My 89 GS500 allegedly has no name forks that leak oil badly.  The fork seals were replaced and they still leak.  I think its time for new forks, I hear old GSXR and katana forks will work on the gs, any one know for sure which ones fit?

thanks,
atek3

As far as I am aware you have to swap the whole frontend of the early 90's GSXR not just the tubes.  A little more work but I am sure its well worth it.

what about a 1996-98 gsxr 600 front end, would that swap?

atek3

Not sure, I think yo need to mill some spacers, and different bearings but I am really not sure.

Give the search function a shot

Check the Faq forum too.

I have a easy swap FE ... Honda F2 ... just grind the lower triple weld off, and shorten it 7/8mm and re weld. then use honda F2 bearings (same OD as GS just 1 bearing is 1 mm larger ID ... but its going in a GS neck on a honda stem ... easy ... then wheel, clip on's fender brakes etc from F2 ... In reality ... I only got as far as the grinding part ...
Cool.
Srinath.

Quote from: atek3My 89 GS500 allegedly has no name forks that leak oil badly.  The fork seals were replaced and they still leak.  I think its time for new forks, I hear old GSXR and katana forks will work on the gs, any one know for sure which ones fit?

thanks,
atek3

First off the stock GS500 forks can be made to perform very well if one wants them to and is willing to spend a little money.

For the size and power of the GS the stock forks are more than enoough.

It sounds as if your fork sliders are pitted if they continue to leak after the seals were replaced or the new seals were damaged while installing them.

Check for signs of rust or other damage on the fork tubes in the range inwhich the forks travel.  If there are no signs of rust, pits, dents or the like maybe the new seals were not installed with care and were damaged, they were old stock and looked good but were dry rotted or other issues with the seals.

As for forks, yes you could transplant some GSXR or CBR or other forks to your bike but if you want to do that you might need to buy a complete front-end assemble to include forks, triple clamps, bearings, brakes, front wheel, fender, new master cylinder if you go with twin front rotors, headlight mounts, guage mounts  correct spring rates and maybe more.

I have done fork transplants on my RZ350 and a RD400 and in every case I used the complete front end more or less.  On my RD400 it had forks from a Honda CB-1 and a CBR600F1 front wheel.  On my RZ350 I started with a CBR600F2 complete front end and had to use some spacers and figure out what bearings to use to make the whole thing fit.  About a year ago I decided to use a NSR250 MC21 on the RZ which allowed me to use better brakes and lower clip-on positions.  I lucked out on all of the parts above and did not spend big bucks for the conversions.

As for the GS500 fork you could find a good set of forks and install RaceTech Gold Valves, RaceTech springs with the proper oil and have a great set of forks.  If you install a quality set of tires and upgrade the stock brakes with a stainless steel or Kevlar brake line and EBC double-H pads add a fork brace from Srinath and you will have spent less money than a transplant fork and have a better riding bike.

steel braided brake line- check
great tires- check
new rotor- check
EBC HH pads- check

No pitting or rusting on the forks,
I'll replace the fork seals again and if that doesn't work  :dunno:

should i buy OEM seals or "leak proof"

atek3

check the tubes closely under good light, the smallest little pit can cut, ive had to sand with emery cloth then steel wool to smooth mine out

Use oem type seals. I have heard here of issues with "leak proof" seals.

I have not messed with a gsxr600 front end. They are 41mm, just like the Katana but the axle diameter may require a different wheel bearing size. The 89-97 Katana uses the same wheel as the GS.

The '89-00 GS forks were pulled directly from the '88 GSXR750. They just lost a disk. But, I don't know about the steering head/length or bearings.

atek - when you installed the new seals did you use a plastic sandwich bag over the top of the tube, lubed with fork oil, to protect the new seal from tearing (miroscopic tearing but enough to leak) on the top of the tube?

I didn't witness the mechanic install the fork seals, but I did see him rip a seized piston out of a caliper with pliers...
I should install them myself perhaps?

atek3

You asked this same question on barf.  I know the history on that bike too.  The seals were replaced before you got the bike.  Chances are you bent the forks in one of your crashes.  Either go with stock GS forks or you'll need to replace the triple clamps, front rim, brakes, rotors, brake master cylinder, etc.  

Before doing anything else, go get the forks checked to see if they are bent or not.  Also, stop crashing and riding with passengers, you're not ready for that yet.   :nana: