fork swaps

bamboodog · Posted: September 14, 2005, 9:29 pm Post subject: fork swaps

what kind of fork swaps would work on a 72 xs2?

grizld1 · Posted: September 14, 2005, 10:23 pm Post subject: Re: fork swaps

Lots of things will, actually. The later 35mm XS650 fork assemblies are a bolt-on fit. So, surprisingly, are the XS1100 forks; a friend of mine uses them with XS1100 wheel and dual disc brakes on his 1974 (same frame as yours). I think (not sure of this) that the axle diameter and leg-to-leg width may be different; the machine uses the whole assembly. The tubes may be a bit longer as well. My friend had to use bar-backs and drop the clamps on the tubes, but he'd lowered the rear of the bike as well and had to level the frame.

What's your purpose in altering the front end? If it's performance, I'd advise you to build your bike on the later frames. The early ones flex badly, and the geometry's pretty foul. If you're doing a chopper, you've got a good platform; you don't flick those over to forty-five degrees anyway.

Phred · Posted: September 15, 2005, 8:36 pm Post subject: Re: fork swaps

Related question-does anyone know if the neck stem will swap with a Triumph or Harley. If my failing memory serves, Yamaha and Triumph both used 7/8" stems and Harley used 1". If the threaded end is the same on either, it would be easy enough to install a split bushing on the top. I believe the Yamaha uses a longer neck tube than either of these, and if so would require the stems to be swapped.

jfboy · Posted: November 6, 2005, 7:56 pm Post subject: Re: fork swaps

grizld1 wrote:

Lots of things will, actually. The later 35mm XS650 fork assemblies are a bolt-on fit. So, surprisingly, are the XS1100 forks; a friend of mine uses them with XS1100 wheel and dual disc brakes on his 1974 (same frame as yours).

What triples did your friend use ??? Did he use the xs650 triple trees or the xs1100 triple trees ?

Oddly enough here is why I am asking the question.

I'm having a hard time finding xs1100 front end for this bike I am rebuilding, and I know xs front ends are much easier to find.. I could trow a xs650 front end on this bike and be done with it..

Raven · Posted: November 11, 2005, 3:38 am Post subject: Re: fork swaps

When swapping to the 1100 you have to use the 1100 trees.
The XS2 should have 34mm tubes & the 1100 has 37mm tubes.

insulinboy · Posted: November 11, 2005, 4:26 pm Post subject: Re: fork swaps

umm.. dude.. the bike in that picture is an XV1100.. not an XS... its a Virago.. not a yamaha Special.. little bit of a difference there

xs650mike · Posted: November 11, 2005, 9:15 pm Post subject: Re: fork swaps

Regarding using XS1100 forks on an XS650, you'd have to use the XS11 trees too since the tubes are quite a bit bigger in diameter. There are two types of XS1100 forks...standard and Special. The Specials have leading axle forks and the standards have straight. The trees are different for these forks since to keep the same geometry Yamaha juggled the angle of the tubes in the trees to give a bit less rake to the leading axle fork tubes. The neck angle on both standards and Specials are the same. Upshot is that the effective trail and rake dimensions are the same for both types.

XS1100G Standard:

XS1100SF Special:

Raven · Posted: November 12, 2005, 1:27 am Post subject: Re: fork swaps

Good info Mike!
I'm putting a 79 xs1100 on my 76 xs650 right now.
The two are side by side.
The 1100 has a 1" shorter stem and timken bearings instead of ball bearings.
Otherwise, neck diameters are the same, stops look like they're the same.
Stay tuned, I'll post pics of the swap, (if I can make it work.....lol) Smile

Raven · Posted: November 13, 2005, 3:15 am Post subject: Re: fork swaps

Well here is a pic of a 650 (on the left) & 1100 bottom trees and neck stems.
Hope to swap out the stems.
Also the fork stops on the 1100 are farther out and miss the stop on the neck. I cand weld an additional 1/4" on the neck stop to fix that.

*Need info on pulling the bearings and races off the stem...I know Mikes sells new Timpken kits to replace.

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