82 gpz750 wheel replace w/ 17\"

Howdy, Anyone ever fooled around and replaced the 18" wheel on the back of a 82 gpz750 with a 17"? Seems like all the good sticky tires are 17". I know the caliper support arm might get in the way of a larger tire but, that is just temporary. Thanks in advance, Joe

Does an 80 KZ750E with a 83 GPz750 aluminum swing arm and a Suzuki GSX750 17" wheel count? Used the caliper/etc off the GSX750.

Modern wheels and tyres transform our old bikes

Well I recon it would!!! I just have to figure out the difference between your bike and mine. I dont know all the configurations yet cause they put that 750 power plant on a bunch of bikes. I will look up a photo of yours and look at the schematic of it and see. Someone else wrote me and said their tire shop does their conversions but I have no way of contacting them yet. I just hate that the day I got it tagged, the temp dropped to 32 that night and has only been warm enough to ride during working hrs. Did ride about 10 miles last night and it gets better the more I crank on it. Just cant push it hard cause the tires are hard and the streets are cold and we all know that is a bad combo. I will just put new 18" rubber on the rear and a 19" on the front for now cause I am now finishing my 85 900 ninja and dont want to start another project till its done. Joe

Hey Lorcan, Where are they located? Sounds like they could be my huckleberry. Joe

Hey Steell, Do you have a pic of your bike with the mods done? I looked, and your bike is just like mine (as best I can tell from a photo)and just wanted to see the difference. How much did it help the handleing? I am a little spoiled as this bike does not compare the the bmw k1200 but, am willing to work to make it the best it can be. Joe

jaguar wrote:

Hey Lorcan, Where are they located? Sounds like they could be my huckleberry. Joe

Where are who located? :blink:

Hey Lorcan, Just figured out you were in the UK and I guess that where modern wheel and TYRE is.
Thanks, Joe

I'm not totally sure, but I think it is possible to build a swingarm of a Zephyr 750 into the old KZ's.

Then you would be able to use the 17" wheel, the brakes and keep the stereo suspension.

I've been following a few auctions on eBay, because this is a mod I want to do in the future.

The width of the Zephyr swingarm at the frame is supposed to be around 230 mm. Which is almost the same as my KZ700 swingarm (225 mm). The distance from swingarm pivot to axle is also the same.

Hey Paling, I am assumeing "stereo" means 2 shocks. I figured if I was going to do it, might as well go all the way and convert to a mono shock while I was at it. Are there any advantages to two shocks? Wonder if the frame pivot point is strong enough for a mono shock application? Soo many questions and only 24 hrs in a day! Joe

jaguar wrote:

Hey Paling, I am assumeing "stereo" means 2 shocks. I figured if I was going to do it, might as well go all the way and convert to a mono shock while I was at it. Are there any advantages to two shocks? Wonder if the frame pivot point is strong enough for a mono shock application? Soo many questions and only 24 hrs in a day! Joe

Yes, stereo means two shocks...
The advantage of two shocks is that you don't have to weld and modify the frame.
Plus two shocks look at least two times better than one shock... (but that's just my opinion)

Just showing you what you're in for:





Yes, you better plan on doing some welding for the mono shock and shaving a bit off the frame where the swingarm will bolt to.

If you have access to everything you need, then it shouldn't be that big of a deal.