SuzukiSavage.com - Front end swap?

Mario Verasso

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Front end swap?
11/17/13 at 15:53:06

It has been a while since i have been on here... But I picked up a 94 Suzuki intruder 800 (for $200.00) & was wondering if there is any way to use the forks, wheel and brakes on my Savage? It has a 21 inch rim & appears to be the same MM diameter fork tubes. But seams it may have a wider tree. Will I have to do a neck swap, will the trees fit the savage neck or Etc...

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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28884 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #1 - 11/17/13 at 16:46:12 I wouldn't be surprised if it bolted right up with no mods.
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WD Serious Thumper 2005 No Login Offline Professional "scooter trash". Posts: 5207 Rosemark TN Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #2 - 11/17/13 at 22:20:56 It's been done a few times. At most, needs a few shims on the upper stem bearing. Use the Intruder speedometer as well, turn the stock location in the Savage tank into a cup holder, the engine heat will keep your coffee drinkable for miles...
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12Bravo

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Re: Front end swap?
Reply #3 - 11/18/13 at 07:53:51

I have a 2007 S40 and a 1988 Intruder 750. I measured best I could (without taking everything apart) and it looks like a direct swap. You will have to swap everything - triple trees and all. I know that the forks on the VS750 are bigger than the S40. Suzuki changed the fork diameter on the VS800, I don't remember what year. The LS650 has more rake than the VS800 so the longer forks/21" tire should look good on the S40.

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Badass94Cad Senior Member Offline This space for rent Posts: 313 Mass-->Jerz-->PA! Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #4 - 11/18/13 at 14:22:39 I'd like to see pics of this mod if you do it.
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maxtowers Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 101 Versilia, Italy Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #5 - 11/18/13 at 15:43:08 i will be curious to see it too...
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old_rider Serious Thumper Offline Backyard Bill Productions Posts: 3147 flordia panhandle Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #6 - 11/18/13 at 23:06:51 Me 3 !
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ZAR Serious Thumper Offline Rock this town! Rock it inside out! Posts: 961 Kentucky, USA Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #7 - 11/19/13 at 19:15:48 Me 4!!! This opens up a whole new world of ideas!
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Mario Verasso Full Member Offline Ride it like you stole it! Posts: 112 Gibsonton, Fl Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #8 - 11/20/13 at 14:39:44 Thanx for all your input guys & yes I will update with pics. I remembered a few years back someone on here had a 21" tire on the savage. Just couldn't remember how they did it. I was just hoping someone else had done this so I wouldn't have to pull the forks off to check the specs.
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12Bravo Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 628 Mid-Missouri Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #9 - 11/20/13 at 19:29:43 Double check the diameter of the forks on your VS800. The forks on the S40 are 38mm and the forks on my 1988 VS750 are 39mm. I'm not sure if the newer VS800s have bigger forks than the VS750. Keep us updated.
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Dave

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Re: Front end swap?
Reply #10 - 11/21/13 at 03:09:16

12Bravo wrote on 11/20/13 at 19:29:43:

Double check the diameter of the forks on your VS800. The forks on the S40 are 38mm and the forks on my 1988 VS750 are 39mm. I'm not sure if the newer VS800s have bigger forks than the VS750. Keep us updated.

The other thing that needs to be checked is the spacing between the fork tubes. If this is different it can be adjusted by changing the size of the spacers on the axle.....and adjusting the brake caliper mount. I used RM400 triple trees and my stock fork tubes, and I also had to trim the mounting surface for the disc brake.

Lancer did a full fork swap on REX, and used the forks and triiple trees from a different bike.

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12Bravo

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Re: Front end swap?
Reply #11 - 11/21/13 at 07:09:10

Best I could tell by measuring both bikes with a tape measure, you should be able to swap complete front ends. The plus of using the VS front end is the speedometer is on the triple tree, the negative is the warning lights are there too (under the risers/handlebar). The speedometer would be easy since it runs off the front wheel on the VS750/800

I'm sure Lancer will pipe up on the swap he did. If I remember correctly, he used the front end of an older Suzuki GS (550?)

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Mario Verasso

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Re: Front end swap?
Reply #12 - 11/23/13 at 18:45:26

Yes, I have done some reserch on the intruder fork tubes are 39mm. I have thought about boring the stock savage trees to 39 & slimming the wheel spacers on the 21 inch wheel, but i would still have the problem of the disc brake not linning up. But if it is a direct swap then, I will do that. The full swap would give me the bigger brake/bigger wheel/longer forks/cooler fender. The biggest bonus is that I can use the Avon ribbed speed master front tire.

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12Bravo Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 628 Mid-Missouri Gender:	Re: Front end swap? Reply #13 - 11/24/13 at 07:32:08 I think swapping the complete front end would be the easiest. I've been looking at my S40 and VS750 sitting next to each other in the garage and thinking the same thing, the VS front end would look good on the S40.
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LANCER

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Re: Front end swap?
Reply #14 - 11/25/13 at 08:57:25

I did a swap with the entire front end of an '83 GS650. I used it for a while but eventually decided that it was not working any better for me than the stock unit so I went back to stock.
I had initially wanted to use a dual disc brake setup on the GS unit but could not get the correct fork/caliper/wheel/disc combo to make it work correctly. I had picked up the assorted pieces separately from ebay and not as a complete set, which would have been the best option but that was just not available at the time. So the setup was as a single disc brake and that was surprisingly no better than our stock unit.
Anyway, I got tired of messing with it and went back to stock. It works well enough for my needs.

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