Hey guys, newbie here. I've been doing a few things to my GS over the years and recently after rebuilding my front forks I noticed that the gladius twin disc forks look almost indentical. Makes me wonder if it could be a virtual straight swap. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Although a lot of people are interested in running twin disks, it's not a very good upgrade, IMO.

The extra caliper and rotor add un-sprung weight. The rotor adds additional rotating mass. The system is more complicated, and harder to bleed... And frankly, at ~40HP, the GS500 really doesn't need it.

I generally advise using an endurance racing pad, SS lines, service the calipers and use a high temp brake fluid. I raced on that setup, and had absolutely no complains. If you have a really old GS, upgrading to more modern calipers can be beneficial.

IMO, the gladius forks aren't much of an improvement on the GS. They are still old-style ported-piston dampers.

Swapping front-ends isn't a huge deal, it just takes a little fab work to get the stem correct. On E models, you also need to figure out the headlight and instrumentation. Both models need consideration for controls.

89-96 kat 6/7 FE is a straight enough swap ... however I dont really agree its more issues due to unsprung weight etc etc ... I can tell you the handling is way better, the braking is way better, and brakes last a lot longer too.
Cool.
Buddha.

The issues IMHO are the 01+ body doesn't clear the handle bars that well. The gauges dont fit unless you have the buddha part that no one wants to buy and no one wants to pay for and no one wants to make and definitely no one has even seen or heard of ...
Yea yea you can booger snot it on as a hard ear mount ... but then again we should all be riding hardtail bobbers and have gas caps that dont lock, and bikes that leak oil but I rant and digress ...

Plus assorted issues like you need to leave the forks sticking up 1/2" cos your stem is shorter by 1/2", the original fender looks too narrow, kat fender looks dumb on the GS etc etc.

Handling and braking is definitely much improved as is rotor and brake pad life.

Cool.
Buddha.