New build project--Front end swap

[lowntown]

Hello All

I am new here and just bought a 81 xs650. Going to be tearing it apart, and my vision is a beefier front end with inverted forks. what are recommendation for a front end swap, what other model bikes swap relatively pain free. thanks in advance

 

[plattey]

I've heard that the fz600 front ends swap over very nicely. No inverted forks, but air over oil plus improved braking up front. The whole thing, triple tree assembly and the forks. Think the turn stop has to be moved in order to use the fz front end though.

 

[Shakey]

I second the FZR route. I grafted a 600R front end straight on. Used new XS s'head bearings on the fzr stem and the top yoke from the fzr.

 

[Shakey]

the XS ignition barrel even fits the fzr top yoke with very minor modification!

 

[hogrider]

I went this route. 2001 GSX-R fork with 1000 brakes front and rear.

 

[Shakey]

Looking good hogrider! What coating do you have on the pipes?

 

[lowntown]

thanks for the suggestions. I somewhat prefer the inverted front but the fz route is a possibility. Hogrider: what was involved in getting the neck, bearings, cups etc to work.

Also are there any other places other than ebay or craigslist to source out front ends?

thanks all

 

[lowntown]

 

[plattey]

^^^ Hahaha nice! Is that where you get your chrome polish? You could check around your area for motorcycle bone yards. Sometimes a car/truck junk yard will have bikes. Heck, when I was dating one of my ex's I passed this small run down place with a bunch of rusty cars and trucks. I stopped to check it out one day and it turned out the owner used to race the xs650 and currently owns 2! One with a sidecar and one where he transplanted a 650 motor into a hand built motocross frame. You never know what you'll run into.

 

[vincemasi]

I went this route. 2001 GSX-R fork with 1000 brakes front and rear.

that looks awesome!!! What kind of modifications to the steering stem did you have to do? And what bearings are you running?

 

[Spoonito]

Hogrider,

can you go into more specifics on the swap? Were the triples, etc. a direct swap, if not what needed to be modified? Thanks!

 

[Pyroladine]

A really modern inverted front end swap is not just a plug and play deal. In my case and I am kind of stalled on my project due to funds, I found a complete 2000 R1 front end on craigslist for $300 I couldn't pass up. If you look at the table link in my sig you can find out (I gathered it together from lots of individuals that did lots of research) lots of different specs. on some popular fork swaps. Going inverted poses lots of problems: modern forks tend to be shorter, fork tube diameter is much bigger so you have to watch for them hitting your tank, tend to use much bigger axles so spoked wheel options go way down, stem lengths are shorter, most use clip-ons so that can be a challenge if you want to use conventional handle bars.
What I am going to do. R1 front end complete, it has a descent offset, so by adjusting the steering stops (which I will have to create or modify the existing ones on the frame) I can keep from denting the gas tank. I am using a 1983 GPZ aluminum swing arm and a sv650 rear wheel. The SV650 rear wheel just happens to match up to the R1 front wheel (another challenge depending on which front end you use). Not just any rear wheel that matches a front wheel can be used it has to be able to take about a 34ish tooth sprocket or you will be building a stunt bike! The R1 stem can be used with some conversion bearings from https://www.allballsracing.com/ but I will have to cut it lenghtwise and add an extension of which size I have gotten around to figuring out. There are adjustable and extended height clip-ons out there so I can tailor my lean to the grips. If the R1 forks don't work out to be long enough I can use some extensions from http://www.cycleoneoff.com/Photo_Album.html but won't do that unless I have too. I found out the possible rear sprocket sizes for any given bike from http://www.sprocketspecialists.com/sprockets/products. I hope you get the idea of just how much thought you have to put into this. I haven't addressed yet what I am going to do about the steering lock or ignition switch or instrument mounting, I will do that when the time comes.

 

[jd750ace]

lowntown : If you fill out your profile completely, so people know where you are in the big blue ball, there may be some local knowledge to help you out with sourcing parts.

 

[T89lowride]

I changed out to buell xb12r forks brakes and wheels front and back. But as far as the forks go all i did was machine the top bearing inner race out a little bit then make a bushing with a spacer for the lower bearing and they fit great and look different with that brake package

 

[claytronofrio]

What's all involved in the gsxr swap? Are there any real options for spoke wheels with the gsxr front end?