Fork swap status and caliper bolt spacing confirmation
 

Gentlemen,

I got out the vernier calipers and measured the caliper setup and here's what I got:

8mm holes, 62mm (on center) apart. Hole size confirmed both by checking holes on the forks, and the fact that the caliper bolts are M8 x 1.25.

That said, can anybody confirm that? Reason I'm asking is that I'm going to have a set of spacers machined to go between the forks and calipers to adjust for the differences in parts. Guess I could just hand them one of the spare stock calipers and say "make sure they fit these...


Current status:

- 954 triples with new Allballs tapered bearings pressed on, lubed, and installed.
- '01 TLS Clipons mounted underneath the upper triple
- '02 GSXR750 forks installed with the tops flush with the upper triple. This puts fully extended fork length at appx 6mm less than stock. Given the increased trail due to the smaller fork offset, I think they will still need to come up in the triples another 4-5mm but I'll need to ride it first.
- 954 calipers and master cylinder, with the SS lines from my stock setup
- '01 TLS front wheel, rotors, and axle. Bolts right up in the GSXR forks, but brake clearance is a problem. Apparently the GSXR calipers have a bigger radius clearance from the bolt points to the rotor edge than the 954 brakes I am installing. I solved this by taking the brakes apart and grinding the calipers to clear the rotors. Or at least I've done one side based on shims and will do the other side after I get the caliper spacers made. Oh, and if you can't seem to get the g*Dd@MN wheel to sit centered correctly... try flipping the axle the other direction. Don't know why that worked, but it did.

Still haven't gotten around to fabbing up the headlight mount, the radiator link plates (I'm going to move the rads down and back about an inch so the triples will clear), or doing any painting. At this point I just want the damn thing rideable as soon as possible.

Sounds like progress.

I am surprised that you have to grind the calipers to make them fit, since 02 GSXR calipers work on our stock forks without modification. It actually sounds to me more like the TLS has a larger diameter rotor than that year GSXR does, unless I am not understanding the clearance issue correctly.

And yes a M8 bolt has a 8mm diameter.

Nope. I got the '02 750 forks specifically because they had 320mm brakes. My guess is the 954 makes up more of the offset from axle center in the fork mounts than the GSXR, thus the lowered clearance in the calipers.