1100E swingarm on 750E

[doug g]

To install the 1100 swinger on the 750 is there anything special that needs to be updated. I am going to order new bearings and seals for the swingarm before the install. I was wondering if anything else needs to be done to do the conversion. I am planning on using my OEM wheel and brake set up.

 

[doug g]

what no one has any advice for me. I find that hard to believe.

 

[Dave8338]

I've been waiting for someone to pick up on this myself...I have no answers for you other than the obvious, check, recheck, and check again, EVERYTHING for wear, offset, stress cracks, no know. :-|

 

[rapidray]

What year is your 750? More info usually helps. If it is an 80 thru 82 it is a DIRECT bolt on. Same for the EARLY Katana 750s that had the same body work as the 1000 Katanas. Hope this helps. Ray.

 

[dardoonk]

I am not sure what year your bike is, or even if the swingarm is the same as mine, but I just swapped an 83 swingarm onto mine (77 GS750B). All I had to do was drill out the frame for the larger swing-bolt. It will take a high quality 41/64" bit. I also had to cut 5/8" of an inch off the new bolt and rethread it.

Depending on what year your 750 is, you may need to do this.

Simple swap though. The toughest part is keeping the drill centered so your holes line up when your done. Remember, if you drill one hole at even the slightest angle, you'll be off by a 1/2" or more when you push the bolt thru to the other side.

That would be bad

Here it is finished.
http://w3.bikepics.com/pics/2007/11/...097071-800.jpg

 

[TheCafeKid]

I too am doing this swap, my swinger will be here monday, and im going with what Dardoonk has suggested, so i will have some info on it soon As he suggested as well, you'll probably need to purchase a longer shock to prevent reduction in your stock ride hight.

 

[dardoonk]

I too am doing this swap, my swinger will be here monday, and im going with what Dardoonk has suggested, so i will have some info on it soon As he suggested as well, you'll probably need to purchase a longer shock to prevent reduction in your stock ride hight.

I forgot about that.. The new swingarm will be 2" longer, so your ride height will drop if you use the same shock. Since I'm a fat guy, and my mudguard is flat with the frame rails now, I needed to get 14.5" shocks to replace the 13.3" shocks I had.

 

[TheCafeKid]

I snagged the mudguard off an 80, and then cut it so that it stoped on its up curve just short of the frame rails. Lost the rest of it, and left it that way so i have some splash guard for the motor and battery box, but it's still tucked under whatever seat i end up going with. Of course my frame is cut much shorter than stock too..

 

[TheCafeKid]

Ok so update on this little project. My 1100 swinger arrived today (Thanks Giablo!) and after a bit of cleaning it up, i attempted to install it, with just the original swinger's pivot to see what it would look like. Will mount up like Pie...I see two ways of dealing with the pivot bolt situation, one obviously will work based on Dardoonks finding, and the other i dont know about.

One... You drill out the frame holes for the 1100's pivot, which, given the proper tools and exacting patience, shouldnt be a problem. Need, like Kurt said, a 41/64s bit for that.

Two... Find some collars that have the right ID for the old pivot. This could prove a little more time consuming, however were you to find them, you wouldnt have to drill anything and run the risk of Fing up your frame.


Me...I'll probably drill it out, as i dont have the patience to hunt around for collars the right size, or know anyone who can make them.

 

[dardoonk]

I checked around for needle bearings that were large enough for the 1100 arm, but would have the ID to match the smaller bolt. That was the easiest solution, but I struck out.

My next idea was to get a shim, or sleeve, which I think needed to be 1mm in thickness, but I didn't know how well the shim would stay on the bearings. Plus, I think having the shim would have worn against the bolt.

Drilling seemed to be the best option

 

[TheCafeKid]

Hrmm sounds like drilling it is! Was planning on it anyway, as i figured at least it was the QUICKEST solution, and im impatient. 41/64s bit...how hard is that going to be to find?? Can i pick it up at Lowes??

