T500 Tapered Head Bearings

GT Tim · Post by **GT Tim** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:11 am

No offense Allan, just collecting info. Any other experiences ?

diamondj · Post by **diamondj** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:45 am

GT Tim wrote:-Can a complete '72 GT550/750 front end be put on T500 frame? W/ tapered bearings?

YES! Use All Balls kit 22-1005 for the GT series Suzukis. You'll have to add/modify steering stops to the lower triple

GT Tim wrote:-Has anyone put a '72 GT550/750 complete front end on a T500 frame? W/ tapered bearings?

Yes. My '71 has a '73 GT550 disc brake front end on it.

GT Tim wrote:-Are the fork tubes for the '72 GT550/750 too large for the triple tree of the T500?

Yes. The stock T500 triples are 34mm at the bottom and the top is a much smaller diameter that a stepped-in part at the end of the fork tube fits into. No clamps on the upper triple, instead the nut on top of the fork secures the tube to the upper triple.

GT Tim wrote:-Can anyone who has put a 4LS set up on a T500 tell me how they did theirs?

Yes. But then I'd have to kill you....

Okay maybe not. For my '75 T500 I used a set of 72 GT750 triple clamps, GT500 fork legs, a GT750 4LS, and the GT750 axle assembly & spacers (or maybe it was a spare GS1000 axle - they are the same size). Basically, use as complete an assembly as you can but switch to GT500 or GT550 forks to get closer to the stock T500 fork length. I'm probably going to switch mine to 550 forks as the GT500 forks have a weird damper rod design that is not easily modified (for emulators). I also considered a set of CB550 fork legs as the length is right and they can be modified - not sure about the axle diameter on the Honda forks though....

Jim

Post by **Suzsmokeyallan** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:06 pm

Jim im seeing 32mm on the lower trees of my two Titan lower trees i have.

diamondj · Post by **diamondj** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:38 pm

Suzsmokeyallan wrote:Jim im seeing 32mm on the lower trees of my two Titan lower trees i have.

At the sleeve? I'll recheck mine tonight...

Jim

diamondj · Post by **diamondj** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 12:05 am

diamondj wrote:
Suzsmokeyallan wrote:Jim im seeing 32mm on the lower trees of my two Titan lower trees i have.
At the sleeve? I'll recheck mine tonight...

Jim

Hey Allan,

Where are you measuring 32mm? I double checked the '72 lower triple and I have 30mm at the stem sleeve for the bearing and 34mm for the fork leg clamps. Maybe Suzuki changed stuff around year to year?

Jim

tz375 · Post by **tz375** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 12:21 am

Slight thread hijack.

Jim, are the GT500 legs closer to each other than a GT750?

Post by **Suzsmokeyallan** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:32 am

Jim im measuring the size of the stancion tubes at 32mm, somehow i think we went off track here. You stated yours were 34mm in the reply to Tim.

diamondj · Post by **diamondj** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:55 am

Suzsmokeyallan wrote:Jim im measuring the size of the stancion tubes at 32mm, somehow i think we went off track here. You stated yours were 34mm in the reply to Tim.

Hey Allan,

All of the fork tubes on my T500's are 34mm at the lower triple clamp. I have a '68, a '70, a '71, a '74, and a '75 and they all show 34mm on the vernier calipers. Are you sure yours are 32mm?

Jim

diamondj · Post by **diamondj** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:07 am

tz375 wrote:Slight thread hijack.

Jim, are the GT500 legs closer to each other than a GT750?

I don't know that I can accurately answer your question as I don't have a complete GT5000 or GT750 to measure. I have parts of both assemblies but not complete front ends. I can tell you the distance between the GT500 forks that are clamped in the '72 GT750 triples on my '75 T500. I can tell you the distance between the forks on the '73 GT550 front end that's on my '71 T500. Would either of these measurements help?

Jim