Rear Wheel Question....Will it fit?

[Arnie]

You might want to consider buying the whole bandit rolling chassis as it sits.
Then you could use the rear wheel assembly, or maybe the whole rear swingarm and wheel assembly.
You could also use the bandit front forks and 3.5" front wheel.
While the bandit forks aren't upside-down sexy, they're probably "cartridge" forks, and (IIRC) 43mm.
That would give you matching wheels, and from the pic shown good tires too. :-)

Arnie

[axiom-r]

I am thinking exactly what Arnie is thinking.  Buy that entire Bandit rolling chassis and use the entire front and rear end.....  Of course you should know in advance once you complete a conversion such as that you will forever be looking at the front and rear end of every bike and wondering what it would look like on your FJ....

[Country Joe]

Arnie,
You are correct about the forks being 43mm..... I looked it up a couple of days ago. You still wouldn't get the chicks, through

Joe

[Arnie]

Arnie,
You are correct about the forks being 43mm..... I looked it up a couple of days ago. You still wouldn't get the chicks, through

Joe

Hmmmm, IF the forks are 43mm, then you can either mill the FJ triples 1mm larger to accomodate them OR see if you can fit the Suzuki steering stem to the FJ and not only get stronger and better controlled forks, but also be able to fit your choice of 'standard' bars.

As for getting the girls....
I've never relied on forks to determine my desirability :-)
Some who do need that attractant say that upside downs are the way to go.
My wife definitely prefers the FJ to my other bike which does have upside down forks.

[Country Joe]

Arnie,
You are correct about the forks being 43mm..... I looked it up a couple of days ago. You still wouldn't get the chicks, through

Joe

Hmmmm, IF the forks are 43mm, then you can either mill the FJ triples 1mm larger to accomodate them OR see if you can fit the Suzuki steering stem to the FJ and not only get stronger and better controlled forks, but also be able to fit your choice of 'standard' bars.

As for getting the girls....
I've never relied on forks to determine my desirability :-)
Some who do need that attractant say that upside downs are the way to go.
My wife definitely prefers the FJ to my other bike which does have upside down forks.

Arnie,
I figure I'm too far gone for USD forks to make me desirable, at least my wife still keeps me around.

Joe

[ANGRYJOE]

I'm not in a financial position to buy the whole deal. I've got 3 projects on the burners and I have to budget my cash outlay. I am building a 1966 Plymouth Fury and a 1971 Dodge Sweptline pickup AND my FJ. I have to prioritize, which is why I didn't pull the trigger on the 300 dollar GSXR real wheel I found.

[Harvy]

Arnie,
You are correct about the forks being 43mm..... I looked it up a couple of days ago. You still wouldn't get the chicks, through

Joe

Hmmmm, IF the forks are 43mm, then you can either mill the FJ triples 1mm larger to accomodate them OR see if you can fit the Suzuki steering stem to the FJ and not only get stronger and better controlled forks, but also be able to fit your choice of 'standard' bars.

As for getting the girls....
I've never relied on forks to determine my desirability :-)
Some who do need that attractant say that upside downs are the way to go.
My wife definitely prefers the FJ to my other bike which does have upside down forks.

You would have to check the distance between the forks and the offset for them to work in the FJ triples.

That's where the early FZ1 cartridge forks work so easily...... offset and distance is the same as the FJ...... you just have to bore the top, bottom and handlebars to 43mm and its all bolt on.


Harvy

[Arnie]

Harvy said,

"You would have to check the distance between the forks and the offset for them to work in the FJ triples.

That's where the early FZ1 cartridge forks work so easily...... offset and distance is the same as the FJ...... you just have to bore the top, bottom and handlebars to 43mm and its all bolt on."

First and most important is that the Bandit parts are available.  FZ1 ? Dunno.
Yes, agree to both your points.  But it is likely that the separation between the fork tubes is very similar if not the same as that of the FJ.  I would be surprised if any likely minor discrepancy couldn't be adjusted for when the FJ triples were bored to 43mm.
I think the better option would be to swap the whole Bandit fork assembly including triples into the FJ.  You might have to get the steering stem changed from the FJ to the Bandit, but it might just be same length and diameter. 
And you get the bonus of a tubular handlebar mount so you can pick your height and bend.
Also, the Bandit wheel has a speedo drive. Wonder if its the same ratio as that on the FJ.
Remember that motorcycle manufacturers buy assemblies from only a very few OEM suppliers. 
There's much more commonality of parts than most people realize (especially within the Japanese bikes)
As always, measure twice - cut once. 

[ANGRYJOE]

Back to the subject at hand.

Will a 1997 Suzuki Bandit 1200 rear wheel fit on my 1990 FJ1200?

The short answer is yes it will.

