Speed Triple Single Sided Swingarm Installation

You read my mind Mark, as that was EXACTLY what I was going to do! Great minds think alike :laugh:

friggin inspiring is what it is!!!

its still cold here but it makes me want to go dust off the welding helmet and finish some projects.
keep up the good work....all these little snags and there solutions will be what your most proud of when its finished!

Amen to that my friend! I'm lucky I live in a climate where a cold winters night is 40 degrees. Today its 85 and last night I was cutting on the lathe in shorts and flip flops

And your right Ben, I can see the bikers at the Rock Store checking out my ride, and me explaining how all the real work was in xyz....... :lol:

i like it when they arnt quite sure why "this" old kaw looks so cool>>>>you can see the gears turning in there head!
haha

porchev914 wrote:

You read my mind Mark, as that was EXACTLY what I was going to do! Great minds think alike :laugh:

Be careful what u say, my wife says i'm loosing my mind:P

irishwill wrote:

friggin inspiring is what it is!!!
.all these little snags and there solutions will be what your most proud of when its finished!

Well said Ben.. So true,

porchev914 wrote:

Amen to that my friend! I'm lucky I live in a climate where a cold winters night is 40 degrees. Today its 85 and last night I was cutting on the lathe in shorts and flip flops

And your right Ben, I can see the bikers at the Rock Store checking out my ride, and me explaining how all the real work was in xyz....... :lol:

The first time one of those blue steel chips falls in between your toes will be the last time that you wear flip flops while running your lathe.:ohmy:

That's a cool moment when someone who is observant enough to realize what you have starts asking questions. Well said Ben.

porchev914 wrote:

larrycavan wrote:

Oh yea....push frame apart and every formerly parallel mount point just went out of wack:S

As long as you're at it, you may as well address the 2 middle motor mounts. They're going to need spacers made up as well.

If you get the motor in position before you do the swingarm finalization, it may prove to be helpful.

Keep plugging away! I'm eager to see this bike completed.

Larry C

Thank you Larry, it makes me feel better knowing professionals are keeping an eye on me I actually had the engine bolted in the frame during the widening specifically to ensure the front and bottom mounts did not stray. Also all widening took place aft of the center mounts. I did get some 3/8 in aluminum plate for odds and ends. I'm workin on it Larry, keep the motivation comming!

I can't figure how you widened it without those two motor mounts bein affected.

I cut mine in the middle of the lower rear frame cross member and addedin a 15mm section. My lower middle motor mounts both needed spacers between the frame and the engine afterward.

irishwill wrote:

i like it when they arnt quite sure why "this" old kaw looks so cool>>>>you can see the gears turning in there head!
haha

I CAN'T WAIT for that moment! :laugh:

OK Larry, I just realized I didn't really explain in the thread how I widened my frame without altering the front and center motor mounts. I did explain it to Mark in a PM, so I thought I had covered it here :blush: my apologies gentlemen. In this pic you can see where I cut the frame aft of the center motor mount. I cut the frame from the inside, through to the wall of the outside of the tube and stopped. That way the tube was still connected by a small section of the wall, but free to spread to the outside without too much effort. This same cut was made on the opposite bottom tube-

Then I made identical cuts on the backbone down tubes. These cuts were also from the inside to the outside. With these 4 cuts, I was easily able to widen the frame as much as I needed and be able to control how much was widened on each side. Again, apologies that the frame is already welded up in the pics, but the smoothly ground spots are the cut/weld locations

Now, the first 4 cuts allowed me to widen the frame as much as needed without disturbing the front and center motor mounts, but they failed to account for the "y" shape the pivot area would now have, sooooooo, 4 more cuts in the frame tubes :ohmy: These cuts were made directly above and below the factory swingarm pivot gussets, and they were made from the outside in. That way I could bring the pivot area back to a parallel geometry. Once I got it close, I tacked in the new pivot bushings, then smacked it around with a few hammers until all my levels, lasers and straight edges jived then tacked the frame cuts. Then I fully welded the pivot bushings, doulble checked nothing went astray, then welded up the frame. So that, my friend is how I widened the frame without changing the front/center motor mounts..... in a nutshell