front end swap

[4banger]

I need someone to point me in the right direction, pls. I love the look of usd forks and I hear they flex less(??) than the old school ones on our Kats. Plus they would come with better brakes and prob a lighter wheel. So, a whole front end swap is in question. Is there a higher tech bike out there that would be a good donor for my 'post' kat without the need to mod (ie. looking for hard-to-find parts, machining, etc) ?

[1FSTKAT]

First gen Hayabusa. Search

[airforceranger49]

there is a whole write up on swapping out with a 1st gen busa... only thing that is a major pain is the lower neck bearing... search and you shall find

[cintidude04]

Bunch of info if you check through a few threads, on top of the busa, theres gsxr and I wanna say I read something on using an r1 front end, someone correct me if Im wrong.

[Kreylyn]

The First couple of years USD forks on a GSXR 750 are a direct swap, you don't even have to change the bearings.

Some general ref. info in the wiki on many sets of forks for doing a swap.

Krey

[arsenic]

Same with the GSXR 1100's

[GSXFJim]

'91-'95 GSXR 750/1100 are a direct swap, the steering stops will need to be moved.. there are lots of write-up on this subject.. Search....

[burrsg101]

Aside from different brakes/wheel what is the big benifit of swapping? Are the forks themselves that much different? I know they're inverted and ours aren't(not that that alone means anything at all) but are the spring rates that different or shock valving?

[GSXFJim]

They are more adjustable then the stock Kat units.. I have a '95 gsxr750 front end, the springs are under sized for my tonnage.. but work well, I will say that if you do one end, do the other at the same time.. it made a big difference on my Kat..

Tmod is the man that can really answer your spring rate/valving questions..

[arsenic]

Is the GSXR suspension better then the Katana?

[cintidude04]

I believe they have more adjustability, could be wrong on that one. When it comes to spring rates though, that is all upgradeable. Id say even with a nice set of USD forks you may still need to upgrade the springs.

[GSXFJim]

Is the GSXR suspension better then the Katana?

It's apples to oranges.. so it would be tough for me to make any sort of technical comparison.. the 'seat-of-my-pants' o-meter says yes.. it feels more planted in the corners and doesn't feel like you have to try and force it to turn in. I do have a slightly taller shock in the back so that makes a difference too.. All of the bad characteristics it had are gone with the new front end.

[Tmod]

Aside from different brakes/wheel what is the big benifit of swapping? Are the forks themselves that much different? I know they're inverted and ours aren't(not that that alone means anything at all) but are the spring rates that different or shock valving?

They are more rigid but they are also more susceptible to damage from debris on the road.

Yes they have all these nifty little dials and knobs but they still will not be correct for the kat without changing springs and valving. They also change the geometry of the bike so take that into consideration.

Yes they have better brakes, But I upgraded my bike to 320mm rotors and GSXR 4 pot calipers + braided lines for $140.00.

Do they look better? Yep without a doubt and if you do this swap for bling then by all means knock yourself out.

Let's assume you did the swap and had it sprung and valved correctly, Now you have a good setup that is adjustable, Ok now do you know what to do with all that adjustment? On all the bike events that I have gone to with Racetech and after discussing what the rider is looking for and them saying that they adjusted it I would say 90% were off the mark.

Back in the older days a gentleman named Lee Parks was racing endurance with his team and they had 2 SV650's (1) with USD forks and (1) with conventional forks using emulators and they both would do the exact same lap times, This is with a professional team and riders at a track. IMO if you want a nice suspension just go with what is available and set it up for you and your riding style. If you want bling then by all means make the swap to USD forks, Just have the springs and valving changed for you and your riding style.

Tmod

Is the GSXR suspension better then the Katana?

Yep sure is, But it still is not correct for the Katana.

Tmod

It's apples to oranges.. so it would be tough for me to make any sort of technical comparison.. the 'seat-of-my-pants' o-meter says yes.. it feels more planted in the corners and doesn't feel like you have to try and force it to turn in. I do have a slightly taller shock in the back so that makes a difference too.. All of the bad characteristics it had are gone with the new front end.

Jim,

How did the emulators work on the SV? Did the bad characteristics disappear after installing them and the correct fluid?

Tmod

[GSXFJim]

How did the emulators work on the SV? Did the bad characteristics disappear after installing them and the correct fluid?

Tmod

Much better, they were very soft, it felt like if you pushed it in the corner and hit a bump you would low side.. the brake dive was pretty bad...

With the emulators and new oil.. it behaves much better. A hard front brake doesn't give you the feeling that your going to go over the bars..
If I had to do the Kat again.. I'd do the emulators... and your caps.. knowing what i know now..

[burrsg101]

They are more rigid but they are also more susceptible to damage from debris on the road.

Yes they have all these nifty little dials and knobs but they still will not be correct for the kat without changing springs and valving. They also change the geometry of the bike so take that into consideration.

Yes they have better brakes, But I upgraded my bike to 320mm rotors and GSXR 4 pot calipers + braided lines for $140.00.

Do they look better? Yep without a doubt and if you do this swap for bling then by all means knock yourself out.

Let's assume you did the swap and had it sprung and valved correctly, Now you have a good setup that is adjustable, Ok now do you know what to do with all that adjustment? On all the bike events that I have gone to with Racetech and after discussing what the rider is looking for and them saying that they adjusted it I would say 90% were off the mark.

Back in the older days a gentleman named Lee Parks was racing endurance with his team and they had 2 SV650's (1) with USD forks and (1) with conventional forks using emulators and they both would do the exact same lap times, This is with a professional team and riders at a track. IMO if you want a nice suspension just go with what is available and set it up for you and your riding style. If you want bling then by all means make the swap to USD forks, Just have the springs and valving changed for you and your riding style.

Tmod

I figured they wouldn't have the right springs or valving rates considering the kat weighs about 100 lbs more. Sounds to me like its totally not worth it. Besides I went from a 2000 gsxr 600 to my 06 kat 600 and I actually MUCH prefer the kats handling. The kat feels like it has the weight distributed better, that gsxr always felt extremely top heavy compared to any other bike I rode. Could be that the gsxr had a 180 tire in the back, but my kat feels way more nimble and I've never felt so comfortable leaning as far down in corners on any other bike I've rode. I don't track it, but I do like to push some twisties hard.