The long answer is; not without some work.

The rear sprocket is bigger than the FJ so I will have to either swap it or lengthen my chain.

I will have to modify the caliper brace or I will have to fabricate a new one. If you were so inclined you could make the stock caliper and brace work with some cutting and welding of the stock brace.

I will have to purchase a longer rear brake hose.

The guy that I got the parts from did not include the brake caliper mount bracket so I now need to find one.

I will need a minimum of 2 4mm washers/spacers.


Otherwise this is a relatively simple swap that as proven to be cheaper than GSXR parts.

Once I gather the necessary parts to complete the swap I will document it with some pictures.

[Pat Conlon]

Very cool Joe. Yes, please take pictures for us. Very much appreciated.

[Urban_Legend]

Hi.

That is good news   . Bandits beware. How does the chain look for clearance (I know you need to lengthen it) I am looking forward to the comlete "How Too" write up with lots of informative pics (some of us don't read too good)

Mark

[Arnie]

Joe,
None of that "work" you describe is major, and certainly not insurmountable.
You will (almost certainly) want to replace the rear sprocket with one in the range of 38-42 teeth.
If you do this your OEM FJ chain will be of sufficient length to work,
HOWEVER you may want to take this opportunity to replace the chain and both sprockets.
Consider yourself lucky to be successful in making this swap so easily and cheaply.
I'll also thank you in advance for letting others know that using this wheel works.

Arnie (the guy who first documented using the GSXR wheel :-)

Back to the subject at hand.

Will a 1997 Suzuki Bandit 1200 rear wheel fit on my 1990 FJ1200?

The short answer is yes it will.

The long answer is; not without some work.

The rear sprocket is bigger than the FJ so I will have to either swap it or lengthen my chain.

I will have to modify the caliper brace or I will have to fabricate a new one. If you were so inclined you could make the stock caliper and brace work with some cutting and welding of the stock brace.

I will have to purchase a longer rear brake hose.

The guy that I got the parts from did not include the brake caliper mount bracket so I now need to find one.

I will need a minimum of 2 4mm washers/spacers.


Otherwise this is a relatively simple swap that as proven to be cheaper than GSXR parts.

Once I gather the necessary parts to complete the swap I will document it with some pictures.

[axiom-r]

Arnie,
You are correct about the forks being 43mm..... I looked it up a couple of days ago. You still wouldn't get the chicks, through

Joe

Hmmmm, IF the forks are 43mm, then you can either mill the FJ triples 1mm larger to accomodate them OR see if you can fit the Suzuki steering stem to the FJ and not only get stronger and better controlled forks, but also be able to fit your choice of 'standard' bars.

As for getting the girls....
I've never relied on forks to determine my desirability :-)
Some who do need that attractant say that upside downs are the way to go.
My wife definitely prefers the FJ to my other bike which does have upside down forks.

You would have to check the distance between the forks and the offset for them to work in the FJ triples.

That's where the early FZ1 cartridge forks work so easily...... offset and distance is the same as the FJ...... you just have to bore the top, bottom and handlebars to 43mm and its all bolt on.


Harvy

I think the whole idea of milling the triples is not the way to go. I like the idea of using the triple clamps that were designed for use with the forks. Almost all of the more modern bikes use a stem at the center of their triple clamp that is larger diameter and longer than our FJ units.  So the FJ stock stem needs to be fatter to press fit into a newer lower triple clamp and longer because more modern triple clamps are thicker.  The FJ stem is steel and is hollow and it readily accepts a press in extension that can then be turned down to the proper diameter for the newer lower triple. Welding the extension to the stock stem before trimming it is the way to go.  ALL BALLS makes conversion easy - you can tell them what bike the front end came off of and what bike its going on to and they will send you bearings that fit.

Putting the FJ steering stem into any more modern triple clamp and fork set up means you get better parts on your bike vs. the alternative of using your stock triples with material removed which is inherently weaker...  

All that said - cash is king.  Do what you gotta do to get the better wheels on your bike Joe.  You will love them!

[Russfjr1]

Why do most people go to Suzuki parts for the FJ ?  With the vast range of Yamaha motorcycles why not stick with Yamaha parts ... I don't understand. Out of curiosity I will cross reference some rear wheel bearings to see what could be swapped out with ease or if you have use of a lathe you can make top hat style spacers to convert bearings for lets say 28mm shaft (R1) down to 20mm

[ribbert]

I will have to modify the caliper brace or I will have to fabricate a new one. If you were so inclined you could make the stock caliper and brace work with some cutting and welding of the stock brace.

I will have to purchase a longer rear brake hose.

OK, can someone explain to me  how the brace works on the footpeg mount when the swing arm is moving up and down. When I nip the axle up, the caliper it locked into postion.

Noel