ST to GS (hybrid!)

[JHN]

Hi, having previously owned an 1100GS and an 1150GS, I now find myself in possesion of a 70k+ R 80 ST. Okay it must have looked better in its life but it still goes well and I like it ...bits of it that is. I am well aware of the pro's and con's of the turning an ST into a GS debate (if, indeed, it's still a debate) but I don't want to do that exactly. Its suspension, at both ends, has had it so I need to replace it and since I am not remotely interested in historical accuracy I can replace it with something a little more modern. However I want something I'll still be able to get parts for in 10 years time (assuming I last that long). Has anyone tried putting the front end of an F650GS or Dakar on one of these - obviously with a longer shock in the latter case? What else might people suggest?

 

[Possu]

Fitting too long a shock is not good for the UJ. It pushes the arc of travel a bit far to one extreme. A common way to keep the bike level after fitting longer forks is to extend the swingarm by a couple of inches. You'll need a longer drive shaft & a spacer that fits between the end of the swingarm & the bevel / final drive box. The extra length raises the rear ride height, there are photos os such conversions on this site somewhere - try searching.

 

[JHN]

Thanks I will do a search. It would only really be a case of extending the shock to from ST length to GS length - which, presumably isn't going to cause a problem with the drive shaft angle. I assume the ST and G/S swingarms are the same length. With regard to the front, all the threads I've seen here and elsewhere seem to deal with either putting a G/S front end on or something off a motocrosser. My thoughts - and I could be entirely wrong here because I have no experience of either - were that surely an improvement could be made over a 20 odd year old G/S front fork and whilst this years 'in' upside-downies might work very well now, how long are spare going to be available for? The only reason I am interested in increasing ride height is that I do a lot of two up riding. For the type of off-roading I do there was never any problem with the 19" wheel on the front of my 1150 - but it did have more ground clearance.

 

[Possu]

Later GS forks are nothing special. If going to the effort of swapping front ends, fit something decent (XR650R?) in the first place.

 

[ag1s]

the xr650r has rubbish front end, I've heard that the klx650 slots it which has much better inverted forks.

Later GS forks are nothing special. If going to the effort of swapping front ends, fit something decent (XR650R?) in the first place.

 

[Marky C]

Yeah, dont waste your time with that old XR rubbish. Get yourself a pair of late crosser forks. Kyb or Showa. or splash out on some Ktm white power units. Mark.

 

[JHN]

I'm a bit concerned that spares might dry up for some of the more 'cutting edge' stuff which was why I thought a BMW 650 front end might be better. At least they'll be around for a while. I understand that the Scarver front end (not an option obviously) is made by Marzocchi. Who makes the GS and Dakar units? I've riden them both (admitedly 5 years ago) on the BMW off-road course in Wales and they seemed okay.