GS1100 E swingarm swap on KZ900

I know it has been asked before and i have searched the forum.

I have the oportunity to get one of these what the concensus? worth it I have a KZ900 would like to retain the drum brake and and put a 160 tyre on (3.5 - 4) rim. Anyone done this with drums

any assistance is appreciated thanks Jason

I cut the brake stay off the top and welded a new one to the bottom for the drum. Mixed and matched some spacers from the local junkyard, GS axle. I just bought a 3.5 wheel and plan on adding a 160 tire as well. May need to pie cut the gussets and weld them flat to the inside of the arm to fit, not sure yet. Flipped the brake arm up and custom linkage. Not hard if you have fab skills or access to a shop. Otherwise, use a disc wheel and mount a MC, much less fab, but not as cool.

Mercury Kid wrote: I cut the brake stay off the top and welded a new one to the bottom for the drum. Mixed and matched some spacers from the local junkyard, GS axle. I just bought a 3.5 wheel and plan on adding a 160 tire as well. May need to pie cut the gussets and weld them flat to the inside of the arm to fit, not sure yet. Flipped the brake arm up and custom linkage. Not hard if you have fab skills or access to a shop. Otherwise, use a disc wheel and mount a MC, much less fab, but not as cool.

Hey Mercury Kid thanks for the reply i ended up getting the swingarm with both axles and spacers haven't fitted it yet as waiting new rims to arrive for 160 tire. Do you have any photos of your setup??? would like to see some close ups

enjoy the weekend

Sorry, don't have any pics. Mine isn't very well done, as I did it all in steps, so I didn't plan for the larger tire when making my stay. I'll have to put a jog in it, as well as in the brake linkage, which is a bit flimsy and doesn't work well at the moment anyhow. Oh well, always a work in progress.

Years ago I upgraded my '73 Z1-900's wheels to DID 2.15" x 19" and 3.00" x 18" rims and SS spokes/nipples and beefed up the stock swingarm and kept the rear drum setup.

In 2006 I upgraded this bike's wheels to Excel 3.5" X 17" and 4.25" x 17" rims with radial tires and an '83 GS1100 swingarm and scrapped the rear drum setup. The rear disk setup is much better.

BohicaBob wrote: Years ago I upgraded my '73 Z1-900's wheels to DID 2.15" x 19" and 3.00" x 18" rims and SS spokes/nipples and beefed up the stock swingarm and kept the rear drum setup.

In 2006 I upgraded this bike's wheels to Excel 3.5" X 17" and 4.25" x 17" rims with radial tires and an '83 GS1100 swingarm and scrapped the rear drum setup. The rear disk setup is much better.

I'm looking at the upgraded spoke wheel option as well, for the KZ hub would one want the 32 or 36 hole wheel?

the kz1000 has 40 spoke wheels

DoctoRot wrote: the kz1000 has 40 spoke wheels

Doh! Ok Thanks!