You know, I thought about doing this myself. What I was going to do is make adaptors for each end that would make the stock VTR axle fit inside the fork lowers. After looking into it some more I decided that it was way too much work (and cost) so I just opted to swap the bearings in the wheel and use a GSXR axle. I think that's a much easier and simpler way to go. A custom axle sounds expensive. Did they tell you how much it would cost?

 

Jamie, you're using stock 954/929 clip-ons? I've got a pair from my front-end swap, but haven't tried them above the triples yet.

 

Nope, those are GSXR600 parts.

 

Well, since the 954 forks are shorter than stock it won't work putting the clipons above the triple... At the most you will be pushing it up ~10mm or so... And that's not enough...

Look for a helibar or convertibar setup or suberbike bar instead...

 

stock axle is 20 mm I believe

 

I'll have to pull out the set of 954 forks I have and measure them to know for sure, but when I looked at this a year ago I thought they were the same as the GSXR parts. In fact, the Showa forks are almost identical between those two models.

Don't forget that the upper triple steps down. The key dimension is the distance from the lower steering stem bearing to the axle at full compression of the forks. The fully extended dimension is also important, but only from a geometry setup standpoint. For clearances and fitment concerns you only care about the minmum number (worst case). Unfortunately this is the most overlooked aspect of your shadetree guys who start throwing parts together. That's one of the things I like about this forum, we don't have those kind of guys doing mods to their bikes.

 

Nah it seems we attract the kind of folk that spend an hour thinking and 3 minutes doing... No offence meant... I'm that kind myself...

And It's a good thing as far as I'm concerned...

BTW It's possible that the 954's are similar/identical... I haven't had a set to measure on... But I do know that the CBR1000RR forks I'm using are shorter than the 954/929's...

And if so there is a chance that the ones lazn got which are radial caliper showas from similar years are then very similar to CBR1000RR's...

But that's just guess work...

 

I finally got around to checking out my clip-ons (which I have to assume are 9xxRR's).
I have NOT checked for interference at the tire with compression, but the clipons and the gullwing upper triple I have (like Jamie's) clear everything fairing-wise. My clip-ons have about an inch rise over Jamie's.
I'll probably buy a set of those Swatt clipons, but for now I'm going to straighten out the ones I have and use them. Now to find something for radiator straps and M6 bolts.

 

So I am down to just needing the clip ons and brake lines.. I bit the bullet and purchased a GSX-R wheel and rotors. It is a lime green wheel, so I will be painting it I expect.. This is adding up to more $$ than I had hoped. lol, but I knew to expect that I guess.

 

Uh-huh. Same thing happened to me. When I got my forks for $125 I thought it was going to be pretty light on the pocket book... $800 later....

I love my forks though, I'd never go back to stock.

 

well if I sell my old parts for reasonable, it won't be too terrible in the end. So far the most expensive part has been the wheel, followed by the lower triple.

And I may still mod my VTR wheel to work, but I can run on the GSXR wheel for a while while I get the work done on the stock one, then sell the GSXR one

 

Too bad I can't bring myself to do that. I also bought a GSXR front wheel, the biggest single cost by the way, but I never used it and it's still sitting in my shop. Once spring hits and dudes start crashing their bikes maybe I'll throw it on eBay and try to recoup some of my $225.

As for the stock VTR forks, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet. My VF500F needs better front suspension, but I think they are little too short for that bike. I'm sure I'll find a use for them somewhere.

 

Spending $$ like it's going out of style.. Clip Ons ordered..

Now just the brake lines left.. I assume just VTR with perhaps an extra inch would be they way to go?

 

Stock VTR length.

 

Well the ebay salvage yard shipped me the wrong wheel.. So I am returning it.. grr, more delays.

 

I've got a white GSXR600 front wheel with Ø320mm rotors if you are interested. PM me if you are.

 

Thanks!

I may be: I am waiting to see what resolution the seller has. I think he is tracking down the correct wheel.. If he just rebates my $$ then I will be looking to buy another one.

 

Woot!

Editing my last post. Bill at Swatt is a great guy, got a hold of me today and I should get them first part of next week.

 

To update about Swatt

 

Well last night the last of my parts came in, and the new bearings were pressed onto the steering stem.

So I went to do a test fit of everything in my living room and found an issue..

Side one looks good:


But the other side:


Now I read about people putting spacers under the rotors for GSXR swaps on Triumphs to move them out, and it looks like I may have to do this, but then how do I make sure I center the wheel in the forks since the aluminum collar side of the axle has a flange? Unless that flange goes on the inside of the fork?

Even still that would take care of centering the wheel but not widening the distance between the rotors.

And here I thought it would all just bolt together from reading what others have done.. lol (I expected to run into something, thus the test fit today)

 

Izan - I thought we had discussed earlier that the later model radial brake forks probably wouldn't work. It's best to get a set of 97-03 Showa forks instead. I don't think you are going to get those forks to work.

 

Is everything bolted together in the triples and axle tight? I had no issues with alingment.

 

They are 03 forks so that's why I thought they would work. Superhawk22 used similar radial brake forks too.

Actually no, I haven't fully tightened everything down yet. Will that make enough difference to matter? Easy enough to test I guess

I did some more fitting, and with the pistons fully compressed I got both calipers on just fine. but the rotors are not centered in the calipers.. I guess I should tighten everything down before I get too carried away. :P

 

Are yours 1000 or 750 forks? I don't think the 03 GSXR750 had radial brakes (if I wasn't so lazy I could do a search and find out). It looks like you've got some issues there and I don't think tightening everything up is going to fix it.

 

Can't he just fab up a donut shaped plate to put between the wheel and rotor to push the rotors out into position?

 

affirmative Jamie, accordign to these folks anyhow:
http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/mod...xR750%2002.htm (2002 and 2003 were mechanically identical)

 

They are 1000 forks.. I guess I could go back to non radial forks and sell these, but as I said earlier, superhawk22 was able to use them with no issues..

 

Sure. This part would need to have ULTRA minimal runout in order to keep the rotors in spec. That's kind of a band-aid approach, there are other forks out there that fit more easily and have similar performance characteristics that would be easier to install.

This is a good time to remind everyone that a swap like this can be easy or difficult depending on the parts you choose to use. It's important to do as much research as possible up front and also to be careful of variances year-to-year on motorcycle models.

 

KISS = keep it simple...

 

and THAT is why I chose a 900RR front end. It is virtually a bolt-on affair (same wheel, spacers, rotors,....). Though not quite as "blingy" as the USD`s, it works well enough for me.