Began my GS1100 swing arm swap tonight

I meant to bring the camera with me tonight, but as usual I forgot it at home. I removed my swing arm with no problems, and began to slip the GS swing arm into place. I knew that the frame exhaust mounts on both sides need trimmed for clearance, but my swing arm wouldnt even fit between where the rear foot pegs mounted. It was very close to fitting, but not enough. This frustrated me, and I began to think that this swing arm wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.
I then took a look at the frame from behind, and noticed the right side was bent in! I had noticed that the right rear blinker had been scratched, that the engine side cover once had the brake pedal shoved into it, and a few other little things made me think the bike was dropped on the right side at least once in its lifetime. My dad and I then took a porta-power and got the frame back straight. The swing arm now fits like it should, with only the exhaust mounts needing trimmed. It almost looks like I will have to get into the frame a little bit as well.
Now here is my idea.... How bad would it be if I spread the rear section of the frame out maybe half an inch or so, to keep from cutting into the frame rails? I would like to cut as little as possible, so I thought bending the rails out some would reduce the amount of frame I have to cut into. One other thing worrying me at the moment is where the slave cylinder rod mounts to the brake pedal. There is a bolt that bolts the slave cylinder rod to the pedal, and the head of this bolt looks like it will hit the swing arm once I cut the frame for clearance. I also thought about not cutting the frame at all, and keeping the swing arm above the frame like the stock one. This would cut down on wheel travel, but I'm not quite sure how much yet. I am planning on taking some measurements just to check. I will get some pictures up after I work on the bike again, which will probably be within the next few days. Let me know what you guys think if you could stand to read all of this!

What bike are working on. I swapped one into my 650 a few years ago and it only took me an afternoon. The swingarm was just a litle narrower than my frame and I used two 1/8" wahsers, one on each side to make it up. It all went together so easily I thought I had done something wrong.

The bike is a 79 KZ1000LTD. After putting the stock swingarm and shocks on tonight and taking a few measurements, I am thinking that without cutting the frame the GS1100 swingarm could sit my bike about an inch lower in the rear with the right length shocks. I am having a few problems at the moment, because one of the spacers I received with the swingarm was from a different bike, and my attempt at cutting down a spacer I already had left me just a little too short. I am trying to find another spacer for the pivot bolt at the moment, and I am also going to have to find some wheel spacers. Before I buy new shocks, I am going to need to make up my mind on cutting the frame. Decisions, decisions!

I used washers from Ace Hardware to shim my GS1100 swingarm in the pivot bolt area. I measured the total gap I needed to fill, divided by two, then I went to Ace Hardware with my venier caliper and got two washers of the proper combined thickness.

Cool, I will have to take some measurements myself here soon. I found a place where I could get the spacer I need that rides in the bearings in the pivot tube on the swingarm, but it is 13 bucks plus another 13 to ship it, which is a little ridiculous. I also discovered that Honda 350's share the same style shock as the GS1100, so I may do some checking around on that as well.

I guess its time for me to provide an update, eh? I'm on the final step of the swap - finding the right spacers for the rear wheel. From my measurements, I need 1 5/16" length total for the spacers. So I guess that would be 21/32" for each spacer. I'm just having a hard time finding something that will fit on the shaft snug and is exactly the right length. Theres now ay I could cut anything down to fit and have it be perfectly straight. I am planning on going to a motorcycle junkyard to see if I can find some spacers there, if not I will have to get some machined or keep looking around.
Here is what I ended up doing for the swap:
To space the pivot tube of the swing arm, I purchased some machine washers from a local hardware store, I forget what size and thickness they were, but I still have the package and will post them on here. For shocks, my cousin had some used Honda 350 shocks, which were a tad too narrow on the clevis end, so I widened them up a little bit. At their longest setting, the swing arm sits just above the exhaust mounts on the KZ frame, just like the original swing arm. Using the shorter shocks lowered the bike 1", so I'm hoping I dont run into clearance problems. If I do, I will have to cut the frame and find some longer shocks. I am just using the 350 shocks for now to see if I have clearance issues or not, as they are smaller than the KZ1000 shocks and I wouldn't feel very comfortable riding on them for too long. For the brake caliper arm, I just ground it off enough to where it fit in the gs1100 arm. I keep forgetting to take the camera with me, but I will take some pictures as soon as I remember. Hopefully soon I will find some wheel spacers and get this thing on the road again!

First off I want to say hi to everyone, first time on this site, it rocks! I have a 1980 750 ltd, and I was wondering if this GS1100 swingarm conversion would work on my bike? Any replies would be appreciated, thanks in advance

baldy110 wrote:

What bike are working on. I swapped one into my 650 a few years ago and it only took me an afternoon. The swingarm was just a litle narrower than my frame and I used two 1/8" wahsers, one on each side to make it up. It all went together so easily I thought I had done something wrong.

guess that answers that question crazylegs

I am having same problem with my rear brake hitting swingarm up front 77 KZ 1000 LTD.

I have the same problem with my slave cylinder rod bolt hitting swingarm. Could this be a problem only on LTD'S? Mine is a 1977 KZ 1000 LTD.

I've been waiting on a new chain for about a week now so I can test out the new swingarm and shocks. I didn't have my camera with me last time I worked on it, but took a few pics with my phone. Here are just a few shots of it in place:




My new o-ring chain should be here soon. I bought some Teflon multi-purpose lube for it, as it supposed to dry as a wax and not fling everywhere as oil does. The only thing left I have to do is find some new shocks and come up with a chain guard for it, and the swap should be complete. I'll post pics of it when I get my new chain on and the bike on the ground.

Lookin good Toadson. Can't wait to see you on the river road.
I still haven't bought a swingarm for mine. But I keep watching.