[Danalex]

I'm working on resurrecting a 82 GL500 that I bought with a Velorex sidecar like 10 years ago for my wife to ride. She has absolutely no interest and I'm pondering building a gravel runner out of it minus the sidecar. I've got a BMW R1200RT with TKC70's that I use on gravel (which seems to be my favorite place to ride these days). It's not ideal when the gravel roads turn into double track and I dropped it this fall when trying to do a 10 point turn around when the trail got too narrow and it was hard to pick up. I need something lighter.

Sooooo ... I had a GL Interstate parts bike with dual discs so I'm going to use one of those lowers and go dual. I've got the forks apart as the seals needed changing, then the air hoses should be deleted.

Buttttt .... while I'm doing all this I'm wondering if I shouldn't just upgrade the whole front end to a more dual sport type setup.

I've looked at charts with bearing sizes etc and I can't seem to find anything that fits without major machine work.

I've tried to search for solutions but can't seem to find anything. Is there and better fork that I can upgrade to that won't involve a lot of machine shop expenses?

Tks

 

[Sidecar Bob]

I don't have an answer about alternate forks for your bike but have you tried riding a sidecar outfit on gravel? You'd almost have to be trying to gt an outfit to fall over and they can usually turn around in a much smaller space than a 2 wheeler....

Some of the guys that have Urals routinely take them on trails that are open to ATVs.....
(pic taken during the off road group ride at a CURD rally)

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

Something to be aware of when fitting a dirt bike front end is the difference in fork offset from the steering pivot. The stock GL has an offset of an inch or more. The CR125 yoke I'm using on a project has practically none. I need to cut back the steering stops to have more than a couple degrees of steering to either side. And combined with the larger diameter forks, I'll need to move or modify the fuel tank to eliminate interference there.

 

[Danalex]

I haven't tried the sidecar on gravel. I bought the outfit and rode it around the hood but life got in the way and I haven't used it in a few years. Carbs need cleaning etc etc. I still have other bikes to ride but it's time to do something with it. one way or another.

Maybe the dirt bike front end isn't such a good idea and seems too much trouble for making a gravel runner out of it. I take my RT on gravel roads with a 17" front so the 19" is probably just fine with a bit more aggressive tire.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

I was surprised to discover that the outer diameter of the CX's 19" tire is about the same as the CR's 21". It should handle fine with the right tire

 

[Danalex]

yeah that's what I'm going to do, maybe put a TKC70 or 80 on it. The rear 16" might be a little more trouble.

 

[Sidecar Bob]

An 18" rear wheel from a CX500 standard will fit without any modification.