1983 GS550 Forks

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Skaal-tel
On the street
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2017 9:51 pm
Country: Canada
Suzuki 2-Strokes: 1974 suzuki T500

1983 GS550 Forks

Post by Skaal-tel »

So I came into the possession of a set of 83 gs550e Forks. I'm in no rush, but I think they might work well on a T500. Bikes are about the same weight, wheels were similar (ish) sizes.

the forks are 37mm vs 34, have about twice the travel, 10 years newer, but are not upside down.
came with alloy 16" wheels (very very ugly) and disc front.

I have to measure the length but I'm under the impression it's fairly easy to shorten these forks if I have to.

It even has a mech. speedo drive on the front hub.

Anybody tried this before?
dollydog
Yeah Man, the Interstate
Posts: 630
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 7:09 am
Country: england
Suzuki 2-Strokes: several gt250 ramairs

Re: 1983 GS550 Forks

Post by dollydog »

should be a straight swap, including the yokes [or triple trees as you lot call them :D ]
i've used gs750 and gs1000 forks including yokes on alsorts from gt250 upwards with no problems.
cheers, dd.
GTS250 road registered. TS250 engine, Ramair frame.
GT250 big bang road registered. Both pistons fire the same time. USD forks.
GT285 road registered. Overbored - 58mm and TS125 +2 pistons fitted.
GT10 road registered. '65 T10 engine, GT250 frame.
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jabcb
Moto GP
Posts: 4240
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:32 pm
Country: USA
Suzuki 2-Strokes: 69 T350 thru 75 GT750
Location: southwestern Pennsylvania

Re: 1983 GS550 Forks

Post by jabcb »

I have two GT750s. One with stock forks & the other with 81/82 GS1100 forks + triple tree.
Used a Progressive Suspension lowering kit on the GS1100 forks to get the correct ride height.
The GS1100 forks ride much better — they respond to little bumps better & don’t bottom out on the big ones.

If you get them to work, the more modern forks can be a good upgrade.
All Balls Racing website has a tool for figuring out which triple trees will work on your bike. It matches them up based on bearing dimensions -- they even tell you what bearings to use.
But the website tool doesn’t consider stem length which could be a problem. So it can be useful to ask the seller what the stem length is before buying the triple tree.

The tool loads slowly, so just be patient.
https://www.allballsracing.com/index.php/forkconversion
BAS (Bike Acquisition Syndrome) - too many bikes but have room for more

Suzuki:
GT750 2x75
GT550 72 & 75
GT380 72
T500 69 project & 73 project
T350 69 & 71
Honda 85 CB650SC & 86 CB700SC
09 Triumph Bonneville SE
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