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BRACE MYSELF
In a fit of old man boredom, I decided to build one of them there braced swingarms. Not because I ride hard enough anymore, but more for the aesthetics and boredom. I researched what I needed and got a '93 CBR900RR arm for the rectangular center brace and a '98 CBR900RR for the actual brace because of the tapered ends seem to fit better at the axle end. I also got a '98 brake bracket. I got all the parts and cut and trimmed until everything, braces, brake stay, Etc. fit up nicely. I then de-anodized all the parts in preparation for welding. Then a thought came to my senile brain. I don't know how to weld aluminum! So I bought a TIG and started practicing on the remnants of the leftover swingarm pieces and a multitude of scraps. After hours and hours I finally go to where my welding was satisfactory for my purposes. After sufficiently clamping and bracing it, I attacked. It came out pretty good for a first timer. Off it went to the anodizers, I went with a low sheen clear so as to not look "new" and shiny. I discovered that the rods I used contained trace amounts of silicon which caused the welds to come out a bit dark. But, it looks fine. The next challenge was finding a carbon fiber hugger for a '98 CBR. I found the pieces I needed Europe from two different sources. It all came together yesterday. I don't know if I can feel the difference, but I like how it fitted up. This COVID 19 is costing me dearly.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sup...6cf7e9644b.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sup...5a6dbc78d7.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sup...8797611bb5.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sup...870806e934.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sup...9d0eace58e.jpg LOL! |
Whoops! MIG not TIG
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Nice job! Congrats :)
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Looks great. Nice work. I wish I had even half as much skill & ambition.
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Looks amazing, the colour variation on the welds is actually kinda cool!
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Thanks. Most could do it with a little time (I'm 65 and bored) and patience. I found that some Mfg.'s use aluminum paint to cover welds. I thought they kinda' looked cool too. I guess there's a different rod/wire that comes out better as well. But, maybe next time.
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Silicon bronze perhaps? Leaves a gold weld... iirc Harris may have made some frames that had silicon bronze welding, looks super cool.
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Correction, Manganese bronze!
https://www.bikeexif.com/harris-frame-suzuki-berham |
Nice job,
You will notice the difference over rated rough surfaces. where did you get the hugger ? |
Looks good...
Price plus shipping please. I'll take one...with a hugger. :) AV |
Looks good, great job for a first timer.. :lol:
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I have a '98 swing arm laying around from an old project... I found several early ones on Ebay for under $50... I am guessing you had to use the caliper locator from the 98 arm to go with the 98 bracket. what else, if anything, did you have to do to get the bracket to work? Looks like I have another project.. 😁
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Viking, all you need are caliper bracket and the brace itself! Bit of cutting and fitting with flap disc. I did the same last year, the only ‘tricky’ bit is removing the caliper bracket guide from the 900rr arm and positioning it perfectly on the vtr swingarm. I also made sure that my tire didn’t touch the brace when Axle was adjusted to be all the way in.
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What he said ^^, lol.
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Yea, what he said except I used a rotary grinder to fit it and a Dremel cutoff wheel to remove the '98 guide(I'm old and bored, remember) Then I just mocked it up the axle and brake bracket pushed forward and marked it.
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Awesome! Had the swingarm and a 6 spoke wheel I was going to put on a '81 cb900f that never happened. Just got an rc wheel for the front to go on the 954 forks. The rear just looked a bit plain... Now I know how to fix that..:D I was thinking about just grabbing a section of rectangle box from the local metal supply place instead of having to get a whole swingarm, just to hack it up... Is that like a 1x6?
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