 

[dardoonk]

tight tolerances doing this

tight tolerances doing this

Hrmm sounds like drilling it is! Was planning on it anyway, as i figured at least it was the QUICKEST solution, and im impatient. 41/64s bit...how hard is that going to be to find?? Can i pick it up at Lowes??

I could not get a 41/64" bit at Lowe's Home Depot, or Northern Tool.
Irwing tools makes one and I found it at my local Ace Hardware. Make sure you don't buy a cheap bit. The holes are very deep & you have to cut slowly. I ran at about 700rpm.

BTW: I could not find a true 16mm drill bit anywhere.

I want to make sure anyone considering doing this understands it is not going to be simple to fix if it is screwed up. If your hole is drilled even a couple degrees off, your going to miss the hole on the other side of the frame by nearly the diameter of the bolt.

I've been saying to use a 41/64th bit, and I can attest that it will work, but I've thought about this, and want to make it clear about the tolerances. Plus, I don't want anyone to screw up their frame. If you do not PERFECTLY enlarge the existing hole, you could have a mess. You will need to ream the hole out appropriatly, which may lead to excessive play in the swingarm and ultimately, undesirable affects in handling of the bike. You wil need to remove EXACTLY the same amount of material all the way around both existing holes.

I've thought a lot about this and think a 5/8" drill bit might be a safer alternative.
Consider the tolerances:

1100 swing bolt = 16.0mm or 0.6299"
41/64" drill bit = 16.27mm or 0.6406"
5/8" drill bit = 15.87mm or 0.6250"

So, a 41/64" bit is nearly perfect- larger by 0.27mm (0.0107").
and 5/8" bit is close, but not enough - small by 0.13mm (0.0049")

If you drill pefectly, or very near perfect, the 41/64" is a one shot deal. If you use a 5/8" bit first, your holes will be less than 5/1000ths too small. It may be easier to drill the holes to 5/8"; then ream it out enough all the way around the hole on one side to see how close the bolt matches up.

It seems to me that it would be a safer alternative than drilling the larger hole and likely having to ream it a little anyway.

 

[TheCafeKid]

ok...splain to me how you go about reaming that hole out?? Man this sounds like it may be more than my small amount of expertise wants to handle...lol. I wonder if i can find a shop to drill it out?

 

[dardoonk]

Wiggle the drill bit around in the hole.
You'd only need to remove about 1/2 the thickness of a sheet of paper all the way around. We aren't talking about much material to remove, I'm just thinking it would be safer "have" to remove a little bit to get the bolt to fit, than it would be to drill it too big and have to ream out the hole anyway.

A 5/8" & 16mm drill bits are probably manufactured within the same min/max tolerances.

 

[TheCafeKid]

gotcha...will be picking up a 5/8 bit and giving it a shot...hopefully i dont F it up..hehehe

 

[doug g]

wow thanks for the input guys. My bike is a 1980 750E and the swingarm is off a 1982 1100E. When I get around to it I will keep all of you posted with an update.

 

[TheCafeKid]

Well. It's done. n1elkyfan and I got the frame holes drilled out and the swinger mounted. Not as bad as I initially expected, although that first hole had me sweating pretty bad. We had to adjust it a lil up and to the left, but the second hole was cake with the pivot bolt pushed thru and setting in the back of the second hole as a reference. *I* didnt even have to cut anything off the pivot bolt and rethread. Dunno if maybe Dardoonk's bolt was different or off a different bike than my swinger was.

Pics..

 

[dardoonk]

Nice job there.. glad it worked for you. Our bolts must have come from two different bikes I suppose.

 

[TheCafeKid]

Thats the only thing i can think. I need a washer for the other side to match the nut side, but thats easy enough. I may actually stick with the 13.5 inchers. Got a decent deal on a set of works piggybacks, I'll only know i guess when i get the wheels back on. My frame is cut short too, obviously, so i may not run into interferance. Dunno.

 

[doug g]

cafe kid,
what year is that bike you did the conversion on?