Kenmoores' Bike
 

Having owned my bike for almost 2 years and carrying out many mods I was inspired to do a braced swing arm by the post on James' bike.

The information that he posted was enough for me and off I went and acquired a secondhand original arm and a 94 Fireblade 900 RR swingarm as well.


I followed James post and here is the end product.


At the same time I renewed all bearings and fitted new can brackets that moved the pipes up and in 2 inches.


Have a look and see what you think, without the original post I wouldn't have tried this.


I would certainly recommend this mod to anyone that pushes their bike hard as it has settled my bike to the point where I am now happy with it.


I was never happy with the way the bike tracked over rough surfaces under hard braking and acceleration, now I am debating whether or not I should go ahead with a planned USD front end swap as it may upset this ballance.


http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...pseb235924.jpg


Then it became this.


Attachment 23088


And then it was painted, first by me then by professionals to finish it off.


Attachment 23089


Now fitted to bike along with a few other bits and pieces.


http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7xalkrx8.jpg


http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...psnftl8caj.jpg


http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...psmrqifrpn.jpg
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...psrycwabvz.jpg
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...pscu0pt0hr.jpg


Hope you get the picture, no pun intended!!!!!!!!

Looks great, what brand rear sets are they?

They are Dan Moto,

Very good value for money.


Did change a few things with them like fitting longer bolts for foot pegs etc but all in all good value with plenty of adjustability and a better gear change link for smoother gear change action.


I am more than happy with them.

Nice looking bike Ken. I like that hugger. Where or what brand is it ? If I may ask....:)

VERY nice. What's the setup with the exhaust? I see bolt on mufflers so did they come like that or are the midpipes custom made? I also love how you covered the Danmoto logos (: which when I looked at their rearsets the other day was probably my least favorite part of them.

And being pretty anal myself I appreciate how CLEAN everything is. I had previously used high mount hangers with low mount midpipes and loved the RC51 style low to high look. Post up a pic or two of the whole bike it looks really nice.

The rear hugger is of a Yamaha R1 2004 model that I bought new from Flea Bay for $29.99 shipped to Australia.

I was surprised at the quality and finish.

To get it to fit I had to make some spacers up.

The exhaust came like that, it is a rebadged IXIL system that I bought new in Australia for $399- shipped.

Great value as most manufacturers want that for link pipes if they sell them seperately.

All I did was buy the high mount brackets from the U.K from a company called precission engineering, and because the rear sets have no place for the link pipe brackets I was able to rotate the link pipes to get the correct angle and then bolt the mufflers to the link pipes and then clamp them to the high mount brackets and hey presto 2" higher and 2" more inboard for a more agressive look.

Luckily they still clear the arm brace.

I will take some better pictures of the whole bike when I get time.

For once something turned out the way I wanted it to as when I ordered the high mount brackets I wasn't sure if it would all come together.

Well kenmoore, not only has James inspired you, you both inspired me! I just paid $32 and change for a swinger shipped to my door. I'm thinking after I cut the brace off, the local recycler will give me more than that for the remaining aluminum for scrap!!

Attachment 23087

Thanks for starting this thread!

Great job! Your swingarm looks great! I went "tabless" on mine to give it a racebike look.

My next step is to open the countershaft sprocket cover and show off my lightened countershaft sprocket and gold chain. :)

James

Beautiful job on that swingarm, Kenmore.

I went with the Coerce sprocket cover for the exposed look for the front sprocket.

I am getting a 520 chain conversion shortly and will have a gold chain as well.


I also fitted red anodised rear sprocket nuts recently so when I get the conversion it will look a bit blingy but that's O.K as I don't mind a bit of bling as long as it is functional.


I am also looking at ideas for the chain guards and may go with modified 900 RR in carbon if the budget stretches that far.


The swingarm mod that you inspired has delivered on two fronts for me, 1 being that it looks great, and 2 being that the bike now feels more settled when riding over rough surfaces when under brakes or on the gas.


It's hard to explain but the suspension seems to be working in tandem now, before this change the bike always felt unsettled. I have modded the front forks and the rear shock was refurbished as well but it never felt good, now it does and the bike handles much better.


I actually popped the front wheel in third gear coming out of a corner the other day as I am now able to get better corner speed with the bike feeling so planted. Now I need to be careful as it is easy to travel much faster.


I knew that the standard arms flexed under load, but didn't realise just how much and also the effect that it had on the handling.


I have many mods on my bike, however this mod has had the most dramatic effect by far!


Good luck Wolverine it's a bit of a hassle to do but well worth it in the end.


You certainly got a bargain with that swinger, I paid $120 Oz for mine!


Keep us informed on your progress with this worthy mod.

Have tidied up the tail now!

Before shot.
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...pszcgcdqkw.jpg


After shot
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...pssv4ys2di.jpg


The rear end is much tidier and fresher than before.


Was a rotten job fitting the seat lock in the number plate.

Good onya mate, the bike looks tip top shape now.

Cheers

Yeah cobber, running out of things to do.

Really thinking seriously about a CBR100 front end, but am really happy with the handling as it stands now.


I am worried that I will unbalance the bike if I do this and then will have to invest in a new back shock as well.


I desperately want a rear seat cowl and am realy pissed of with the one I ordered from China as the quality is shit, and I just can't bring myself to put it on the bike as it will lower the quality of my mods.


