I asked this over on the uk site, but if anyone here knows for sure, that would be great

I bought myself a set of replacement forks and when they arrived I noticed the tops are different to mine.



Had a quick look and there does'nt seem that these forks would clear the handlebars, so could i simply change the tops over from one set of forks to the other?

If the old caps screw in the replacement fork, it would be fine.

But check the preload.

Thanks mate 

not to sure on the preload comment, did you mean to use bigger spacers if it was too soft?

Those are the UK tops... Ill buy em from ya  your old should fit no problem 

Looks like the tops of the new forks have a pre-load adjuster screw.  You could probably swap the tops with the current forks.  Or, if you don't mind getting a little creative, get another set of handlebar hold down clamps and longer screws to raise the bars a bit.  Instant bar riser.  If you're interested, I can take a pic as I did this on my bike.

Good luck.

Thats why Euro spec bike get clip-ons, to clear the adjusters....The part nos for the Euro/US springs are also different...... I believe the stock Euro spec springs are slightly shorter than the US ones and/or may have a different compression rate. I suggest if you are swapping fork tops you swap the springs too.

Thanks for all the advice guy's 

I was thinking that I could cut the adjuster's off for clearance and save abit of hassle? 

I don't know how I've manage to end up with an american GS (california model). I looked at the vin plate and it says 9/94, checked the suzuki vin number comes back as a 95 model and the bikes been registered in the UK in 1999. so unless it's been sitting in a containner for 4 years and never made it to the states  .

Its could be an import....but how do you know its a Californian spec USA model? Check the nameplate and look for the country code..... there will be 2 numbers begining with and E.

E-01 is the generic identifier, they all should have this. Next E number indicates the country of intended sale E-02 is UK, E-03 is USA and E-33 is USA (california spec)

Quotehow do you know its a Californian spec USA model?

The bike is still fitted with it emission canister and the extra pipes to the carb's.  but i'll look at the codes 

Quote from: TGR on October 11, 2008, 05:43:24 AM

Quotehow do you know its a Californian spec USA model?

The bike is still fitted with it emission canister and the extra pipes to the carb's.  but i'll look at the codes 

No doubt about it then  its a USA bike so its either an import or its found its way here by mistake.........but the registration is still a mystery. Imports are given age related numbers so if it was built in 95 it would have been given an N reg number even though it was first registered here in 99 which uses T or V.....have a look on your V5 reg document and see if it says something like:  "Declared new by manufacturer/agent at date of 1st registration" in the Number of previous owners section........or you could ring the DVLA and ask them for its history, or maybe even contact Suzuki customer services, quote the numbers and see what they say.

I'll need to dig out the V5 and have a look to see what it says  The former owner was from lossiemouth and there's an RAF base there .

but it will make an interesting story to myself to see why it's here

I checked the bike over and it is indeed a E33.

also removed the old fork and put the uk one in its place.  if I cut the top of the adjuster off (to the top line) it should give me the clearance, its just I wont be able to use the adjuster but afew people have said that it didnt do much to the suspension anyway. And then I can just get the old forks cleaned up, new seals and the progessive springs then slap them back on the bike.

Yeah......It would be interesting to find out the history behind it, I would guess now that it might have been brought over by an American serviceman stationed over here who then sold it.

PS... I agree about the adjusters, total waste of time  they are there more for appeal than anything else.

QuoteThats why Euro spec bike get clip-ons, to clear the adjusters....The part nos for the Euro/US springs are also different...... I believe the stock Euro spec springs are slightly shorter than the US ones and/or may have a different compression rate. I suggest if you are swapping fork tops you swap the springs too.

USA top did'nt fit the uk forks, the problem is that the USA top is'nt threaded all the way to the top so it only goes so far (stops before the seal) So ended up stripping both forks to see what the differences are:

Well that pic answers a lot of questions.

This is the result of just fitting the UK forks (sorry for the crap pic)


Small update:

Having afew issues removing the damper rod bolt, so i can replace the fork seals on my usa fork's. tryed putting almost full compression on the spring but when I turn the damper rod bolt it just spins the spring in the fork

So took a break from that a gave the preload adjuster a little shave:


so it now fits and there's a small gap between the adjuster on handle bars.