Fork Identification Help?

[RSW]

Hey everyone,
New to your forum and am looking for some help. I had to give up 2 wheels years ago do to M/S and bought the wife and I a Vw trike last year. Feels good to be back in the wind again and need some help with the front forks. I have already put a new motor and transaxle in the trike and want to rebuild/new fork seals/brakes/bearings the front end. I just need some help with what front end I have. I have searched web and think it might be a 1974 GT380. The only reason I narrowed it down to that is the crome dust covers I seen on a picture on suzukicyclesorg. So if anyone could please help me out, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank You,Randy

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Welcome Randy and I'm glad to hear you are getting on the road again.
With a single disc and the chrome caps on the top of the lower legs its got to be a 74 GT550 front end or possibly a 380 front end again from 1974 as you mentioned
I think its the 550 front end as I believe the 380 stanchions are a bit shorter than the 550s.
The lower tree is also GT part as well, I'm not sure about the upper tree.

[RSW]

Thanks for the reply Suzsmokeyallan !! Is there anything I can measure that would help? Also it has a Takasago wheel on it, would they have used the Suzuki hub? I never tore a set of forks apart before. Bet this will be a learning experience.

[jabcb]

Measure the fork tube diameter.
Per this source: http://www.2strokeworld.com/forum/index ... pic=8497.0
GT380s are 33mm
GT500, GT550, GT750s are 35mm

GT380 also has a narrower front rim. Its 1.6x19.
Front rim for the bigger GTs is 1.85x19

[Bloop2]

Also it has a Takasago wheel on it, would they have used the Suzuki hub?

Takasago was a standard rim used by Suzuki. Suzuki never made their own rims. Tagasako made rims for pretty well everybody on the 60's and 70's.

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Suzuki used Takasago rims mostly for their 1970s steel road applications and Akront for the alloy rims on bikes such as the RM during the same time period.
As Jabcb said 1.85 width for the 550 and 750 rim and 1.6 width for the 380. as well as the fork information he added for the upper stanchion diameter in the triple trees.
Forks are easy to disassemble and we can walk you through it when you are ready.

[RSW]

Thanks for the replys! The stanchions measures 33 mm give or take just a little. The wheel is marked Tankasago 160x90 then maybe 3k '03 Japan. the last part was hard to read because it was cromed over. The inside of the left fork has the Suzuki S, made in Japan, HF-1. The brake pads are round and measure just under 2 inches. Looking like a GT380??

[jabcb]

One additional measurement: brake discs are 276mm OD on the GT250/GT380 and 296mm OD on the GT500/GT550/GT750.
They all used the same brake pads.

[Suzsmokeyallan]

You can also see the little locator pin on the caliper where the 74 year specific hose with the pin was fitted, the 33mm diameter means its definately a 380 front end.
Randy you do know the stock GTs disc brakes don't work when they are wet.

[RSW]

You can also see the little locator pin on the caliper where the 74 year specific hose with the pin was fitted, the 33mm diameter means its definately a 380 front end.
Randy you do know the stock GTs disc brakes don't work when they are wet.

The front brakes really don't do much when it comes to stopping the trike. A lot of people don't even put them on a VW trike. I kind like the little bit of extra stopping it they do give. I do need new pads, so what would be good replacement ones to get? Also is there any parts sponsors on this forum to order from?

[jabcb]

Randy you do know the stock GTs disc brakes don't work when they are wet.

A drilled rotor from certain GS bikes is a direct replacement for your GT380 rotor.
The GS rotor + new aftermarket pads improve wet performance.

Have a used/eBay GS rotor on my GT250. If you are interested I can post a pic & lookup which one I used.

[RSW]

Randy you do know the stock GTs disc brakes don't work when they are wet.

A drilled rotor from certain GS bikes is a direct replacement for your GT380 rotor.
The GS rotor + new aftermarket pads improve wet performance.

Have a used/eBay GS rotor on my GT250. If you are interested I can post a pic & lookup which one I used.

Thanks for the offer but bad thing about a VW trikes front brakes is the fine line between to much and not enough. To much and you and you put flat spots on the tire in a hurry. There is not a lot of front wheel weight even with someone sitting on it. I think for safety, I better stick with what I have…just do a pad upgrade if there is one. I have dual piston calipers on the rear that will stop it quicker then a car will.

[Bloop2]

The wheel is marked Takasago 160x90 then maybe 3k '03 Japan.

3K would be the date code for the rim, which would mean the rim and most likely the wheel assembly would have been made in 73 in the 12th month. That kind of build date would make the front end from a 1974. Date codes on the rims and build date of the bike were usually within a month or two, mostly same month.

Fred

[RSW]

The wheel is marked Takasago 160x90 then maybe 3k '03 Japan.

3K would be the date code for the rim, which would mean the rim and most likely the wheel assembly would have been made in 73 in the 12th month. That kind of build date would make the front end from a 1974. Date codes on the rims and build date of the bike were usually within a month or two, mostly same month.

Fred

Thanks for the info! The wheel is in very good shape for being a 1974. That was one reason I thought the wheel was a newer one. The original owner must have taking really good care of the trike. So I would be safe to get wheel bearings and fork seals for 1974? This is such a big relief getting this figured out. The last owner had a lot of things just thrown together. I will feel safer once I get it redone.