Topic: 1973 Honda CB500 Front end fork swap - gsxr 750?

[Madmax92]

Hey guys,

Been seeing a few posts about people swapping out the stock front end for gsxr 750 fronts or yamaha R6 fronts for the disc breaks. This is a build that really interests me and I was curious if anyone had any input? Any suggestions on front ends, what additional parts and labor will I need to complete this swap? I really like the gsxr forks because im going for black/bronze or gold color scheme.

Any input is welcome!

Cheers,
MadMax

[Madmax92]

@calj737 -

Awesome! yeah I haven't decided if I want to keep the vintage look or not, i'm personally not a huge fan of spoked wheels but i don't hate them enough to not get them. So pretty much I could in theory just adjust a full gsxr front end and fit it on the CB500? Also thank you very much for your help on other posts, this forum community has been more than helpful to me on this project.

[Madmax92]

@Calj737 -

So lets say I didn't want spoked rims, I could just put a gsxr wheel on the front since it already fits the forks? then with the back end if I wanted to get a rear gsxr wheel to match my front I would just need the cognitomoto disc adapter hub? thinking about going that route if it would be as simple as it sounds.

[Madmax92]

@calj737
So i'm a bit confused (sorry i'm still new) I really don't want to deal with to many alterations because i'm not very mechanically inclined yet. In your opinion whats going to be easier? I'm sure having a gsxr front wheel and a spoked back wheel will look very silly. cost wise whats going to be more expensive? i'm not familiar with spoking wheels either so that would be a process of its own.

[Madmax92]

I just checked out cognitomoto and a full wheel laced and everything runs about $900 per wheel  unfortunately I don’t have that kind of money to throw at this yet. As I research I’m finding more people explaining how the gsxr wheel on the rear rubs against everything if you don’t swap the swing arm and convert to mono shocks? I’m really wanting a modern sport tire look but it’s appearing to be quite complicated and unforgiving. I certainly don’t want to make a mistake after altering my frame and risk permanently damaging something :/

[Stev-o]

Hey Max.....if I were you, I would stick with the stock front end.  A little water in it prolly did no long term damage but I would replace the 40 year old springs regardless.

[Madmax92]

maybe i'm getting a little too ahead of myself? im not opposed to taking things one step at a time, would i be able to run the gsxr front wheel with the stock rear? Am i thinking that fitting the spoked wheel to the gsxr front is more labor intensive than it really is? i'm probably going to be buying the gsxr forks with my next paycheck and have a couple hundred left to play with after that. also, any suggestions on shocks for the rear? they probably need to be replaced as well

[Madmax92]

Hey Max.....if I were you, I would stick with the stock front end.  A little water in it prolly did no long term damage but I would replace the 40 year old springs regardless.

@Stev-o
I had thought about just rebuilding the stock forks but I would feel much more comfortable with discs in the front.. plus i really like the look of the gsxr forks and feel it would give my bike more of a custom feeling. I've been using 4into1 for most of my parts that needed replacing and I hadn't seen any fork tube springs, maybe i overlooked them..

[Madmax92]

@calj737 -
Sorry for being all over the place, I don’t really know where to begin this swap but I’m pretty determined to make it happen. So just running the gsxr forks I need bearing spacers for the front hub and a new custom axle which I assume cognitomoto has? What about the offset problem with the gsxr forks, I also need the triple tree adjustment right? I’m probably going to take the most cost effective route even if it takes a little more time.. sounds like I’d just have to find some how to’s on the caliper mounting plates and research lacing the wheels?

Thanks for the plug on the shocks, I’ve been looking for a good pair and I like the way those look too! Big ups!

[Madmax92]

So If I just directly port the gsxr front and use the gsxr 17” front wheel I also need a 17” rear wheel to accommodate? What about the sv650 rear wheel, it’s 17” and a 160 which in theory should fit the CB stock swingarm? If not I believe you said the 1100 gsxr swingarm is a close fit? Which would allow the rear gsxr wheel.

- what all is included in swapping out the swingarm?

[RandomOrbit]

I keep thinking about doing something like this, because I feel like upside down forks and modern disk brakes look badass on a CB750, and brake and suspension improvements sound like a good thing to do.

But then when I think about the complexity of doing it so that it actually all fits together and works better than the stock configuration, and the associated cost in real dollars of all that, I have to ask myself what my end goal is:

Is it to make the most badass CB750 ever? Because a thousand other guys have already done that and done it better than I have the money and skill for.

Is it to make my bike handle better? Because I could just buy a used CB600F4, or a GSXR that would be faster and better handling than any CB750 I could build for half the cost of swapping out the front end.

I really admire the custom CB750s I've seen with these kinds of mods, but it's not a cost effective way to get a better bike. Mods like this aren't practical, they are built for entirely unpractical reasons. I admire the people who build them, but I don't have the time or money to spare to build something like that and even if I did, it wouldn't be my only bike.