[Novadesigns]

Well after 9 long months of parts hunting, scrimping, and saving my 2004 GSX-R750 front end mod is completed!

Here are some views!
Before:

After!

Special thanks to Jim Martin for working with me to make his speedo conversion kit work with the late model GSX-R setup and radial brakes. It works perfectly! ;D

 

[wonderjosh]

I'd hit it. 8)

 

[evilbologna]

Those brakes look so much beefier.

 

[wonderjosh]

come to oct. 17th msr trackday and test that shiot out ;D

 

[Squonk]

Damn that looks awesome!

 

[JaredMcDonley]

Man I want to do that mod sooo bad... Do you mind me asking.. what was the ball park price you spent on this?

 

[algreen]

"Looking good Randalph."............. "Feeling good Mortimer" 8)

 

[Maritan]

Did you ever check if the banjo bolt pitch matched up between the GSX-R and the SV?

 

[Novadesigns]

Yes they do! In fact, those are the Galfer lines I bought for my SV and the work perfectly.

 

[Novadesigns]

Man I want to do that mod sooo bad... Do you mind me asking.. what was the ball park price you spent on this?

Well the main costs...

Forks (with everything but top triple, wheel and fender) $595 (with shipping)
Wheel with rotors $350
Fender $50
Top triple $50
I don't have a figure for all the miscellaneous tools, nuts and bolts, tire, mount, and balance, etc... but it added up considerably.

But it was damn worth it! Thanks for the compliments!

BTW, I still plan on adding Pazzo Racing shorty levers (as I was able to use both GSX-R perches and levers!) and black anodized Sun Clip on Risers. The GSX-R clip ons are quite a bit lower than the SVs and my hands get nearly pinched in the fairing at full lock.

 

[Novadesigns]

come to oct. 17th msr trackday and test that shiot out ;D

Yeah, we'll see. I definitely want to, but I'm also planning a road trip down to see my father in Hill Country and I can't do both. Damn movie schedules!

 

[Arvan]

How does it soak up the bumps now.Do you still get jolt up on highway on expansion joints? I have sonic springs on stock and get really jolted up on high speed over bumps.Please tell us how it handles now.

 

[Novadesigns]

It handles very well, much better than stock and even far better than my upgraded (.85 springs, 20wt oil, emulators) stock forks.

There will always be bumps that jar you, but its how the front end handles them, what it does to your control of the bike that makes the difference. There's no solution that will completely eliminate you feeling the bumps, nor would you really want that, but I have to say this front end setup really smooths things out reaction wise and that's what is important to me. Small bumps and chatter from rough pavement are dramatically reduced, and the big bumps are dulled down and no longer upset the handling. You still feel them but they aren't nearly as jarring.

As far as cornering, well the geometry has changed so that is taking a little getting used to, but overall I think I like the change. Turn in is quicker (at the loss of a little stability I think) and I can take sweepers at a lot more speed and lean angle than I could before with any confidence. Without the pogo-ing that would make me run wide. In fact the front is so much better that I'm really starting to feel the deficiencies in the rear (GSX-R1000 shock back there)... so I guess I need to address that next.

-----------------------

As a side note there's really not much you can do about road comfort issues with sport bikes... the suspension just isn't designed for it. A good quality, well set-up sport suspension (car or bike) will be stiff and harsh on the road. Its made for the track--not the street--because you want all the feedback from the tires that you can get. That being said this upgrade was a big improvement and I finally have the adjustability now to control the front end for whatever the riding conditions.

 

[dom]

i am now once again left to drool

 

[GTKrockeTT]

nova, i aspire to be you.

 

[algreen]

Nova,

please post your body weight, riding style and suspension settings thus far...

 

[DucOwner]

Nice & Clean

Did you use 600/750 2 pad Calipers or 1000 4 pads? Much as I hate to admit it, I use R1 calipers on my race bike because they are a little lighter and have a different feel <less wooden> so I can brake deep without losing the feel of the front grip.

I use the same front end on my SV SBK. After some Sonic's, revalving and internal polishing it feels almost as nice as my kitted Ohlins on the Ducati SBK. Ask Jarel, they are freakin' magic. You have awesome brakes & forks now. When you can afford it get them done just for you and you won't believe how good they are.

Nice job on the speedo drive too.

 

[novakane]

looks excellent gj

 

[Novadesigns]

Nova,

please post your body weight, riding style and suspension settings thus far...

I weigh about 200 in gear (and going down fast!) I do a mix of commuting to work and agressive weekend twisties. I'm also going to be doing a lot of track days as soon as possible--might even make one this month if I'm lucky. So far I haven't done much more than set the sag and everything else is median (GSX-R stock by the service manual). This weekend I'm going to try some variations and see whet works best for the twisties.

Thanks for the kind words Clayton. I try to do good work, although I'm still new at all this.
The calipers are stock 2004 GSX-R600/750 units. I wouldn't know the difference between those and the R1's although I have heard about them being lighter. These do feel great. Although I do have a little bit of an issue with the brakes being a little too tight on the rotors with the lever released. On the stand I can only spin the wheel about a half a revolution before the brakes drag them to a stop. I'm not sure what to adjust to fix that--or if once everything is bedded in that free motion will loosen up?

I do want to get some good pads though, I've been looking at Vesrah RJ/Ls but can't really find a convenient place to buy them. Seems like they are harder to find for the later model GSX-Rs with radial calipers.

After I do some more track riding (and get the rear sorted out) I will eventually look into reworking the internals on these forks. But that's a while down the road. Too much else I want to do to this bike first. 80hp is an eventual goal and one I think is reasonable. Anyway, that's off the subject.

 

[[H]Parker]

Looks sweet! gj 8)