Swingarm

Unfortunately, I disovered a small crack in the bracing of my swingarm. However, with ebay having a surplus of swingarms available, I was able to buy a new one for a paltry £20. I had realised some time ago that with the nitrous giving such a kick (because I haven't got a progressive kit) I would need to do something about the length of the swingarm for use on a drag-strip.

Mark at Manic Motorcycles (tel: +44 7939 593968) offered his services to extend the arm. However, he was a little concerned when I explained that I wanted the wheelbase taken out to 62". After some calculations this worked out to be 6.5" longer than standard. Now while this doesn't sound too much, the forces going through a swingarm when at full reach are incredible.

Mark cut off the original adjusters and measured the internal dimensions of the arm. Slugs were manufactured to slot up the inside of the arm to give it extra strength and thus reduce flex. He tried out his own idea for chain adjusters, unfortunately these are a little impractical as they are almost impossible to get a spanner in to tighten up.

I didn't polish the swingarm myself, it was sent over to Andy Cupoli of Cupolish (tel: 01780 749274) for finishing. I've got to admit, he's good.

With the polishing done, the swingarm was fitted in with a minimum of fuss (alright I had to make a tool to undo the castled nut) and took about an hour to swap over.