need of replacing the springs with ones from Sonic or Racetech. I think the pre-1995 forks (I can't remember the exact year) had even softer springs than the later E models.
The newer forks can be taken apart with a wooden broomstick shaved to fit into the opening in the damper rod. Works even better if you have an impact driver for the bolt at the bottom while you hold the damper rod in place with the broom stick. With either style fork you have to make a special tool...just different tools.
I ended up buying some older forks from ebay. I tried the wood rod and have a Milwaukee hi-torque impact. Even with those, I couldn't get my '06 forks apart.
For $100, it was worth it to me to get some that were easier to work on. I got them apart in about a minute with a 24mm hex tool I made.
I think the ones I bought are from 1991. The springs are laughably tiny. They look like pen springs.
Yeah, people were smaller back then. Japanese people even more so. The '04+ springs should be good for those old forks.
The trick with the '04+ forks is twofold:
1: You must get the damper rod oil free so the wood rod can grip it. Spray parts cleaner down in there.
2: The wood rod must be exactly the right shape to be hammered into the taper. You can't just buy a wooden broom handle and use it as-is. It probably took me an hour trying different shapes/contours before I found the right one. The shape that worked was about the size/shape of my pinky finger but with vertical irregularity that could bend/grab when it was hammered in and then twisted. Flip the fork upside down and use vise grips to hold the rod and pin the grips to your foot so it doesn't spin while you use an impact wrench on the allen bolt at the bottom of the damper rod (now facing up) . Now that my rod is made, I've been able to re-use it.
Suzuki sells/sold a special tool for the '04+ works but the wood stick works better.