[tone]

I thought you would agree Krey the differances in the hub part of the wheels makes it much more simple so just use matching parts imo

re- welding/widening the arm with the cut & shut method you describe, i've done this a few times myself (& took a load crap for it on another site) the first one i did this way was used for a couple of years seemingly without problems but when i stripped it for a refresh/powdercoat etc i found some small cracking alondside the welds, so when i re welded it i added a small plate on the inside of the arm accross the joins to strenghten it a little & have had no more problems in 7 or so years, you cant see it once the arm is fitted so maybe its something you might consider

Cheers Tone

[Wreckie29]

This is proving to be a pain in my arse...
So I put the jack into the arm and stretched what I thought was enough...
Well wheel and spacers didn't fit like I wanted...
Jacked more got them all in and is snug but I have a bulge in the outside of the swingarm...
Maybe I need a new swingarm and to weld this time after cutting...
Oh this is annoying...

[Christ]

This is proving to be a pain in my arse...
So I put the jack into the arm and stretched what I thought was enough...
Well wheel and spacers didn't fit like I wanted...
Jacked more got them all in and is snug but I have a bulge in the outside of the swingarm...
Maybe I need a new swingarm and to weld this time after cutting...
Oh this is annoying...

This was my initial concern, and why I asked earlier. I know metals are somewhat malleable and able to flex without stressing too much, but I personally don't know how much is "too much" without analysis by someone much more versed in metallurgy than I am.

[Kreylyn]

Carefull inspection of the OEM swingarm will show you that the OEM bends... already have that slight deformation of the tube. It's not perfectly square all the way around at all sections. Especially on the inside sections. So, it's not nessasarily a huge concern.

My question... is more about how the bend was made. Did you just put a jack between both arms and widen them (with no control over which arm moves where) or did you seperately adjust the angle of each arm?

If you did both at the same time, it's more likely only 1 arm moved and was moved 2X as much as the other (weakest arm gives and bends the whole amount). This would put your arms out of alignment for the tire to be centered.

It's still fixable. I really doubt it's been stressed too much, but I could double check with pics to see what you did.

Remember that each arm needs to be moved out at the axle points, so that should not be that big of a flex/bend change.

Krey

I thought you would agree Krey the differances in the hub part of the wheels makes it much more simple so just use matching parts imo

re- welding/widening the arm with the cut & shut method you describe, i've done this a few times myself (& took a load crap for it on another site) the first one i did this way was used for a couple of years seemingly without problems but when i stripped it for a refresh/powdercoat etc i found some small cracking alondside the welds, so when i re welded it i added a small plate on the inside of the arm accross the joins to strenghten it a little & have had no more problems in 7 or so years, you cant see it once the arm is fitted so maybe its something you might consider

Cheers Tone

I still have the first one, and it's on my 750. I'm about to be redoing mine, and adding one on Badfaerie's... so I'll have the oppertunity to pull it, inspect it, and double check. It's certainly something I would want to know about and adjust for if it's an issue.

I had looked into this before starting and it was a long discussion with the professional welder all the arms I've turned out so far has been welded by. His choice and suggestion was to use stainless rods for the tig welds we did. His stated experiance and expection was that the stainless would flex more, and be significantly more resistant to cracks.

Thanks for the heads up. I've not heard of any issues so far, but I'll defiantely keep your experiance in mind. Every arm I've done has had minor "adjustments" to improve the process. Don't see why this wouldn't be something to consider as part of that.

Krey

[Wreckie29]

All together

Left side

Right side

Both have small bulge...left is more noticeable.

[Kreylyn]

I don't think it's a problem to use.

I question if the tire is lined up right, as it looks to me that the left is much further over than the right. Measure and check that.

Pics can be deceiving.

Krey

[Wreckie29]

Where do I measure?

Also adjusters aren't set the same the axles angled

[Kreylyn]

Where do I measure?

Also adjusters aren't set the same the axles angled

You want to check the alignment of the sprockets from front to rear, make sure it's in the correct position. If it's right, then the wheel is right.

Krey

[Christ]

I don't think it's a problem to use.

I question if the tire is lined up right, as it looks to me that the left is much further over than the right. Measure and check that.

Pics can be deceiving.

Krey

It looked like that to me, too... but I feel like it was the non-symmetrical bends in the swingarm... arms... that make it look that way, and I wasn't gonna take the time to pixel-measure in Irfan to check each from center.

Regarding the adjusters being off, that happens a lot anyway. I never trust those things anymore...

If the swingarm is bent off-center, and you can still center the wheel, that's all that matters (not commenting on the strength or integrity of the swingarm here) as far as alignment goes. Since you "adjusted" the swingarm, it's not going to work to line up the adjusters at this point, even if you'd adjusted each side "evenly", I'd still suggest using the string method instead of the adjuster marks, because without precision measurement, you can't be sure your adjustments were even.

If the swingarm actually is bent further out on one side than the other, you can't just do the "equal turns" method either, because the side that's bent out more will need more than a full turn to travel the same distance outward from the swingarm pivot.

[tone]

Wreckie
Imho the arm that you have jacked apart is toast, the reasons being.....
#1 its not straight, ie one side has moved more than the other
#2 jacking an arm that far will make it V shaped ie the ajusters no longer sit paralell to each other
#3 you have no idea what strain or stress you have put on the various welds, they are not of the best quality as stock in the first palce tbh


krey
I have been welding for well over 30 years now & have to tell you it is really not a good idea to weld mild steel with stainless especially on anything structural, the qualities of the materials are so dissimilar that i suspect rather than cracking you could get failure, stainless is a far harder material than mild steel it flexes less & sheers more easily, I see no reason to use anything other than mild steel on mild steel.

Seriously mate if your welding friend is advising this please find another welder

[Wreckie29]

I Have found several swingarms on Ebay.
Do the post fit the larger rim as they have the 4.5 stock?
Also do I just need to make spacer adaptors for a bandit 600 arm?
I have located one local and it looks similar to our arms.
Haven't measured yet. But it seems the bandit had a 220 or 225mm pivot while ours is 245mm and they have a 20mm pivot bolt and we have a 16mm.
Am I correct?
I wonder if I could just have a sleeve made and 2 side spacers....
Hoping for some help don't want to have a major failure whilst riding...

[Christ]

If you can find a Bandito arm, use that. You can sleeve the stock pivot bolt and use spacers or even plain washers to take up the difference in the width, and in the long run, that will be cheaper than trying to fit custom spacers to fit the wheel to a swingarm it wasn't designed for.

If the Post kat arm will work using the spacers you already have, and keep the wheel aligned, then buy that one. I'm not sure about the fitment differences.

I also have a pre arm laying around somewhere from a 600 if you want to give it another go.

[Wreckie29]

I'm gonna Ebay up the bandit arm and sleeve it...
I showed one of or fabrication guys at work and he said it'd be better and cheaper to make the sleeve for pilot bearing than fix what I already messed up.
He thinks it's got structural damage with that bulge and that riding will probably cause some fracture...

[Christ]

Also, if you have access to anyone with a lathe, you can have them make 2 pc sleeves with the bushing at each end that you need anyway, solving both problems.

[Wreckie29]

That's what I was thinking there is a machine fabrication shop down the street from my house that does a lot of farm equipment I'm gonna see if they can make them for cheap.