650ed wrote: Here’s my understanding of how the swingarm pivot works; I am open to being corrected if I misunderstand it. In the diagram below envision the two bearings being pressed into the swingarm tube so they are flush or even recessed slightly within the tube. As the swingarm moves up and down the swingarm tube rotates and the outer races of the bearings will rotate with it because they are a snug fit inside the tube. Now picture the sleeve being just a little bit longer than the swingarm tube and installed inside the bearings. The ends of the sleeve act as the inner race of the bearings, so their rollers ride on the sleeve as the swingarm rotates. Since the sleeve is a little longer than the swingarm tube it protrudes slightly out of each end of the swingarm tube; this may not be noticeable because it is very slight. When the assembly is slipped into place on the frame the outer surfaces of the end caps will be in contact with the frame. When the pivot bolt is tightened, it will squeeze the frame against the end caps and they will be squeezed tight against the sleeve. Since the swingarm tube is a little shorter than the sleeve it should not be pinched tight by the endcaps. When the pivot bolt is tightened, the swingarm tube should be able to rotate without much trouble on the sleeve. There may be some friction between the swingarm tube and end caps, but it shouldn’t be so much as to prevent the swingarm from moving. Ed

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That sounds exactly like what I tried to describe above. With that being the case, the swingarm probably couldn't be "too tight" in the frame, right? I think all of the pressure would be on the sleeve and not the swingarm. The GS arm is slightly different....has (3) spacers that make up the sleeve, but the end result is the same. All (3) combined are just barely longer that the swingarm tube.
GS Arm:

Here’s my understanding of how the swingarm pivot works; I am open to being corrected if I misunderstand it. In the diagram below envision the two bearings being pressed into the swingarm tube so they are flush or even recessed slightly within the tube. As the swingarm moves up and down the swingarm tube rotates and the outer races of the bearings will rotate with it because they are a snug fit inside the tube. Now picture the sleeve being just a little bit longer than the swingarm tube and installed inside the bearings. The ends of the sleeve act as the inner race of the bearings, so their rollers ride on the sleeve as the swingarm rotates. Since the sleeve is a little longer than the swingarm tube it protrudes slightly out of each end of the swingarm tube; this may not be noticeable because it is very slight. When the assembly is slipped into place on the frame the outer surfaces of the end caps will be in contact with the frame. When the pivot bolt is tightened, it will squeeze the frame against the end caps and they will be squeezed tight against the sleeve. Since the swingarm tube is a little shorter than the sleeve it should not be pinched tight by the endcaps. When the pivot bolt is tightened, the swingarm tube should be able to rotate without much trouble on the sleeve. There may be some friction between the swingarm tube and end caps, but it shouldn’t be so much as to prevent the swingarm from moving. Ed

Last race season went well. I improved each race except for the one in which I was hung over.During the first race weekend I discovered that I had the bike sitting too high. The swingarm is from a 1983 GPZ 750 with eccentric adjusters. I turned the adjusters around which raised the rear approx. 3/4" . The front forks are from a 82' GPZ 1100 which are about 1/4" longer than the J forks. I had the bike on scales and that's why I went the way I did. On the track the bike felt awkward. I decided to turn the adjusters to their stock position and drop the forks 1/2" in the triples. This made an immediate improvement. In my shop prior to the next race weekend I decided to have a close look at the fork internals. Race Tech doesn't recommend any spacer preload on there springs and the previous owner of the forks had 3/4" of spacer preload. I removed 1/2" of preload and this also made a big improvement. During the last race weekend I experienced two troubling issues. At Saint Eustache ,Quebec in whats called the bowl I hit the frame lug for the side stand. This moved the whole bike and for a spit second I thought I was going to go off the track. Out came the hack saw and off with the lug. Later that weekend while racing I felt the brake lever come back a little further. It only did this 3/4's into the race and as soon as I slowed down to come off the track the pressure was back to where it should be. Thank god I still had good brakes. The only thing I plan to do is rebuild the front master and work on the Cams. I will replace the stock exhaust cam (KZ 1100R .380" lift 300 Degrees duration) with a smaller 82' gpz 1100 cam and degree the cam so I will have better mid range.
specs
Motor; stock 1984 KZ 1100R w 120 HP at the crank
carbs 31mm Cr special Keihnin
lockhart oil cooler ( the bike was sponsored by lockhart in 1984
shocks ,fox
forks 1982 GPZ 1100 w race tech emulators/springs, reworked by myself to remove all the stanchion lower play.
Wheels,front astrolite 2.5x18, rear Dymag 4x 18"
Tires, Avons rear 150 front 110
brakes ,cast iron rotors all around. brembo 12" front, custom made rear,calipers lockheed front , VFR 750 rear
Pipe, yoshimura race 4 into 1
Ignition dyna 2000 with rev limiter built in
www.teamkz.ca
I build bikes for people if anyone would like something similiar.

