2001 v11 Front End Swap?

[gstallons]

If the other calipers use the same style banjo fitting , you can go with your brake hoses .

 When you go together with this ,  Performance Friction sells a DOT 4 brake fluid that looks like the way to go.

[GuzziMoto]

The more GSXR parts you get the better. But if you are putting handle bars on you would need an extended brake line kit if what you bought did not come with it. With clip ons you should be able to use the brake lines that came with the GSXR brakes, but the stock lines are cheap rubber lines. I seem to recall the banjo bolts are different sizes between the Guzzi and the Suzuki, but I could be wrong. I think quality brake lines are cheap enough so I bought custom lines for mine. And I upgraded the master cylinder as mentioned.

There are some brake lines which use a fitting that screws directly into the caliper, I like those best but as long as the lines fit they should be fine. There is nothing special about one brand compared to another. Guzzi or Suzuki, the lines don't know.

Also, don't forget you want the GSXR front fender.

 

There are plenty of options on brake fluid. DOT 4 is a good choice, and I am sure Performance friction fluid is great but I have never used it. For regular use I run Valvoline DOT 3/4 synthetic. But that is not to say any others are not a good choice. A great high end high performance fluid is Super Blue. But it is more for race and high performance applications. Advantages won't likely be seen on a street Guzzi and the draw back is it is more prone to absorbing water, reducing its performance.

[sp838]

@GuzziMoto - I procured a complete front end from a 2009 GSXR. I figure that since I am not planning on doing the swap until the winter, I have all summer to sort out all the parts I will be needing, and to get the forks resprung and revalved. In my internet travels, I found these guys who seem very legit:

 

http://www.racetech.com/

 

They seem pretty reasonable and knowledgeable for doing rebuilds. I also have a vintage 70's 35mm Ceriani front end on my Honda cb350 that I bought from an old Triumph dirt track racer which needs to be rebuilt (fork seals are held in with silicone caulking, no idea what condition the internals are in) so I figured I could send them in too. I was wondering if you were familiar with them and what your thoughts were on this.

 

As far as the front end swap you did, how did you deal with the ignition switch? Did you relocate it to another area on the bike? Make some kind of adapter? Did you just keep the original Guzzi switch or did you use a Suzuki one?

[GuzziMoto]

I mounted the Guzzi ignition switch in the Suzuki location. Required a couple small spacers ( I used what I had laying around) and no longer allowed the steering lock to work, but I never use that anyway. Depending on the location of the switch mount on the '09 forks you may or may not be able to use the steering lock.

Do they offer fork extenders for the '09s? I seem to think they do but if I am right they are more expensive then the extenders for the '06-'07s . Which displacement GSXR? There are differences between them.

As to sending your stuff to Racetech, they certainly do plenty of business. But I don't send my stuff there. I would think they could do a decent job.  I have used PPS, and trust him. But I am sure others like Racetech could do well for you.

[sp838]

Sorry, should've been more specific. It's from an 09 GSXR 750. The legs are 12mm shorter than the v11's Marzocchis. From what I've read so far there are some out there. Haven't actually tracked down a pair yet.

 

I have handle bars on my bike, so I got an upper triple with handle bar risers. I don't use the steering lock either, so doesn't matter to me if that functionality is lost, but it would be nice to reuse the same ignition switch.

[GuzziMoto]

As mentioned before, 12 mm is not much and may work just fine for you without extenders.

I'm not sure what the offset is on those, hopefully they are around 30 mm.

The required bearings run around $40 or less on the internet.

A bit of work to fab mounts for the gauges and headlight. I bought fancy mounts for the headlight and found that I preferred some homemade ones I adapted using stainless muffler clamps sized to go around the tubes with a little foam as a cushion. Then I made some brackets to attach to the clamps and hold the headlight. My speedo/tach combo attaches directly to the top triple clamp at the same location as the ignition switch. It has a rubber mount incorporated into it.

I do recommend you read the thread I posted the link to in the other discussion, it has some pictures and some info/ideas that may be helpful.

[SCole]

RaceTech is top notch.  They also have local rebuilders / dealers and you may find one close to you and save the shipping.  I think you can look for locals on their website.

[sp838]

So, as the days get shorter and the evenings get cooler, I start to think ahead to the winter and doing this swap job. I'd like to buy the bearings, pretty much the only thing missing at thins point to do the swap. All Balls Racing has two versions of the tapered roller bearing in the 30/52 size: 16mm stack height and 17mm. Was wondering which height I should get. The diagram in the workshop manual doesn't specify how deep the bearing seats are. @GuzziMoto mentioned that a spacer was needed in the GSXR triple clamp stack because the stem is a little longer than the Guzzi's. Should I get the 17mm ones then, to get me closer to the height needed? If anyone has removed the steering bearings from their v11 and knows what the stack height is, I'd love to know. Thanks!

[GuzziMoto]

I seem to recall they were 17mm. But as mentioned the GSXR steering stem is a bit longer than the Guzzi steering head so the 17mm ones would be the way to go. 1mm is not really going to make or break the deal anyway.... But as I recall the bearings I used were 30/52/17. They were DRZ 400 SM tapered steering head bearings. If you can wait I will double check when I get home.

I think you will still need a small spacer to get the stem protrusion right above the top triple clamp. As mentioned put the spacer under the lower bearing.

[sp838]

Got it. Ordered the bearings, will do the job when it's no longer safe or comfortable to ride here, most likely after mid November. I've got pretty much everything else, other than the stuff necessary to have a headlight and gauges, but not I'm too worried about that. Thanks again! When I get it going, I'll post about my progress with before during and after pics.

[sp838]

Hey @GuzziMoto, another question came to mind: what did you do about the steering damper? Doesn't look to me like the Guzzi one will work with the GSXR front end, and vice versa.

[GuzziMoto]

I do not run a steering damper on any of our four Guzzi's. The Daytona and V11 came from the factory with steering dampers. The one on the Daytona was removed by the original owner (a friend of mine) to make the bike handle better. The one on the V11 (the wifes bike) was removed because it took a dump and started to seriously mess up the way it handled. We took it off meaning to put a replacement on but my wife liked the way it handled better without the damper so we have left it that way. The bike was much lighter steering and felt much more sporting and responsive. Now, many years later, things are still fine with no steering damper. With the moderate geometry of a Guzzi I can't see why you would need one, other then you like the artificially heavy feel it can give the bike. If a Guzzi has actual stability issues there is something wrong with the bike. I have never rode a Guzzi that actually NEEDED a steering damper.  I am not saying there isn't one, nor am I saying that anyone else should follow my lead. Everyone needs to decide for themselves. If you prefer the heavier steering that a steering damper provides then by all means work to mount one on the GSXR forks. The stock GSXR forks have a tab for the damper (at least the ones I used did but I cut it off) and I would think you could work something out with that. It may require a new mount for the damper to the frame. Or you could use the same damper and frame mount and get a bolt on fork tube mount (they sell them from racer supply houses) to move the damper mount on the forks to the correct location.

I am sure you could work something up, but as I had no need to do that I am not really sure exactly what it will take. But I have faith that if you need to do it there is a way. The only question is do you need to do it.

[sp838]

Update: sent the fork legs to Stig at PPS, he is working on them now! Very excited.

 

Front wheel is almost repainted. My guy is slow but does good work.

 

Not happy with the GSXR top clamp, mulling options, including having a custom one milled out of billet.

 

Just realized that the bearings I got are the incorrect size for my GSXR stem. I needed 28mm ID bearings, not 30. Thankfully the kind folks at All Balls Racing will exchange them for me.

 

Onward…

[GuzziMoto]

Sorry about the wrong dimension, my bad. Glad they can exchange them for you.

Did you read the thread about the swap? It probably has some useful info (maybe without the numerical errors) for you if you are doing this as well.

There have been a few people who have done this type of thing to their Guzzi, you are not alone.

There is a wealth of aftermarket for GSXR's. I would look for a top clamp there before going for a custom clamp. Spend the extra money on a nice radial master cylinder for the stock GSXR discs and calipers. I went with an adjustable Brembo unit from Todd over at GuzziTech. He sold it to me for a fair price and it is nice to support a fellow Guzzi guy.

Glad to hear you sent the forks to Stig. He is a great guy and has always done nice work for me.

Let me know how it goes. 

 

Edit; I just went out and measured the steering stems I have laying around from my GSXR projects and they have a 30mm stem diameter where the bearings are. I hope your 28mm diameter is correct. Mine necks down to 28mm to go through the top clamp but where both bearings are it is 30mm. I have not played with a '09 version, though. '07 is as new as I have messed with.

[sp838]

No worries, not your bad at all. They're definitely 28mm. I should have measured them before ordering. I will definitely keep you posted on my progress.