Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

General forum on frames, brakes, suspension, wheels and tires

Moderator: rztom

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Redline Junkie
-----
-----
Posts: 624
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:55 pm
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada

Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

#1 Post by Redline Junkie » Sun Aug 06, 2017 11:22 am

I have a 4.5" SV650 rear rim that I need a Cush drive for to complete the FZ600 swingarm swap. Is the Katana 750 89-97 Cush the same, shallow profile to fit SV650 rim?

Thanks
1985 RZ350F being restored now!
1987 RZ350 Stock
1985 RZ350F basket case
1985 RZ500 Stock

justind97
Posts: 202
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2015 8:57 pm
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Re: Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

#2 Post by justind97 » Sun Aug 06, 2017 2:10 pm

Check Ronayers.com for the part numbers..

User avatar
kpke
-----
-----
Posts: 2531
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:22 pm
Location: Livermore, CA

Re: Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

#3 Post by kpke » Mon Aug 07, 2017 11:47 am

Are you talking about just the rubbers?

The first gen SV650 and GS500 rubbers are identical. I know because I thought I had a problem with them, purchased the other ones, and they were identical.

BTW, I did not have a problem with them after all. :smt021

I found tons of the rubbers on eBay for around $10.

RuZty
-----
-----
Posts: 3584
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2003 11:11 pm
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada

Re: Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

#4 Post by RuZty » Tue Aug 08, 2017 4:54 pm

I have 3 Suzuki cush drives, GS500, SV650 (late) and 750 Katana. They all fit the 750 Katana wheel that I have fit to an RGV250 swingarm, but have different widths and use different spacers. The rubbers are all the same. The GS500 lines up almost perfect on the RZ with a 9mm offset sprocket. If you want me to measure the differences let me know, but off the top of my head the Katana puts the sprocket about 10mm further from the wheel centerline.

User avatar
Redline Junkie
-----
-----
Posts: 624
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:55 pm
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada

Re: Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

#5 Post by Redline Junkie » Tue Aug 08, 2017 10:36 pm

kpke wrote:Are you talking about just the rubbers?

The first gen SV650 and GS500 rubbers are identical. I know because I thought I had a problem with them, purchased the other ones, and they were identical.

BTW, I did not have a problem with them after all. :smt021

I found tons of the rubbers on eBay for around $10.
I'm looking for the actual hub, I have some rubbers from the SV650 hub.


Thanks
1985 RZ350F being restored now!
1987 RZ350 Stock
1985 RZ350F basket case
1985 RZ500 Stock

User avatar
Redline Junkie
-----
-----
Posts: 624
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:55 pm
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada

Re: Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

#6 Post by Redline Junkie » Tue Aug 08, 2017 10:41 pm

RuZty wrote:I have 3 Suzuki cush drives, GS500, SV650 (late) and 750 Katana. They all fit the 750 Katana wheel that I have fit to an RGV250 swingarm, but have different widths and use different spacers. The rubbers are all the same. The GS500 lines up almost perfect on the RZ with a 9mm offset sprocket. If you want me to measure the differences let me know, but off the top of my head the Katana puts the sprocket about 10mm further from the wheel centerline.
I have a later SV650 rim and hub, I would love to know the measurements of the GS500 hub, to compare to the SV hub and rim. I'm not sure what year my SV rim is off and don't want to buy the wrong hub off fleabag! The SV hub is really wide but it will help with some dims.

Thanks
1985 RZ350F being restored now!
1987 RZ350 Stock
1985 RZ350F basket case
1985 RZ500 Stock

RuZty
-----
-----
Posts: 3584
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2003 11:11 pm
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada

Re: Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

#7 Post by RuZty » Thu Aug 10, 2017 1:25 pm

In the pic below the middle one is 750 Katana, the one on the left is SV650 and the one on the right is GS500. The straight edge is resting on the sprocket face on the Katana cush drive so you can see the difference. They are dimensionally the same in every way except height and all fit the wheel the same, with the same rubbers, except for the spacer (Katana spacer shown on the right) which matches the width of the cush drive.

Image

The Katana unit is 49mm wide from the back face where it sits against the rubbers (bottom edge of the machined outer diameter) to the sprocket face. The SV650 is 46.3mm, and the GS500 is 33mm. The machined edge is about 4mm. If you started with the longer spacer of the Katana you could machine it down to suit either of the others, and you could use that 4mm lip as a buffer to fine tune your sprocket alignment, i.e.. run the cush drive a couple of mm further outboard, I don't see any ill effects this could cause.

Here is a pic of the back, you can see how the SV650 is hollowed out around the bolts with a stiffening web cast in, whereas the Katana is solid for the full 25 mm to the sprocket. This would be handy if you wanted to machine the sprocket face down to get your sprocket alignment right. I think there is enough room to hold the inner bore on the back in a 3 jaw chuck, but I haven't actually tried.

Image

Hope this helps, let me know if anything isn't clear.

savethe2strokes
Posts: 513
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:35 pm
Location: Kansas City, MO

Re: Is 89-97 Katana rear Cush Drive same as GS500

#8 Post by savethe2strokes » Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:01 pm

I'm looking to do something similar. I already have a FZR600 rear end with 18" FZR wheel and I have a 10MM offset countershaft sprocket. I'm looking to swap to a 93 Katana 750 wheel onto the rear of the bike. Would it be better to use the Katana cush drive and machine down the sprocket surface or buy a GS500 sprocket carrier? Also what year GS500 should I be looking for?
85 RZ350-Messed up wiring

Post Reply