GS frame? Forks and Swinging arm?

[warmshed]

Hi, Im new to tihs forum and have posted a "Hello" in the relevant section. I am interested in a GS, I have a R100RS (twinshock) and would like to know a few details about GS machines before diving in.

What frame is used on the GS models? Is the 850 diffferent from the 1000? and can a standard non GS monoshock be converted? maybe by bracing and reinforcing? I assume the frames must be generic to the road model bikes.


Forks, What forks can you fit? As many of you have gone down the route of changing to other forks an overview would be welcome, it seems daft to re invent the wheel (or forks) when others have trod this path. The type and what model bikes they can be sourced from would be a help.


With regard to the swinging arm/drive shaft, what are the options?

I notice some people mention the use of 1100 driveshaft, what is the advantage of such a conversion? Is it rerasonably straight forward? I have seen a few threads but most assume detail knowlege to be able to take in what they are saying. being new to the GS more of an overview would be welcome.

I would like a bike that can handle some rough but most of the time it will be on the road. Thanks in advance, Dave.

 

[ChasF]

Hi, Im new to tihs forum and have posted a "Hello" in the relevant section. I am interested in a GS, I have a R100RS (twinshock) and would like to know a few details about GS machines before diving in.

What frame is used on the GS models? Is the 850 diffferent from the 1000? and can a standard non GS monoshock be converted? maybe by bracing and reinforcing? I assume the frames must be generic to the road model bikes.


Forks, What forks can you fit? As many of you have gone down the route of changing to other forks an overview would be welcome, it seems daft to re invent the wheel (or forks) when others have trod this path. The type and what model bikes they can be sourced from would be a help.


With regard to the swinging arm/drive shaft, what are the options?

I notice some people mention the use of 1100 driveshaft, what is the advantage of such a conversion? Is it rerasonably straight forward? I have seen a few threads but most assume detail knowlege to be able to take in what they are saying. being new to the GS more of an overview would be welcome.

I would like a bike that can handle some rough but most of the time it will be on the road. Thanks in advance, Dave.

I've been looking into this sort of thing for a while and my conclusions are that the R80G/S is light and compact, not bad on the road and alright for light off road but forks and ground clearance can be a bit of a limitation. The R100GS which has the paralever arrangement has better forks with more ground clearance but is heavier and the brakes are a bit weak on the road (there are lots of alternative discs and calipers available but opinions vary as to which are effective or otherwise), also the paralever shaft is a weak point. Both bikes benefit from fitting someone elses rear shock (white power and ohlins are favorite).

The 1100 paralever arm is longer than the 100GS so suits fitting longer forks and also has the added benefit of a disc brake. Fitting the 1100 swinging arm and forks from a modern enduro bike is not straightforward. The swinging arm requires an expensive adaptor for the shaft drive and I believe the wheel has to be re-spoked with a different offset. The forks either need purpose made fork yokes or some parts machined up to fit them with the original yokes. For both the forks and swinging arm the frame needs extensive strengthening. I would suggest that it's not worth going to these lengths if the bike is mainly for road use. A good compromise may be to fit R100GS forks to an R80 and extend the monolever to suit (exchange parts are available).

Whichever way you go they are both great bikes in original form and there are quite a few well looked after bikes available on the secondhand market (some at very high prices!).

 

[Jon P]

Have a look at www.hpn.de you will find most of your questions answered there.

Thare are big on the swing arm swaps, frame strengthing and different front ends.

 

[Rob Farmer]

By the time you have done throwing money at sorting out the bike you may as well have gone out and bought a GS.

Following on from your comments about the bikes -

The Mono's are a great little bike but ultimately limited by the quality of the forks and the frame. Mine gets very twitchy at high speeds and is bordering on being dangerous above 90MPH when fully loaded. Can't say that ground clearance has ever been an issue though. If you want to zip about one up at legal speeds though it's hard to beat.

The Paralever is a far chunkier bike but is far more stable at higher speeds. The suspension is better off road but you are carrying far more bulk. Unless you want serious off road performance I can't imagine why you would want an 1100 swinging arm and suspension, the Paralever's back end is more than adequate for most people
I sat on GarryH's HPN bike fitted with an 1100 rear end and beefed up front end. The sheer bulk of the bike isn't for the faint hearted and you would need some serious off road experience to get the most out of it.