| Author | Message | ||
     Haaken |
One of my thoughts recently was to do a front end swap from a Japanese bike to gain the dual brakes and radial calipers. My front end feels so soft that i'm sure the forks need a rebuild anyways at this point. I know the answer is typically "anything can be done for the right price", and I;m sure this can be done but doe anyone know of a successful swap being done? i have seen plenty of images on googles showing tubers with newer front ends, but never any real info on them. Probably a starting point would be to figure out the steering stem diameter. Does anyone know what that is? | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
A ducati front end could be a option to! http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/763328.html?1440434528 | ||
| Harleyelf |
Or you cold buy a left-side Nissin caliper and another rotor. Your wheel is drilled on both sides. Steering stem length is more important than diameter: you can get bearings in any reasonable combination of inner/outer diameters. Change the oil in your forks lately? Sure you have any? | ||
| Haaken |
I have never changed the oil in my forks. No clue how to do that...And it seems from my searching that the parts to service them are much more expensive then anything from a japenese bike, hence why I was thinking of going this route plus the better brakes (subjective). | ||
| Purpony |
Anthony on the badweb facebook page just put a GSXR front end on his tuber  He used a triple tree from billet bike bits   | ||
| Ausx1er |
Some time back when the price of parts seemed far lower I added a Buell rotor to the left side (it’s just the standard right hand side Buell rotor) and a Nissin calliper. A different master cylinder and an additional brake line were also required. You can see this on my Profile pic. Finding someone who really knows they’re doing with suspensions settings is worth investigating. | ||
| Purpony |
Also. Tuber steering stem is 1.00" diameter. | ||
| Haaken |
Definitely going to check out billet bike bits. That conversion looks great! | ||
| Harleyelf |
My forks have a dipstick in them, not all do. Just lift the weight off the front and remove the big cap nuts at the top of the forks; you'll have to remove the handlebars. Top off with 20W fork oil or drain and replace the oil. | ||
| S1owner |
There are plenty of options. First find out fork tube diameters if one is the same ( which they should be as Showa I am sure does not make custom tubes for Buell) then look into width may need custom spacers at the wheel. Other option is using the complete triple tree and front end. Make sure the fork placement is enough for turning radious. Use a tuber stem in the donor triple probably need some machineing or just have someone make a stem that will work probably cheaper. Not really difficult to do no diffrent then putting an XB frint end on a tuber. I will say buying a custom triple is very clean and looks great but very expensive and will most likely cost as much or more then entire front end | ||
| Haaken |
Agreed on the cost. it looks like a custom billet triple is going to be around $550+...Thats definitely a lot. For some reason I just can't wrap my head around the steering stem part. I don't know why as I am pretty mechanically inclined, lol. I'll figure it out eventually. To your point, I think maybe my best bet is to take measurements of the current overall basic dimensions or the Buell front end and then try and find something similar to it as a starting point? | ||
| S1owner |
Ok drew this up quick some key points to look for: A- distance between the fork tubes this only matters if using existing triples with a diffrent wheel B- fork tube diameter will be in MM. Thismust match top and bottom as the could differ again only matters when using existing trees C- distance from center of steer tube (stem) to center if forks. This measurement combined with (A) is important when using diffrent trees it could move your tire closer or farther and effect steering as the tubes will hit the tank or frame sooner reducing steering. D- span between triples this is for clamping area ti make sure it is still within the correct perimeters. E- overall legth of tubes. You go shorter liwering the frint if the bike you must lower the rear to match etc can drastically effect handling The Stem matters in design diffrent frames have diffrent liad designs. Tubers have old school bearings similar to trailers they are tapered they bear the load. XB for example are flat sealed bearings and dispurse load differently. Best to use a tuber stem and have it modified. Or have a stem made to match the tuber design but the new setups legnth and fastening.  | ||
| Haaken |
S1owner thanks for the diagram. From what I can gather, getting a custom made steering stem sounds like its going to be my best bet. And from what I can gather, I am probably going to want a setup that has "C" further back then not to maintain maneuverability. | ||
| Purpony |
your current triple tree and forks are 54mm. this is a very handy charge that i stared at for a long time when thinking about doing the swap last year. As you can see most forks are only 50mm for the top triple-  another site you could look at and talk to them about triple trees is cognito moto. Which the picture Ken (S1owner) pictured above looks like a cognito triple tree. The triple trees i just made locates my 1125 forks in the stock location of a tuber. When i had the XB triple tree, it brought the forks back closer to the frame limiting my steering radius. Not the end of the world as i lived with it for 7 years or so. (Message edited by purpony on May 19, 2016) | ||
| S1owner |
Yes good eye it is cognito! | ||
| Haaken |
The more i looks at everything, the more I'm thinking it might be in my best interest to just pay the money to have someone do it for me right (I.E. pay to get the custom triple tree). I guess there is a reason I wasn't an engineer despite the fact that I love building things, lol | ||
| Haaken |
Firstly, thanks everyone for the input so far. I did some reading and think gin last night (definitely couldn't sleep) and i think I have a more complete understanding of the front end geometry now. I think I can have a custom steering stem made for a front end from say a gsxr or r6/r1. From what I can gather, the offset is the most important aspect of the front end. Does anyone know what the stock offset is for an x1 front end? I tried measuring mine, but I'm being honest with myself, I'm terrible at that kind of measuring... I have found several charts online that show various triple offset dimensions and whatnot, but nothing that lists the bulls. | ||
| Purpony |
tuber offset  | ||
| S1owner |
Marc- purpony is going to be your goto guy on this stuff Being he has all the capabilities. Check his bike out when you get a chance | ||
| Haaken |
Purpony, thanks for that. Now my problem is going to be finding a triple clamp with the proper offset...So far the closest i am seeing is 32mm which looks to be too short still. Time to keep looking, but now its looking more and more like a custom triple is the answer. | ||
| S1owner |
Here is my suggestion but I cant say if it is an option. Marc does some work knows Buells as good as anyone and has the talent and machines to do the work. Here is a link to his trees http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/781065.html?1460027173  | ||
| Purpony |
looks like most oem triples will not easily except a tuber stem... so either a custom triple with a tuber stem, or an oem Japanese triple with a custom stem, or a custom triple with a custom stem. http://www.ohiocaferacers.com/OCRStemSizes.pdf update the Suzuki section of this link. Steering Head Bearing Sizes: Upper: 30 x 55 x 17 Lower: 30 x 55 x 17 Part # 09267-30010 Suzuki GSXR600 (97-08) Suzuki GSXR750 (96-08) Suzuki GSXR1000(01-08) Suzuki TL1000R (98-03) Suzuki TL1000S (97-01) Suzuki GSXR1300R (99-08) Part #93399-99932-00 Yamaha YZF-R6 (99-01) Yamaha YZF-R1 (99-00) |