Maybe I worry too much, but I just can't stop tinkering.


I like the look of the CBR seat and tail unit as well , but if funds were no object a Mario Nava tail unit would be ace.


It's my birthday soon so who knows, but I have made it clear to family and friends that a genuine seat cowl would finish the bike nicely.

CBR1000RR front end I reckon mate, get it for your birthday ;-) by it self it will improve allot, handling is ace, feels much lighter on the steering and yet still very stable.

Finished for now!

The seat cowl changes the look for the better.


http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...pspj2xz3av.jpg


http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6quuaw6f.jpg

The premixed Jack Daniel's cans add a lot of class to the picture, I like your style.

to notch. id say spring for the USD front end. you hear everyone say "NO USD's just do a respring and a revalve" around here. although i still dont get why. it really changed the bike leaps and bounds for me. it was a bit pricey but in selling my previous parts i made almost all my money back so the whole thing really only cost me $50. if you do go for the front end id say really try finding someone selling a whole front end as one sale. otherwise youll spend alot more time and money trying to get every spacer, bolt, clip, etc to make it all work. look on cbr forums if u want the 1000rr front. or even fleabay i see whole front ends for sale. it saves u alot of trouble buying it all in one sale.

so im just getting a parts list together for doing my swing arm brace as ill be purchasing all the components when i get my tax refund. thank you uncle sam :] and from what i gather to fit a rear hugger/chain gaurd combo, its gonna have to be modified regardless of which one you get. so then is it easiest to get a 900rr hugger and go from there or is it gonna be the same to get one for any bike considering things are gonna have to be custom mounted even with a 900rr hugger,

+1 USD is the best option mate, will transform the bike, you will feel like you moved a decade and a half in time ;-)

for the hugger did you cut the tabs off of the brace?

I can see at least one tab still there after it was painted and fitted to the bike. The hugger isn't using the tabs, though.

what im wondering is if its actually a 98-01 R1 hugger? it looks just like the ones from that year. the 2004 like he said it is looks completley different

the R1 huggers are like $20 which i think is worth a shot. way better than well over $100 for an actaully 900rr one

Kenmoore, you might want to look into auxilary brake lights. I bought the same clear LED brake light w/integrated turn signals and after I installed it, I went for a ride with my Dad. While he was on his bike behind me, he said that during the day, it was very hard to tell when I hit my brakes. So, I purchased a couple of these. They are much brighter than the LED's inside the brake light.

They are small enough to be able to put them just about anywhere. I just stuck mine to the bottom of the LED brake light. Makes it MUCH easier for people to see that I'm hitting the brakes.

Definitely 2004 R1 hugger from Chinese Flea Bay supplier, left the tabs on to fit chain guard in the near future!

Had to make up spacers to get it at the right angle. Simply drilled and tapped the brace then sit spacers under hugger and hey presto it's mounted nice and solid.


http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...psu6hgh99j.jpg


http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...pslrdvof8f.jpg


Am going to fill the gaps in with some fine mesh when I get around to it.


As for the brake light and blinkers I have had many friends ride behind and they all say it's O.K, but I am thinking about some additions for my own piece of mind.


I would mount from the holes in the bottom of my license plate.

Hey Sailor, this is where the J.D can ended up, just for a laugh!

http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...pszvvli45c.jpg

Idk why I just don't like the idea of drilling the beace. I got a hugger chain gaurd combo off eBay for $75 shipped, it's for the later model twin leg (instead of box) style brace. I looked on Fireblade forums and found out it's almost the same mounting as the earlier brace.

I kinda like that. the starter gets pretty corroded, beat up, and covered with road debris.

kenmoore what brake line are you using? i want something that fits a little better than stock with the new brace

also i gotta +1 myself from when i said you should do the USD swap. when i did my front end swap i couldnt beleive how much better the front felt. so planted and confidence inspiring.

and now that ive done the swinger brace i gotta say i think the bike wouldnt handle all that great with the swinger brace but stock forks. even if you have upgraded internals and a forks brace(which helps some) but the real downfall of the stock fork setup is the tiny worthless lower triple clamp. that is where most of the flex happens is right below the triple.

check this out, its an RC51 front end(left) and a VFR(not a VTR but almost exactley the same, especially the lower triple clamp) and look at the difference in the lower triple clamps. the VFR or in our case the VTR lower triple is miniature. pretty much useless for any performance riding. http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/u...2572_92996.jpg

now that i have the brace and RC51 forks i can see that if you want to ride the VTR in any performance manor, the USD forks and swinger brace are a great idea. really gets the bike planted in corners to keep traction. i cant beleive how much the swinger flexed. didnt realize it until i did the brace.

just my 2 cents mate. thanks for all the help with the brace mod:D

I wish you hadn't of posted that because even with my fork mods and fork brace I can still feel the front end flex, especially under hard brakes.

I have CBR600F4i calipers with braided Hel lines front and rear.


No complaints with the brakes just the fork flex.


I am glad that you like the brace, it is the best mod that I have done on the bike after the lightened flywheel.


The thing that impressed me most is how planted it now feels which we all know leads to faster speeds and hence more severe braking.


I really want to do the USD mod however I have another bike coming and have spent some big $$$$ on it.


The USD will have to wait, and no the Hawk is not going anywhere.


Will post some pics of the new ride in approx 8 weeks.


Till then you can all have a guess at what it is!