extending the swing arm

[CanDman]

I was wondering what the best way to extend the swing arm without welding.......not too much....say 2-3 inches....any suggestions?
CanDman

[FJmonkey]

I was wondering what the best way to extend the swing arm without welding.......not too much....say 2-3 inches....any suggestions?
CanDman

Why? If you don't mind my asking... I like the corners and canyon carving. It is more like flying a plane. Longer WB seems more like drag racing.... The launch must be a thrill....

[CanDman]

I was wondering what the best way to extend the swing arm without welding.......not too much....say 2-3 inches....any suggestions?
CanDman

Why? If you don't mind my asking... I like the corners and canyon carving. It is more like flying a plane. Longer WB seems more like drag racing.... The launch must be a thrill....

Thx for weighing in Monkey........would 2 inches make that much difference? When I get the engine back in her....she is going to have a little more lift on the front end...from what I am being told
Kev

[rktmanfj]

   

[Travis398]

she says it does

[CanDman]

hey Ran ....Trav ......what happened to the  "OH IT'S ON NOW" Thread? I miss that one...lol
Kev  

[rktmanfj]

hey Ran ....Trav ......what happened to the  "OH IT'S ON NOW" Thread? I miss that one...lol
Kev  

Here ya go, Kev... knock yersef out.   

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=10060.0 

[Bones]

What sprockets are you running CanDman, wouldn't it be easier to just raise your gearing to try and tame the front end than making a longer swingarm.

[CanDman]

What sprockets are you running CanDman, wouldn't it be easier to just raise your gearing to try and tame the front end than making a longer swingarm.

I don't know Bones....someone else also suggested that a while back.....maybe I should look into that. I was talking to another member about it and he thought I was riding with a stock swingarm but when I told him that I had switched to a 97 T-ace he told me that it was in fact and inch and a half shorter than the FJ swingarm......there was also an aesthetic appearance  I am trying to address. when I look at my bike from the side.....it just beckons to be extended......to me at least....the rear looks like it need to move back slightly...2 inches......anyway....I do appreciate your input thanks everybody
CanDman

[turbocamino]

I was wondering what the best way to extend the swing arm without welding.......not too much....say 2-3 inches....any suggestions?
CanDman

FWIW...If you go into our "FJ Winter Projects" section ,look at "fj1298"'s  Dragbike project....it looks like a stock arm he added to.

[andyb]

You can get most of the benefit of a slightly longer arm by just lowering the bike some.

I've yet to see anyone get an arm stretched inexpensively, though periodically you can find them for sale reasonably priced.  The other option is to consider looking for a swap from another machine that had a slightly longer one.

[FJmonkey]

Maybe we could swap? I send you my stock arm off my 86' and you send your T-Ace arm. postage might suck.

[fj1289]

I was wondering what the best way to extend the swing arm without welding.......not too much....say 2-3 inches....any suggestions?
CanDman

FWIW...If you go into our "FJ Winter Projects" section ,look at "fj1298"'s  Dragbike project....it looks like a stock arm he added to.

The arm on the drag bike is an FZ1 swing arm (as far as I know identical to the ThunderAce arm). It was extended 0-6" by Larry Hardcore (you can look him up on psychobike.com) for $375 back in 2009. Exceptional work and quick turnaround.  And this isn't a swing arm that gets extended everyday like a Busa.  Larry can also do a "fixed" extension like 2" or 4" or whatever.



Like Andy said - there's really no way to "cheap out" on this. 

Another alternative may be a first gen R1 swing arm.  I know Andy York swapped one in many years ago. Pretty sure they are 1 1/2" or 2" longer than stock.

[Dan Filetti]

All this talk of extending the swing arm because of more power leads me to wonder whether either Frank or Flynt, with their worked engines, extend their swing arms?  I doubt you're building anything that would best either of those two machines, and, to the best of my knowledge, neither of them extended theirs.  It comes down to, as with any bike, (or machine really) judicious throttle control.  Get in cozy with your throttle, no matter the amount of power, there is no reason to extend the swing arm, unless you're building a track bike, seems to me.   

It's a lesson I drilled into my boy when teaching him to ride his dirt bike: learning the subtleties of throttle control will keep you out of, and allow him to escape from, all sorts of trouble. 

My $0.02

Dan 

[fj1289]

Dan - spot on that throttle control is critical no matter if you have the stock swing arm or longer (or even shorter)!  If you get it long enough to not wheelie, then it's even easier to spin!  Also, Frank has the FZ1 swing arm - so pretty sure it is the same length as the ThunderAce arm - and will dust most anything from a stop light (the rider - i.e. throttle and clutch control - is the difference).   

If it is intended to be a street bike, I'd just ride it!  If you want to do the drag strip or LSR or then modify it for the purpose, but realize you will compromise it as a street bike.  I didn't like the compromises so I put together the drag bike to go along with the street bike. A good shock on the back will do more for control than extending the swing arm 2 " too...