front end swap opinions needed

So as the thread topic implies, curious as to thoughts. I ride a 1981 Yamaha XJ750 and as a friend is probably parting out his 93 katana 600 I'm thinking I should snatch up the complete front end and toss it onto the seca. I should say, it will be a near direct bolt in, even though I'm not entirely sure on what I'll do for bars after the swap.... maybe I can use my current top triple and stick w/ my current drag bars temporarily.

Thoughts? Its 12 years newer, it has to be better, right? Hah.

 

Well, the idea is great. But, the Katana is a lighter bike so the springing will be pretty soft. ...and the forks may be too short....and are you sure it's a bolt in fit? Same bearings? Same stem length??

As for using your existing top clamp - forget it. Katana forks are 41mm, XJ are 36mm. And the fork spacing / offset won't be the same anyway.

Take some thorough measurements before you commit to this.

 

I've actually got the kat front end in my shop right now, and I'm tearing the front end off of the seca tonight... From the measurements I've managed to get, it's actually looking like the stems might be the same length, which really would make it a direct bolt-in.

 

I like the idea. Let me know how it goes, It'd like to do something similar to mine.

As far as the softer fork springs, that's easily solved Here. The stiffer springs might (probably) will fix any front end ride height issues.

 

Can't wait to see the results! Was just pondering front end options earlier today myself.

 

apparently gsxr750r front end will match up very well

 

I put the front end from an 86 FZ600 on my 82 yamaha maxi650. I left my triple tree and used the FZ forks, rim, fender and brakes. It had dual front so that and improved handling was my goal. Although the front tire was a 16" as opposed to the 19" original rim, there was hardly any drop. It was all direct. With new steering head bearings, wheel bearings, fork springs, and front brakes, the whole ride has improved quite a bit. The FZ forks have a way better dampening system so there is no dive on hard stops. Even though rockets are lighter for the most part, their fork springs are usually made for harder stops and starts. Their shouldn't be a problem with the Katana's fork springs. Good luck, can't wait to see pics. By the way, the pics in my gallery are not with the new front end. I will get some up this weekend.

 

What are you going to do about the rim mis-match??
Do you just not care? Is stopping THAT important?

 

You can't really tell that they don't match. I had them both powder coated black and I added a red power stripe. Stopping...fairly important, yes. Somedays anyway.

 

Pix, pix, I wanna see pix!

Oh, and step by step how to. With PIX! (I would really like to see pix of the completed swap. Thank you very much.)

 

So, here's the new front end:


Stock front end:


Bike as it sits in my shop right now:


Basically, all that has been done up to this point was remove the bars and controls, then I removed the top triple, followed by the little air-valves on top of the forks (they just pop off, which was honestly kind of confusing). One thing to watch out for though, when you remove the top triple, the forks will want to drop down, and the bottom steering bearings will go all over. It took me 45 minutes to track em all down.

Once the top triple is off, and you have the headlight bracket and such off already, rest of the front end assembly just kinda drops off. Helps to have a spare pair of hands to either rock the bike back on the center stand, or help lift the front of the bike with a jack, for clearance purposes.

From there, I had my stock steering stem pressed into the katana lower triple tree, and I'll be picking them back up tomorrow to hopefully try and toss it on!

I'll let you know what happens when i get the parts.

 

So small update, I just went out to the shop with the intention of tossing the trips and stem onto the bike, but the top bolt from the stock assembly won't fit through the new top trips, nor is it long enough even if it did. So, tomorrow I have to go to the hardware store to get a longer bolt, and then 'machine out' the hole in the trips about 1mm for it to fit, via a powerdrill. hah.

 

so minor update, top trip is out being machined to make stuff fit.

Got a mockup pic though, overall angle is a bit off, as the front end is gonna come down about 2" to make it all fit, but it gives a good idea of the overall appearance and how much i'll have to lean to drive it.