I'm also wondering exactly what parts should pivot with the swingarm? I'm thinking the only moving part should be the swingarm. The bearings, axle, spacers, and the dust seals on the ends should all remain stationary, right? You would basically have the swingarm rotating in the dust seals? They have a rubber liner inside so they swingarm would be rotating/rubbing on that.

Anybody ever noticed what exactly is going on at the pivot? I've never looked that closely.....wish I did BEFORE I removed the stock swingarm! :S

Got a question about mounting this swingarm. I bought 5/8" washers and they fit really well over the 16mm pivot axle. Each washer is about .0020 - .0025 thick. I used 4 thicker washers for a total of about 10mm. I had to tap the last washers in as it was a very tight fit. Now the swingarm doesn't move as easily as I thought it would.

My question is, how easily should the swingarm move? Can I have too tight a fit? All of the bearings and sleeves are brand new and greased. Not sure if the pressure of the frame/washers is causing the tightness or not? Maybe fewer washers would still bind because the frame tightens up when the pivot axle bolt is tightened? Thoughts??

Here is what I have now, on each side:

Thanks for the import #'s info, that's good information, that you got it first hand makes it all the more interesting. A collector friend of mine said He had heard that Kawasaki had a hard time selling the MkII? I plan to keep it here in the good oi' USA. I keep an eye on the Japanese resto-mod work being done overseas, many of the big fours have been picked up here, crammed into sea containers and shipped back.
Speaking of which,would sure like to see a photo of the H2 you have listed, I've become a fan of the triples and really enjoy seeing cafe'd versions. I am building a 72' H2 as well, It has an 83' Gpz 750 single shock swing arm installed, plan to use a set of period correct Lester mags that I found at (of all places) a garage sale! Whacky but true! Thanks again

The swingarm has all new bearings, spacers and end caps. I know I don't want any slop in the pivot area...had bad bearings on my 650 before and that wasn't fun at all. The aftermarket swingarm I bought for my MKII was super tight and hard to get it, so I was thinking extra tight should be fine. I might try some of the thinner washers to see if the swingarm loosens up. As long as there is no slop then thinner might be better.

79MKII wrote: Yes, I meant tight between the swingarm and the frame. The swingarm pivots nicely but it is pretty tight. How freely should it swing?

If yours is riding on bearings rather than bushings it should move quite freely. Normally the sleeve is a little bit wider than the swingarm so the caps tighten against the sleeve when the pivot bolt is tightened. This leaves a little bit (but not too much) of play between the ends of the swing arm and the frame so it isn't pinched and prevented from moving freely. At least that what I noticed on my KZ650 when I replaced my bushings. Maybe someone on this site can provide the correct difference in width of the sleeve vs the swing arm. If you can get that measurement you can probably adjust things by using spacers with a smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of the swingarm. Hopefully someone will chime in with that info. Ed

When you say you got the swing arm to be a very tight fit, are you talking about the swing arm sleeve and caps and not the swing arm itself? The sleeve and caps should be tight between the frame members, but the swing arm should rotate up and down freely on the bearings (or bushings if so equipped). Ed

Got the GS1100 swingarm all mounted. It took about 10mm of spacers to provide a very tight fit. I had to lightly tap the last washer into place....should be really good with no slop. I used regular 5/8" washers, two on each side. They fit the 16mm pivot axle very well. I bought a handful and sorted them by thickness. They range from 2mm to 2.5mm, so I picked out four of the 2.5mm washers to use.