Katana Owners Club U.K.

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I put a 1200 wheel with 170 tyre into standard swing arm. Got the swingarm altered (shaved down inside welding at top end then strengthened)...plus spacers made to centre wheel. Local mechanic, cost £100 plus polishing

Forgot to mention...offset front drive cog otherwise chain run out! Hagon shocks to fit arm and frame standard but for a small additional cost will make shocks longer to get geometry right. Fitted GSXR 1100 upside down front forks...I think 1992 model with bandit wheel

I tried this with a project that didn't get finished - shock! I had bandit 1200 front end and swingarm, rear wheel etc. The bandit swingarm does not go straight in. It catches some of the lugs on the inside where the brake pedal and spring assembly is. You would need to either spread the two rear footpeg triangles or cut them off. I bought rear shock mounts from Lucky7 which can then be welded on to the bandit arm to use as twin shock. If you want to keep your frame stock then the bandit or GSXR wheel in a stock swingarm as a above by Jerry is probs the way to go. On the Bandit front end the stem is too long so you would need to press out the bandit stem and put a kat one in, then you would be good to go. I think I also tried GSXR1100K yokes and from memory they fitted but not 100% on that and don't have them anymore to check. All in all it is a pretty straightforward upgrade.

I think the longer shocks will be due to using a wheel with a smaller overall diameter (including tyre) as even though wheel diameters are the same, the old tyres were much taller on the sidewall than modern radial tyres.
With the 170 instead of 180, you can do it but the tyre will be flatter so if you are a scratcher then you may run off the edge lol and you will need to check with your tyre supplier as manufacturers differ with what range of rim sizes a tyre will fit on. There is not as much scope to mess with tyre sizes with radial tyres as there was with the older tyres due to the small sidewalls
Hope this helps

you can use a 600 bandit rear wheel and that uses a smaller tyre if ya like.. whats a 1200 bandit rim? 5.5"? - a 5" will use a 170 tyre and retain its profile

Here's a handy tool for comparing tyre sizes - https://tiresize.com/comparison/

Your main concern is probably overall diameter, which will affect handling and gearing.
From a 150/70 to a 160/60 is a -2.8% difference (smaller)
Whereas 150/70 to 160/70 is +2%
I don't think it's a big enough difference for 'ropey' handling whichever you choose.

no the profile wont make a difference... youre sticking it into an early 80s bike... nothing like a bandit

i fitted a zzr600 rim in the stock kat swingarm, i used the kwak sprocket carrier and went down to a 530 chain. i used a sprocket that was machined out about 3mm on one side and fitted it back to front, with the hollow side towards the wheel. i managed to get a 180/55/70 tyre (iirc i used metz rennsports bought from a racer who changed them every meeting) in with no clearance issues.
i made up a front sprocket with the required offset by grinding down the centre of an old sprocket to make a spacer with splines in the centre, this i then welded onto a new 530 front sprocket, giving a sprocket with a double width splined centre. the extra spline width was much more secure to fit it on the shaft, and the threaded section of the shaft was right on the edge of the sprocket. but it lined up and ran with no problems.

the difference of "10" in the sidewall height is not going to make much difference between front and back. It is more about the overall diameter. Be worth checking if the later bandit 650 is on ABS as the 1200's went to ABS on the later models which makes it harder to graft in. Early bandit stuff is normal brakes and easy to get in to the bike as it is standard calipers and discs etc. I think stick with a pair of wheels from the same bike so the profiles of the tyres "work" together, so either go a pair from a 600 or a pair from a 1200 imo.

The link I posted shows the difference in speedo reading for the different tyre sizes.
Just put the OEM size as tyre1 and it'll give a rough guide.
However, once you start changing sprockets that all changes, I'd check it with GPS on a sat-nav


https://tiresize.com/comparison/