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I'm sure you guys don't remember but a year ago I picked up a 93 katana and slowly been swapping in a late model gsxr suspension (and a host of mods). It's been a slow process.. I'm working full time while attending college so I don't have as much free time as I'd like. I'm aiming for spring as my finish date. This is my 3rd design and attempt at the conversion but very pleased with the results. Essentially each time I finished I thought of a better design, better way of doing it. I decided long ago to do it the right way and not to compromise on quality so it's slowed down the process some. There's a few obsticals with this mod:
1. The swing arm axle tube is huge and hits the engine.
2. The axle tube in narrower than the katanas.
3. The arm is wider and hits the subframe.
4. It uses different size needle bearings (swing arm axle for the gixxer is 3 times the diameter of the katanas).
It poses other problems but I'll focus on the just the swingarm install stuff. To fix this all I chopped and re-fabbed a new subframe, made offset bushings to solve the needle bearing size issue, axle tube width problem and the tube hitting the engine. This design uses the katanas thrust washer set-up, is one piece billet construction, needle bearings have no chance to move in or outboard and the bushing itself can't rotate or move in or outboard (welded in place). It has proper press fit tolerances but I've learned long ago that components can do funny things when lots of force and vibration is applied. Using the stock thrust washers is important in my opinion, simply using spacers can lead to problems as they wear. I have the bushing modeled in solidworks with blueprints for it if anyone is interested. A few things I've learned is you want to take your inside frame measurement AFTER you have cut and welded the frame. Mine shrunk by .015" after the fact. I have swing arm width set at .006" smaller than the frame. As you torque the swing arm bolt it will squish it in some so you need some clearance. I have my needle bearing/axle bolts sleave stack-up as the larger width, not the axle tube/bushing stack up. Here's a few pics of the mod:
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1. The swing arm axle tube is huge and hits the engine.
2. The axle tube in narrower than the katanas.
3. The arm is wider and hits the subframe.
4. It uses different size needle bearings (swing arm axle for the gixxer is 3 times the diameter of the katanas).
It poses other problems but I'll focus on the just the swingarm install stuff. To fix this all I chopped and re-fabbed a new subframe, made offset bushings to solve the needle bearing size issue, axle tube width problem and the tube hitting the engine. This design uses the katanas thrust washer set-up, is one piece billet construction, needle bearings have no chance to move in or outboard and the bushing itself can't rotate or move in or outboard (welded in place). It has proper press fit tolerances but I've learned long ago that components can do funny things when lots of force and vibration is applied. Using the stock thrust washers is important in my opinion, simply using spacers can lead to problems as they wear. I have the bushing modeled in solidworks with blueprints for it if anyone is interested. A few things I've learned is you want to take your inside frame measurement AFTER you have cut and welded the frame. Mine shrunk by .015" after the fact. I have swing arm width set at .006" smaller than the frame. As you torque the swing arm bolt it will squish it in some so you need some clearance. I have my needle bearing/axle bolts sleave stack-up as the larger width, not the axle tube/bushing stack up. Here's a few pics of the mod:
[/img]
A few other obvious things that eluded me on the swing arm swap to keep in mind: On the subframe mod buy tubing the same wall thickness as the subframe (easier to weld, don't try to save weight like I did), DO NOT HAVE YOUR BROTHER IN LAW WELD YOU FRAME! What should have been a 1 hour job literally turned in 5 days (fixing his junk welds)! If you choose to do this type of swap you need to swap out A COMPLETE SUSPENSION SYSTEM! Front end, wheels, shock, brakes...everything. Pick a bike and use everything off it!! DO NOT mix and match years or brands, it will screw you in the end. In the gixxers there is lots of little difference between the years. If you choose to do late model gix it's going to cost $2,500 to do it. Don't kid yourself and think it will be less, IT WON'T, trust me. There is really is no choice with the late model gix. You need a front end and rear shock off a 05/06 1000. It will be easier and beleave it or not, cheaper to do in the long run.... Hmm, maybe this is abit to much info to post on the swing arm swap post. There's much I can post on the shock, fork mod but I guess I'll leave that for the front end/shock swap post. That will be in about 3 weeks.. If anyone has questions on this type of mod post them up, I've learned alot over the last year and can save you some headaches... Oh the last pic is of all the supsension stuff I'll be fitting (almost done)..
Hey slick perhaps you should ask what I meant by that statement BEFORE launching into that B.S. I never said it couldn't be done or it wouldn't work and you can drop the "Guess decades of racers and tuners must be wrong" crap. Listen to what your saying, "respring suspension, changing headstock, adjustable yokes".. yada yada. This is what I was talking about. If you get a 05/06 1000 suspension you DON'T NEED TO RESPRING ANYTHING. It comes sprung for katana wieght, research what those spring rates are, it's set-up for racing from the factory. Add up the cost for springs, oil, seals, install tools and related to the price of a older front end and you could have had a radial brake front end with the latest in coatings and valving for the same price. I know cause I TRIED 3 DIFFERENT GSXR FRONT ENDS! If you go with a 05/06 1000 rear shock it's sprung for katana wieght, got mine NEW zero miles for $45. If you reread my posts I'm talking about gsxr suspensions! Do you think it was directed at you? You don't mix & match gsxr year suspensions cause they are all a bit different and it will be twice as much work in the end. I know cause I've tried 3 front ends, 3 swing arm set-ups, 3 different shock & linkage set-ups and 2 different wheel sets. I researched the spring rates, valving, and geometry for all the above and know every little mechanical difference between anything made from 01 forward in the gsxr sense. At this point I'm not going to go into the differences between them, that will be another post. 
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