1975 KZ 900 , ZRX Swingarm, 89 GSXR front end

i have had a bar mount welded to my frame for a future steering stop. i will add an alum angle plate mount to the top tree itself then install the damper on the 2 mounts.
Please excuse crappy looking the welds. they will be ground down and redone.

Mark,

Thanks for the detail in your response. I am still thinking.....leaning towards the old school, but liking the center pull mount.

I had My wife ship the swingarm to Washington. After work, I am now trying to do some finish work on it. I swiss cheesed the brake stay bracket, smoothed out the welds on the brake stay, and even hollowed out the bracket bolt on the lathe.

Next I begin the routing and grinding of the welds on the swingarm for a super smooth polished look. We did another ZRX swingarm for a buddy of mine a few years ago.

that arm is looking very nice. i have seen them all braced up as well. they look very trick with bracing, but then u would need to drill holes in it to get the weight down lol.
I just discovered yesterday, that i lost your chain roller at the track. i just guess didnt tighten it enough.I was very depressed when i saw that.Soory bud. i just put 2 nuts on the bolt for now. i will see if i have a bearing i can put on it latter. i'm off to a cottage for a week. the bike is on the trailer already. there are some nice twisty roads up there.
if i dont pm u, pm me in 2 weeks and i'll track down a pic of a braced arm.

Well Mark if thats the only loss after a full track day i would say you came out allright.

Here you have a great example of the polishing process.

I few years ago I helped "stoppee" polish his ZRX swingarm. Hours of grinding and blending and shaping the welds so they look right when you finally take it to the polishing wheel.

Thought I would share the process, as I start it for a second time on my swing arm.

First you gotts ta grind down and fillet the welds. Here is a before picture, it is the opposite side I have not ground on this side much yet.

Picture...

After rough blending the welds...

This is done with a die grinder and what we call a "tootsie roll" 36 grit sanding roll cartridge.

The weld looks much better. Do you have to be careful so you don't weaken the weld?

Great idea to post your process - Thanks!

tk11b40 wrote:

After rough blending the welds...

This is done with a die grinder and what we call a "tootsie roll" 36 grit sanding roll cartridge.

perfect,every weld on every piece on this bike is done that same way.weld up any low spots and hit it again till it looks right,although i have a tough time bringing myself to do that to a nice heli arced aluminum piece anymore.those welds are just too beatifull to file down! :woohoo:

Nice job. she looks greatB)

Weld up low spots....

Plummen!!! You ae the genious, how could I have overlooked the obvious. Thats whats great about this forum, I actually had not thought about doing that.

Ths swingarm I have must have been welded on a machine run by Hirohoto, totallyhungover, cause the welds do not line up as well as the first swingarm we did, they are all just a littel aaahhh notsoperfect.....mistah!!

I will have tim the tig man fill in areas that needs moe fillet...thanks for the tip. I still can't believe I have not thought about that!!:woohoo:

Your Bike is beautiful!!

here is a cool looking arm.
zrxoa.org/forums/showthread.php?t=79029