I came across an article in Hot Bike on fitting a 2002 or later swingarm to earlier touring bikes, to get a better product and improved handling. I keep thinking of doing it to my trusty old 1990 FLHS. Has anyone successfully done this upgrade?

Added much later: Success! Read on.

 

Graham,
I think Howard at Motorcyclemetal.com has a "how to" posted on his website on switching over to the newer swingarm. I believe his tutorial s on an Evo FXR, but still applies to the FLH's. It looks a little complicated, but do-able for someone with decent wrenching skills.

 

Here's the link - http://www.motorcyclemetal.com/gpage14.html

I'd seen that before. Biggest chore would be getting the tranny out to bore the pivot hole. I'd rather R&R 2 engines than just pull one transmission case, personally. But then, I AM the most lazy person on earth....

 

Never drill or ream transmission.....as it will weaken it, and it will brake..........use sta-b0 III bushings and reuse your origional transmission shaft.
Td

 

Thanks gentlemen!

Found that article and it certainly is a good read. I have also found a UK owner on another forum who has actually done this upgrade. It looks very worthwhile, for reasons clearly explained by Howard. The only down side is that the best source of parts is the USA, with expensive shipping costs to the UK. I must keep my eyes open.

I have a True-Track kit on my bike at present and it looks like the bronze bushes will need to be replaced or machined, unless I chuck them and fit a Sta-bo kit. If I go with this upgrade I reckon I will wait until I have the new parts, to see if the T-T bushes can be made to fit. For some reason the later swingarm has a stepped bushing recess rather than the plain holes on the old evo version. So looking at this from the comfort of my armchair I see that as a slight problem to be sorted!

 

Grahm,

The bushings I make, the true track bushings or OEM cleave blocks are not needed, the whole idea of product. I made this a while ago not to upgrade swing arms as the 2002 was not made or thought of at the time. It was designed to cure that pesky rear steer problem.

When the new and strengthen 2002 swing arm came out with the 1" axle and cast wheel axle mounting, we had a chance to dump the steel formed, oblong tubing, pre 2002. Without billet axle internal adjusters (which we made at the time) to prevent the swing arm tubing from crushing and the axle spacers that had the same diameter as the width of the old swing arm to spread the load, the HD system had its issues.

At the time, Trike building was going full blast and I was purchasing the whole brand new assembly for $100: wheel, tire, rotor, caliper, and swing arm. Less than the cost of the new tire.

The properties of Delrin make it a self lubricating and the shape is retained when a force is applied. The vibration is somewhat dampened yet the ability to hold the trans and swing arm in place is excellent (shape retention). The only limiting factor is the deflection of the isolators. The isolators must remain pliable, in our tests, the more ridged the material, the swing arm deflected less (rear steer) at the cost of increased vibration. Much thought went into this and the solution was either: mount the swing arm to the outside of the frame and use isolator hubs next to the frame/trans or solid mount the pivot and use a motor that is counter balanced with a cost of HP loss. A side note: Barnacles do not grow on Delrin, we use them for underwater lighting on boats as bases for LED.

We have made carbon fiber swing arms for bikes to cut drastically the un-sprung mass (swing arm is a partial) which drastically allows quicker movement which translates to a smoother ride on your type of bike or more traction on a race bike (tire patch contact).

Since the acceptance and concept of my carbon fiber wheels has been less than stellar, the most understood and overlooked performance upgrades available, we chose not to go froward with this project of carbon fiber swing arms.

PS: Shipping to GB is $10.76

 

Hi Howard,

Since discovering your website I've read the words off the screen! I've also come across a UK owner who has done this upgrade and it seems that we in the UK are dependent on the US trike industry for our parts! It's a shame those parts are not still available for 100 bucks. Having discussed things with the UK chap I now feel more confident of going through with this. There is a trickle of suitable parts on Ebay, but shipping costs are crippling. Still much cheaper than buying new parts though, so I am sizing up buying the basic parts at present. If and when I have them to hand I can decide how to overcome fitting them.

As an engineer I can appreciate the benefits of the carbon fibre parts you developed, but also that the market for them may not be very strong. In a world where lowering suspension for looks seems to be more important than good ride quality I suppose we should not be surprised!

I have joked elsewhere on HDF that the more we spend on a bike, the easier it gets to spend even more! I feel I have crossed that threshold, but am not sure carbon fibre bits are within reach.

 

One small step! I have found a very low mileage 2007 swingarm assembly from a trike conversion, everything I need except a wheel (already sold!). It will take it a couple of weeks to swim across the pond, no doubt, so I am now on the hunt for a suitable wheel, preferably with brake disc.

Anyone know how interchangeable rear wheels are? Will a Dyna or Streetglide rear wheel fit a 2007 touring swingarm? Might improve my chances of getting a wheel if I can spread the net a bit wider.

 

Found a wheel at last, a nine-spoke touring, with disc and pulley. Just waiting for everything to cross 'the pond', so I can size up what I have let myself in for!

 

GRB what are you going to do about the rear caliper? Either bore it or spend the money and buy a 08~Current Brembo & a new 0.040" spacer & bore that (OEM) 25mm out to 1" for your new 2007 axle. This way you can remove the caliper to clean it out without removing the axle (Brembo uses a 2 piece). Just a thought. BTW, you need a rear 300 mm rotor (2008 ~ Current)