SuzukiSavage.com - Print Page

SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl
General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> mag wheel swap & larger disc
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1633901114

Message started by badwolf on 10/10/21 at 14:25:14

Title: mag wheel swap & larger disc
Post by badwolf on 10/10/21 at 14:25:14

Today I recived this e-mail from a member,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tiph Bemis <thetiph@gmail.com>

11:44 AM (5 hours ago)

First off I gotta say I'm impressed with your posts on SuzukiSavage.com. I joined not long ago so I don't have a lot of posts yet. I'm still learning and building my bike.

I wanted to ask about your front 19" mag wheel, rotor and upgraded caliper.

I've read your posts several times but wanted to be sure I ordered correctly.

So I need a gs850 1982 19x1.85
What was needed to make it fit with the 250mm rotor and dual piston caliper?

Thanks so much for your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I wrote up how I did mine and thought I might as well post it here for others who are thinking about it.

FIRST AND FOREMOST-- IF DONE WRONG THIS CAN KILL YOU!!!
DON'T ATTEMPT UNLESS YOU HAVE TRUST IN YOUR ABILTY!!

OK, This is not a pure bolt-on swap. I have a metal lathe and a 'TON' of tools at home and have been building and fixing stuff for over 60 years. So I am NOT just a guy with one screwdriver that has to park his bike on the street. Not trying to scare you off, but the ability to run tubeless tires, and the greatly increased braking is well worth a little work. So if you have some basic mechanical skills, and patience to do a good job, it's not that hard.
WARNING - ALTERING THE FRONT WHEEL AND BRAKING SYSTEM CAN BE DEADLY IF DONE WRONG!!!
So take your time and do it right. If something doesn't seem right, have a trusted mechanic check it over BEFORE you ride it!

Now, you need a ''TUBELESS'' Suzuki rim from the early to mid 80's, with the rotor. And a LEFT caliper from a SV650. If you want to run the dual piston caliper, try to find a wheel with a drilled rotor. If you are going to use the stock (wimpy) caliper, you will need a solid rotor.
The wheel should be an easy swap, the axle is the same od, but you may need a couple washers to center it and make the distance from the rotor to the fork leg the same.
Now the rotor. If you use the stock caliper you will get no increase in braking, but will just have to take the rotor to a machine shop and have it turned down to the same od as stock. Pretty simple, but expect to pay somewhere around $100, not cheap.
If you want to use the dual piston caliper off a SV650 you will need to build a new bracket. BUT it is NOT THAT HARD! Clean -up the caliper, but don't install the brake line yet. Put a piece of 14 gauge insulated house wiring around the outside of the rotor with masking tape and set the caliper where you want it. The wire will give you clearance so nothing rubs later. (take it out when you are done, duh)
Take a piece of cardboard, and make a template of what your bracket needs to be.
Now I used a piece of 3/16'' steel to make the bracket, and it worked great! You will need a piece of steel, a solid vice, a hacksaw, a drill motor and bit, and a file to clean-up the sharp edges.
Some half hour or so later you will be ready to try it for fit. Put new bolts in and use all-steel lock nuts on them, it can get hot and melt the plastic lock nuts. Take off the wire and give the wheel a spin, if nothing rubs, you did great!! If you need a little shimming or a second try, no big deal, it's just a piece of steel. Take it off, clean it up and give it a couple coats of paint, caliper too while you're at it. When dry bolt it up, double check it for rubs, then bleed it and you should be all set.

I have one bike with the mag wheel off a 80's 440 or 400 (whatever) and it's drilled rotor with a SV650 caliper, works waaaaay better than the stock set-up. (and it's tubeless)My other bike has an aluminum front wheel from a 02' Marauder 800 v-twin. It's a 16x3.00 tubeless and a SV650 - 295mm rotor and caliper. With 3 fingers I can lock-up the front wheel at 30 mph! (so I only use 2)
This is not the easiest performance mod you can do to your Savage, but I just don't see the sense in making it faster first, when it can barely stop the way it is.
Good luck !!!