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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
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Message started by Bebop12 on 03/17/21 at 11:20:36

Title: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by Bebop12 on 03/17/21 at 11:20:36

Done a fair amount of searching for all of the answers. But cant find them all. A gs550 rear wheel from 1980 ish should fit the savage axle and the drum brake. But what about the belt drive? Will the sprocket still bolt up to the gs550 wheel? Or do i have to swap to chain drive? Bike is getting a mad max/post apocalyptic makeover so not concerned about mismatched wheels.

Title: Re: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by Dave on 03/17/21 at 12:18:48

I just did this. The wheel I bought was a 1985 GS550, the wheel was a 16x2.50.

Everything went on just like the spoked wheel. Brake, pulley hub, axle, spacers.....everything worked the same.

Title: Re: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by verslagen1 on 03/17/21 at 13:01:40

I have to suspect that a lot of the problems people are having with this is a lot of sellers don't really know what they are selling.

Take a good hard look at what you are buying and if it don't look right don't buy it.
Trusting the seller to know won't get the job done.

Title: Re: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by Bebop12 on 03/17/21 at 18:21:52

1F24293E2F23383E252D203F4C0 wrote:

I just did this. The wheel I bought was a 1985 GS550, the wheel was a 16x2.50.

Everything went on just like the spoked wheel. Brake, pulley hub, axle, spacers.....everything worked the same.

Did you keep the belt drive or swap to chain? possible to keep belt drive?

Title: Re: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by ohiomoto on 03/17/21 at 18:27:24

The belt drive pulley assembly fits in place of the chain drive sprocket assembly. The rubber spacers should be the same if you get the right wheel.

Title: Re: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by Bebop12 on 03/17/21 at 20:13:17

Previous answer said 1985 wheel. I ve read about 81 and 83s as well. So other than 85 what year wheel would work?

Title: Re: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by zipidachimp on 03/18/21 at 01:05:50

Easypeasy. 10 minutes at most, using 120/90-16 tire !
Now for the front..........
Cheers! 8-)

Title: Re: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by Dave on 03/18/21 at 03:45:31

183F38352A6B685A0 wrote:

[quote author=1F24293E2F23383E252D203F4C0 link=1616005236/0#1 date=1616008728]I just did this. The wheel I bought was a 1985 GS550, the wheel was a 16x2.50.

Everything went on just like the spoked wheel. Brake, pulley hub, axle, spacers.....everything worked the same.

Did you keep the belt drive or swap to chain? possible to keep belt drive? [/quote]

Sorry I wasn't clear......when I said the "Pulley Hub" went on just like the spoked wheel - that meant the pulley for the belt went on as well.

The pulley hub inserts into the rear wheel hub - then you have your choice of using the belt.....or switching to a chain. I like the clean and tidy belt - I don't want no stinky,greasy,messy chain!

I used a 1985 wheel.....other wheels will work. Just be sure it is a drum brake.

When I was looking for a wheel on eBay, I looked to see that is had a drum brake that had the 160.7 mm size listed, that it was the correct size 2.50x16 rim, and I looked to see the rim said it was "TUBELESS TIRE APPLICABLE" on both wheels.....and finally I looked to see the lowest price and a wheel that was in good condition. These wheels are nearly 40 years old and can be in pretty poor condition if they spent a lot of time sitting outside.

You can search for a GS450, GS550 for rear and front - just be sure to get the "Tubeless Applicable" and a drum brake on the rear.....and a 19" front wheel. The GS850 front wheel can also work - it appears some are black and others appear to be a gray color (so I avoided looking at them to be sure the front/rear color matched).

This is add is for a wheel that has been painted and is not in great shape - but it has all the stuff I looked for shown in the photos he posted.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-Suzuki-GS550L-GS-550-S175-1-rear-wheel-rim-hub-drum-16in/292825960262?hash=item442dc98f46:g:64EAAOSwBqZb6yqS

Title: Re: Gs550 rear wheel swap questions.
Post by Bebop12 on 03/18/21 at 09:23:34

Greatly appreciate it. Happy to know i can keep the belt drive. Currently waiting on a couple of sellers to get back with me because i found a wheel for 40 bucks shipped. But cant see the stamped diameter in the drum. But the link you provided for the one on ebay looks pretty good to me. As for it being painted, thats fine by me. And I would rather have the mismatched wheels so i ll leave my front spoked wheel as it is. Going for the mad max/put together with whatever was laying around look. But gotta have a knobby tire. I know belt drive isnt preferred for off road but it will see limited off road riding and not in any rock quarries so I'm not worried about it. Mostly going for looks. These bikes arent set up right for off road anyways. Riding position would make it hard to stand up as opposed to a tru dirt bike it even sport bike.