Alternative rear wheel
- Thread starter gripper
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A fellow forum member re-built his bike using a suzuki 550 rear hub ( iirc) and I think it is a beautiful match for a norton and he said that one of the reasons that he chose it was for it's robust cush drive, so that is a big bonus too.. His forum name is matchless and I believe the thread was "pictures of my 920".
cjandme said:
I don't believe any of the Suzuki GT550 models used a disc rear brake. I have a late one here, and it has a drum. The cush drive is great though! I suspect therefore, that it might have been a similarly-sized but different bike that it came off. Another thing to watch out for is that Suzukis used 36 spoke wheels, whereas Nortons use 40.
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L.A.B. said:
You could well be right about that, however, I don't recall any of the GS550's having a spoked rear disc wheel either.
Having now looked at the photos, I think it might be a GS750 hub. On reading through the thread, however, he states that it is a GS550, so my memory is obviously confused. Nice job, whatever!
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lcrken said:
Yes, but they had cast wheels as far as I know?
http://www.suzukicycles.org/GS-series/GS550E.shtml
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If you look at the Mk C version of the 550 which appears to pre-date the 550E the rear disc is optional.
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L.A.B. said:
Yeah you're correct, I misread it.
I use a Ducati 860(750/900 are the same and Guzzi Nuovo Falcone too) drum rear wheel in my Commando,well made ,one piece axle,decent cush drive rubbers,cable operated so no headaches about hoses/master cylinders/calipers.Spockets are readily available and fairly cheap.
You need to enlarge the axle slot in the swingarm to slide the axle through plus machine off about 6mm from the sprocket carrier face for the chain to line up.
I am using a MK111 swingarm and the std Ducati wheel spacers were a perfect fit.,which was a great help.The axle was XL 500 Honda Trail bike.
I have also seen people use a Suzuki 500 Titan drum rear wheel too.
The down side of using any alternative rear wheel in a Commando is that you loose the speedo drive.
Brett
You need to enlarge the axle slot in the swingarm to slide the axle through plus machine off about 6mm from the sprocket carrier face for the chain to line up.
I am using a MK111 swingarm and the std Ducati wheel spacers were a perfect fit.,which was a great help.The axle was XL 500 Honda Trail bike.
I have also seen people use a Suzuki 500 Titan drum rear wheel too.
The down side of using any alternative rear wheel in a Commando is that you loose the speedo drive.
Brett
Fast Eddie
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I used these in various racers and specials before. New, they are quite expensive. But they were OEM fitment on the military Armstrong motorcycles, so were really cheap and readily available at one time. Not sure if that's true today. Very good Cush drive and separate sprocket:
http://www.discovolantemoto.co.uk/conic ... 2013-p.asp
http://www.discovolantemoto.co.uk/conic ... 2013-p.asp
Fast Eddie
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You could fit a readily available Triumph disc rear hub. Both Steve Maney and Les at Rob North Triples do Cush drive assemblies for these hubs. Scroll down the pages to find:
Maney:
http://www.stevemaney.com/products.html
Rob North:
http://robnorthtriples.com/frame.aspx
Maney:
http://www.stevemaney.com/products.html
Rob North:
http://robnorthtriples.com/frame.aspx
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Rosey said:
From the link above for the Suzuki it looks like he retained the speedo drive.
Matchless
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Hi Gripper,
The bike mentioned is my 920. I can assure you that the hub is indeed from a GS 550 Suzuki. The same hub was also fitted to a GS 750 model. You will however find it difficult to find this type of hub, as most rear disc models were fitted with cast wheels. The earlier spoked wheel bikes had drums. Two alternatives would be Z 750 Kawasaki & SOHC CB 750 F1 Honda, both of which look period, have a disc & decent cush drive. The Suzuki disc is far too big & ugly so I made a new one. If you have access to a lathe & mill you will be able to make the spacers & speedo drive with ease.
Martyn.
The bike mentioned is my 920. I can assure you that the hub is indeed from a GS 550 Suzuki. The same hub was also fitted to a GS 750 model. You will however find it difficult to find this type of hub, as most rear disc models were fitted with cast wheels. The earlier spoked wheel bikes had drums. Two alternatives would be Z 750 Kawasaki & SOHC CB 750 F1 Honda, both of which look period, have a disc & decent cush drive. The Suzuki disc is far too big & ugly so I made a new one. If you have access to a lathe & mill you will be able to make the spacers & speedo drive with ease.
Martyn.
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