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That pic makes me wish I hadn't tossed my stock SR500 mags in the scrap metal bin. Looks great.
On the tire topic, I just ordered up a set of AVONs for my XS rigid project. Vintage looking, but modern tech and speed-rated etc. Still might not be as good handlers as a set of Roadriders, but they'll look good and make me happy. My cafe is the performance bike, so it gets all the performance stuff.
With regard to your forks, something isn't right. Only way to tell for sure if the tubes are straight is to take them apart and roll them on a flat surface / hold against a straightedge.
Sadly they could actually both be bent, from a slow speed collision with the back of a car, a wall etc. and if they're installed oriented differently, the axle won't line up.
Keep us posted - I may not end up using my SR500's front end so there may be a set of tubes available.
BTW if your forks are pooched, I found out through the front end conversion tool at All Balls Racing that there are tons and tons of front ends that will mate up quite well.
I'm about to bolt on a late 90's inverted GSXR front end. Looks like it will bolt right on, using the stock All Balls tapered bearing kit. Same stem diameters as the OEM SR stem, and I'm pretty sure my measuring tape tells me the GSXR tree has about the same space between upper and lower for the frame steering tube.
Oh man, Tim, your bike is killer! I'm gonna pull the front wheel tonight and toss the original fender on just to see if that does anything. If not, well I guess the next step would be to pull the forks apart. Thanks for the tip about the conversion tool. I will keep you posted.
Oh, another little bit of info that might help.... we tried spinning the fork tubes inside the crowns to see it that would get the lowers to match up. Didn't do anything! As soon as the crown pinch bolts got tightened up the forks went back to the same twist every time. Hmmmmmm
That's what I was thinking too, and I loosened it up so the top crown could move independently from the lower one. This didn't seem to solve the issue.
Oh no! I hope you didn't already go out and buy the GSXR fork.
I tried tossing the factory fender on last night so see if it would act as a fork brace and maybe straighten out my issue... buuuuut it didn't really end up helping at all. I guess it is time to take those puppies apart and see what is going on. :
I couldn't imagine that the fork tubes were bent, but we did a couple tests anyway. A quick spin of both tubes while mounted didn't give us any wobble in the lowers. We even went to the extent of mounting the tubes and lowers backwards (switching right to left, and left to right within the crowns) and we still had the same result. Sooooo it must be the crowns.
I pulled the triple tree and mounted the left side of the lower crown to my work bench. Ahha! There was a 2mm difference in height between the right and the left sides. I tossed the lower crown in a vice and mounted a 33mm rod with a tiny bit of duct tape (to bring it to 35mm) into the bent side to use as a straightening lever. A couple pulls and that crown was straight again!
After that I was able to get the front end mounted back on the bike, and the engine dropped in. Getting pretty close now.
Hey guys! The SR has been up and running for some time now, so I thought I would give a little wheel update.
While the Firestones are totally fine for around town and look awesome, they definitely are not a performance tire. You really can't confidently lean into sharp turns at high speeds, and rain grooved roads are a nightmare.
Soooooo, I am picking up another SR wheelset after work today, and am looking to get a sportier set of tires mounted to them, so I can have a "cool" wheelset and more of a performance oriented set.
With that being said, what would you all recommend as far as tires? I want something that I can do a bit of canyon riding with, and something that I will be able to lay into turns. Ability to take them on the freeway without rain groove tracking is a must too. Any ideas? Will Tim's Shinko 705's fit the bill?
Nice to see you fitted a decent fork brace.
You will want a smaller tyres to match the rim sizes, there are loads of good ones out there.
I'm using Michelin on one CB378 and Bridgestone BT 45 on the other, 90/90 front, 110/90 rear.
You have prety narrow rims so those sizes will probably work best for handling.
Tim should have some views on sizes as he's building 500 Yam
On my XS650 there is a noticeable difference betwen a 90/90 front and a 100/90 front, definitely 'slower'
I went with Shinko 712's. They look good, are inexpensive, and handled so much better that I just sold the wheelset with the Firestones. Never looking back.
It's learning experience, glad you learned before you got hurt.
Now you can tell people just how dumb fitting Firestone are (from personal experience no less 8) )
Kudos for posting
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