650mod wrote: It's the only way we can make things better- learn from the past, improve the future. Next time will be a breeze for you

Devin

Thanks man.

Update. Swingarm and gas tank repainted and cleared. A stupid mosquito landed right on the platform of the gas tank. Decided I will buff it out instead of trying to take it off. The seat I had some problems in the sanding so it back to primer for a portion. I thought the base would cover it up but it didn't. Sigh.

Well the tank wheels and swingarm are SHINEY! That the 2k clear for ya.

I'm away for the weekend so not much happening this weekend but after dicking around with the seat I will be in bolt on and minor fab mode.

the Ninja 600 arm should slap right into your frame then, might just need end caps made up. The swingarm is 9 1/4 inches at the pivot tube, 23 1/4 inches long.

For the undertail, you might want to consider a swingarm that has the pipe section already in it. I think newer CBR or GSXR's have the pipe dimple in the swingarm. You might be able to make it work with this one, might just take more work.

As for building stuff- Leon (blackbanshee531) is a huge help with machining stuff. He's got a world of knowledge on build aspects. He could help with spacers, triple tree swaps, etc. I think he also fabbed up his own swinger. Les Holt is also another great guy- he can help with triple tree creations, swingarms, etc. For rearmounts, best (and probably cheapest) method is just to buy a set off a newer bike, and weld up tabs to mount to. I'm using rearsets off a 98 ninja 750- just need mounting bungs welded up, check placement, good to go.

Back to work! Getting all the little details ironed out with hopes of riding this weekend.

Lots of tabs for electronics, brake reservoirs, etc. Got the exhaust mounted and I'm happy with it. Of course how does the old saying go, 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards? My exhaust bracket now interferes with my rear master cylinder but that was a pretty easy fix to get spaced out.

Couple pics of the exhaust mount:




(sorry for the blurry pic)

I set the sag on the bike and was tweaking the ride height when I ran across some pretty pimp "lowering linkages", and had to get them just for the bling factor. Their range is 0-3" on a GSXR. I have them basically at 0 with the shim for the shorter shock in place and . I have another shock that's a tad longer and even though I designed the upper shock mount to accept shims to adjust height I thought these would be nice too.





Now it's time to blow it back apart and get some paint on the frame/swingarm. Just going to spraybomb the back half for now so I can get on the bike. I'll strip it back down this winter to do a little more work on the frame and powder coat everything then.

Only lacking detail at this point is the offset sprocket and I think a fellow Okie is going to take care of me in that department.

1980 thru 83's 1100's (twin shock) :huh: ..... :lol: 1150's started in 84 and they are all monoshock....... GS 1100's arm is almost an inch and a half longer than a KZ stock swingarm ( the real advantage ) .plus the gs 1100 swing arm is aluminum...... you can use the suzuki wheels,brakes, wheel spacers,shock,axle .
just a couple of shims for the pivot bolt...... when you start wanting a wider than a wm8 rim....things get tight.... :dry:

Im in the same boat myself. Have a gsxr swingarm but find myself wondering what the best fork swap would be for my 79 kz400...

Im sure everyone who reads this will roll their eyes... The bike is hardtailed via the swing arm. this is the reason I have not mentioned the swing arms bushing/bearings or the rear suspension.

The front end is off a kz550. Today I checked everything and wanted to take the bike around the corner to see if the anything I had done had affected the wobble. As soon as i got on the bike I notice the forks where not properly dampening. oil is 10w bel ray and air pressure was set to factory specs. i just changed to seals two weeks ago and no oil is leaking and the air pressure hadnt changed. any ideas? hopefully its not the spring.

Al- that's ok, I'll take a look at the page. I took a look back into by flee-bay receipts, and it looks like the guy labeled the mount as the wrong year. From 96-97 was one mount, 98-99 was another, and 2000+ was another mount. My swingarms (the 600 and the 900) are the same width at the axle, so I shouldn't have an issue with things once I get the proper caliper mount in. The calipers are interchangeable throughout the years, so I'll be ok there. It's just frustrating when you almost have something done, and then someone else's mistake throws a wrench into everything...

Ignore that last post, something went wrong in the posting. Here it goes again.

Got a bit of work done on the bike today. Dropped the old swingarm off, ground the pivot tube tabs out a bit to hold the new Ninja 600 swingarm, had everything ready to line up, check clearances...

And then there's an issue with the rear caliper mounting up. I either don't have one of the spacers (but I checked the parts diagrams, I have them all), or the caliper I was told was the right year isn't...

It took away about 2 hours of checking diagrams, flipping spacers, making sure things were in the right spot, and still no luck... It's times like these that really slow things down and make you scratch your head. It's a roller for now, and that's all that matters to me.

The swingarm fits into the chassis now, and is temporarily mounted up. The suspension feels a little "woody" right now (see pics) haha.

Rear end propped up, old rear off




Just a rough idea of what the end product is going to look like




Swingarm is a little greasy from dirty hands, but it's all polished up and ready to rock




Nice side view- the ride height will be lower than this- this is just with the 2x4 in place to keep the ass end up




Pretty mean looking, if you ask me





Hopefully I get this issue sorted out soon. More updates will follow with progress.

Devin

You all bring up some good points. Still to me chain is in the same catagory as carbs vs fuel injection and points ignition vs electronic. Guys always said the same thing about these things when they do rarely have problems for sure the simple points and carbs will be easier to fix than fuel injection and electronic ignition and much less expensive when they do fail, which is more frequent. To be honest I've never had a chain failure either in all these years, but still don't like chain drive and don't want any more of them. Some motorcycles with shaft have had big problems for sure, that is a fact. I've seen pictures of a couple BMWs with the single side swingarm where the whole swingarm snapped. That will leave a dent in the wallet for sure.

Got a bit of work done on the bike today. Dropped the old swingarm off, ground the pivot tube tabs out a bit to hold the new Ninja 600 swingarm, had everything ready to line up, check clearances...

And then there's an issue with the rear caliper mounting up. I either don't have one of the spacers (but I checked the parts diagrams, I have them all), or the caliper I was told was the right year isn't...

It took away about 2 hours of checking diagrams, flipping spacers, making sure things were in the right spot, and still no luck... It's times like these that really slow things down and make you scratch your head. It's a roller for now, and that's all that matters to me.

The swingarm fits into the chassis now, and is temporarily mounted up. The suspension feels a little "woody" right now (see pics) haha.

Rear end propped up, old rear off


Just a rough idea of what the end product is going to look like


Swingarm is a little greasy from dirty hands, but it's all polished up and ready to rock


Nice side view- the ride height will be lower than this- this is just with the 2x4 in place to keep the ass end up


Pretty mean looking, if you ask me



Hopefully I get this issue sorted out soon. More updates will follow with progress.

Devin