Forks/Front end swap on a 96 Speedtriple?

[Gumballer]

Hi All,

I am looking to update the look and handling of my Triple, has anyone done a succesful job of this that can help?

I am after GSXR/R1/something shiny, happy to build new yokes.

Anyone done it? Below piccy of said beast.

(Piccy removed, was very large.)

[DEcosse]

(Moved to T3 forum)

All 01+ GSXR models use same bearings in the steering head (actually most late model Suzukis are same incl Hayabusa) with 30/55/17 bearings top & bottom.

Your bottom bearing is the same - also same as that of the FI gen Speed Triples.

I'm not sure what your top bearing is however.
It's not the same as the later (T5) model bearing, at least not by part number but have no idea what the OD is (which is critical dimesnion you need).

For the 97-04 model speed triple, it uses a 25/52/15 bearing at thetop - but it is possible to get a special 30/52/16 bearing that will work with the Triumph steering head and the 30mm OD of the Suzuki steering stem.

Not sure if that will help in your case.
If you can identify the OD of the top bearing, then you can look for one that matches with a 30mm ID.

Alternatively, since you are dealing with same diameter bottom bearing, you may be able to press out the stem from the Triumph bottom triple & press into the GSXR unit. Not sure how that would work with the GSXR top triple, but you could either bore or sleeve the stem hole as appropriate if that diameter is different.

Check my signature for my T5/GSXR conversion which may offer some guidance;
also check this thread for Hayabusa swap into Sprint. Both of those bikes share common head bearings so you could mix n match between those.
I have a LOT of info on Suzuki forks if you need some direct questions answered re dimensions etc. (see the table that is posted in the Sprint thread which will answer a lot of that however)

Good Luck!


Update!

(worked this out thanks to OneWheel's measurements)

So it appears that the top bearing used in the T3 is actually a 25/47 but has a 'cup' that it sits in, which is 51mm OD
Ideal replacement bearings would be 51/30 (eliminating the cup) or a 47/30, retaining the cup.

But these bearing sizes do not exist in the mainstream bearing supply market.

The options are:

1) Coincidentally the Suzuki SV650 Gen 1 uses a 25/47 bearing also - Zoran at TwinWorksFactoryRacing can supply modified bearings for the GSXR steering stems which will plug n play with the 30mm GSXR stems.
The modified bearing is 47mm OD, 30mm ID - just what you need to fit in the OEM cup.
You can source that here - http://www.twfracing.com/images/zpar...earing_lg.jpeg

2) You can use the aforementioned 30/52/16 mm bearing (NTN 4T-CR-0643) - then you would need to modify the cup to take the 1mm larger bearing.
Great if you have a lathe! - I happen to have one!

Either of those will work - the first is just purchase and install; the second, you will need to modify either yourself or at machine shop

Certainly quite do-able.

[Roden]

I too am keen for an USD front end but I think the problem may be finding a long enough fork. Have a look at the table of dimensions on the fork swap sticky and you will see that the longest fork (GSXR600 from memory) still falls way short of the T3 length.

The Suzuki forks would be great as our wheel can be married up and brakes will be sweet.

Maybe a custom made top triple would be the answer, it would have to step down considerably and the clip-ons would end up much lower.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Roden

[DEcosse]

How about these? Expensive though!!!

http://www.gpsuspension.com/products...ail.php?item=1

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[KitNYC]

Welcome, Gumballer. Apologies for removing your pic, but it was large enough to interfere with reading the posts. Feel free to put a smaller version back, say up to 2/3 the size you had before.

I looked into bearing size a bit, but all I could come up with was this:

All Balls makes a kit for the T3s, PN 22-1053.

Dennis Kirk does not stock that PN, so I can't x-ref from it.

Cheers,
-Kit

[DEcosse]

Originally Posted by KitNYC

..
All Balls makes a kit for the T3s, PN 22-1053.

I would think if you call (or e-mail) Kit, they might give you the bearing type? You might need to explain the reason so as not to appear that you just want number to buy from someone else!

Edit - Whoops - even easier!

I just looked up the 99 Speed Triple and the all-balls kit is the same part number - which also means that the top bearing must be the same i.e. 25/52/15
(*assuming that is that AllBalls has correctly identified the bearing for the early carb Speed Triple* - they do list the same number for the Daytonas also though.)

So you would need the special bearing which is a an NTN 4T-CR-0643 (30 x 52 x 16) or equivelant to use a GSXR stem in the Triumph head and as mentioned earlier, bottom bearing is same size for both anyway
That bearing incidentally is used on 2008 Yamaha RoadStar Warrior

Edit - apparently they did not! See edit in post # 2

[KitNYC]

So the same 22-1050 All Balls kit that works in the 955 Sprints will work in the T3 bikes?

[Gumballer]

Thanks Guys, that all got a little technical for me, I was hopping ten minutes on ebay with the old Barclcard would have me a nice Busa front end. I wil have a good dig and see what I can find.

What hadnt occured to me is the need for all new clock and headlamp holders once Upside down forks are added.

I will report back with results!

[Roden]

DEcosse, I likey the look of those fork extenders, good find. Its got me thinking that any good machine shop would be able to spin something like that up fairly easily, hmmm. Good news about the bearings too.

I already have a T509 instrument cluster installed and I am on the look out for bug eyes and instrument mount from that model, twould be sweet married up with usd forks me thinks...

Gumballer, I don't think it would be too hard to mount S3 clocks to 'busa top triple, that would be the least of the problems. Speedo drive and wheel spacing is what needs a bit of research. Hopefully, the early FI bikes were the same.

I'm excited

Cheers,

Roden

[DEcosse]

Originally Posted by Roden

....I don't think it would be too hard to mount S3 clocks to 'busa top triple, that would be the least of the problems. Speedo drive and wheel spacing is what needs a bit of research....

For the first part, that may not be as trivial as you think; the S3 clocks mount to the underside of the OEM top triple clamp. The Daytona arrangement might actually be easier to work with.

I can probably help with the latter question - I have the dimensions for most of the Suzuki configurations. The wider configurations (214 mm fork spacing) is certainly easier to accommodate the speedo drive but even the GSXRs narrower (207mm) spread can be dealt with. But not sure of your wheel dimesnions - I see that the internal wheel spacer is different from the T5's so presumably has different spacing between the bearings. Can you share what that is and I'll figure out spacers for you? (depending on which forks selected of course!)

The Haybusa forks might be good choice for this bike I think (other than the length) - I believe that caliper mount spacing on T3 is actually the same (also same as the later Sprints, but different to the T5 S3, yes?) so you could even retain the Triumph calipers.