T500 to gs1000 fork swap

[Sharky]

Hello, i looked through everything i could find on the search function, but didnt find much info on changing out forks to gs1000. The local salvage has a complete set up including complete disk brakes, and even an alloy rim. I am thinking with new bearing set from allballs, it should be pretty straight forward. I know that the 1000 is a heavier bike, and it may be over doing it, but wanted to see you you guys thought.

Oh, and long time lurker, first time poster. I used to look at this site for info on an x6 hustler i owned, and just picked a t500 titan, which i have wanted for a long time. Looking to upgrade, mod, and go vintage racer as much as my wallet allows.

Thanks,
Rob

[Sharky]

No one? I think I may pull the trigger on the front end this weekend. I will try to post how it goes, i guess. I was just worried that it might be too much weight-wise. It looks like being able to mate the front end to the frame neck shouldn't be a problem. I will try to take measurements, and see how it changes rake and stuff if anyone else is interested.

[jabcb]

All Balls Racing has a neato fork-conversion bearing selector tool that looks useful.
It shows which bearings you would need to select.
http://www.allballsracing.com/index.php/forkconversion

A member is asking the same question for a GT750 here.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8213

[diamondj]

The GS1000 forks are a lot longer than the T500 forks. You'll need to slide the forks up in the triple clamps a few inches to keep the handling from getting twitchy.

[jabcb]

The GS1100 forks that I used have more travel than the stock GT750.
Did some measuring+math & ended up using a Progressive Suspension fork lowering kit.
Worked surprisingly well — have a better ride & the forks don’t bottom like the GT750 stock forks occasional do.

A key bit of insight on what to do is provided by the old Cycle World article on fork mods.
http://www.ozebook.com/compendium/suzi/ ... AtHome.pdf

[Sharky]

Hey,

Thanks for the info guys. I already found the info on bearings, and it looks to be doable with the all balls bearings. I wanted some type of confirmation that I wasn't on the completely wrong track with this. The gs1000 forks are all thats available locally with spoked alloy rims and disks, which is really what I am after, but was concerned about ride height and dampening weight, etc. I will call progressive today, and see if i can get some details on their lowering kit.

Rob

[jabcb]

How I found the correct lowering kit:
1) on the Progressive Suspension website, looked up the GS-series bike that my forks came from
listed springs 11-1129
did not list a lowering kit

2) on eBay, looked up Progressive 11-1129
found list of Suzukis that those springs fit

3) picked a relatively new bike identified in step #2 (may need to do this a few times)

4) on the Progressive Suspension website, looked up bike from step #3
listed spring 11-1129
listed fork lowering kit 10-1556

5) ordered/installed kit 10-1556
spacer tube was cut to get the correct ride height with me on the bike

The GS1100 forks allow for adding air — worked out fine without adding any air.


http://www.progressivesuspension.com

[Sharky]

Awesome, I called their customer service and they were less than helpful. They just did the same search I did on their website, and then told me I was out of luck. I will try to do the same thing. Thanks again for the info. Super helpful.

Rob

[Sharky]

Worked like a charm. For future reference, the Suzuki 800 intruder from 1999 works for that search. Seems like they would work out their crossover system a little better, I mean if Ebay can do it.

[jabcb]

Which model year GS1000 are you looking at? And is it a GS1000E, GS1000L, etc.?

If you don’t find a match, another interesting option would be to make your own lowering kit by using custom springs from Sonic Springs.
http://sonicsprings.com/catalog/

[Sharky]

So I got around to the forks today, and found that the progressive suspension kit I ordered was completely wrong size springs. So disregard my previous posts about finding something that worked. Fork springs that came out of the fork are MUCH smaller and lighter than the ones in the kit. They don't even fit in the tubes. Here's to hoping Progressive suspension has a liberal return policy.

I may try Sonic Springs, now that I have the springs out and can take dimensions, or I may go another route. I just have to wait to make some calls with the correct measurements when it isn't a holiday. Kind of a disappointing Labor Day. Hoped to make some serious progress today.