Fastest Swap - Fully loaded swingarm or extensions?

[Audiomaker]

Ok, so here's a slightly different take on the "vs" question.

If you wanted to be able to quickly go from a SWB to an EWB (i made that up) quickly, which would be faster assuming one had the tools.

1. A fully loaded extended Swingarm (complete... with wheel, tire, brakes, and everything).

or

2. Swingarm extensions (including brake line, caliper extension...etc).


The point of this question is a time / labor exercise. The idea is to switch back and forth often for someone who would like to drag several times a year, but still stay SWB on the street.

Which is faster, which would be harder, which would be better, and why?


Just curious

Thanks
Sean

 

[card16969]

Remember with extensions your going to have to change the chain for a longer chain so everytime you change it your changing a master link. If you change out the entire swingarm that already has a chain ran through the opening you can do it as a single swap.

 

[Trash_Panda_44]

Remember with extensions your going to have to change the chain for a longer chain so everytime you change it your changing a master link. If you change out the entire swingarm that already has a chain ran through the opening you can do it as a single swap.

Swapping chains would be the main issue just like CARD was saying. Everything else should be simple

 

[Audiomaker]

But...but....

What I'm getting at is if you had a fully complete swingarm with brakes, wheel, tire, chain...etc...

Would it be faster to swap back and forth with the stock swing arm vs swapping an extension kit in and out?

Doing the whole swing arm and attached parts would eliminate having to remove a wheel, swapping brake parts...etc, but would involve removing the swingarm from the bike, shock mounts...etc.

Having done neither, I'm just trying to get an idea if that would be a more ideal process for temporarily lengthening the wheelbase vs adding extensions then removing them?

For the sake of this discussion, I'm not focusing on which end result might work better at the track (although I guess we all know that).

Of course having a complete ready-to-go unit is going to be more expensive, but it might be worth it if one could swap it out in much less time, less complication, and less to go wrong.

Does anyone have a time estimate for the R&R of either procedure?

Thanks

 

[m_ridgeway]

If you dont have a front chock stabilizing and holding the bike up is the biggest chore plus all the special tools involved in swapping the swingarm. Putting extensions on would be faster, but a 0"-6" or however long would be the fastest.

 

[card16969]

But...but....

What I'm getting at is if you had a fully complete swingarm with brakes, wheel, tire, chain...etc...

Would it be faster to swap back and forth with the stock swing arm vs swapping an extension kit in and out?

Doing the whole swing arm and attached parts would eliminate having to remove a wheel, swapping brake parts...etc, but would involve removing the swingarm from the bike, shock mounts...etc.

Having done neither, I'm just trying to get an idea if that would be a more ideal process for temporarily lengthening the wheelbase vs adding extensions then removing them?

For the sake of this discussion, I'm not focusing on which end result might work better at the track (although I guess we all know that).

Of course having a complete ready-to-go unit is going to be more expensive, but it might be worth it if one could swap it out in much less time, less complication, and less to go wrong.

Does anyone have a time estimate for the R&R of either procedure?

Thanks

With extensions the chain goes through the top bracing of the swingarm which you have to cut the chain to remove the chain so you cant swap out the chain and extensions without cutting the chain so in order to swap back and forth you have to change the whole swingarm or cut the chain thats the two options. You can setup a second stock swingarm with extensions or buy a complete other swingarm and outfit everything and swap as needed. Depending on how your lifting the bike if you chainfall the tail section up and strap down the front wheel you could swap the swingarm etc probably in 2-3 hours but i personally wouldnt be doing it regularly but if your only changing it like twice a year then i personally wouldnt see a problem with that. The big question is how far over are you planning on extending. if your only going 4-6 ive heard alot of guys say they do their daily riding on a 4-6" extension and can do the canyon carving on the same setup but beyond that thats when they see the difference but thats just what i see people saying.

 

[black diamond busa]

To card : yes alot of people do canyon carve on that little of extension but is it still fun or alot of work. I raised mine and did a 55 tire and it made it so much better for me. I think it really depends on the person because I remember seeing one of the bash pictures with a guy getting low with a big fat tire out back.

 

[Travis England]

Get an after market swing arm that is adjustable from stock to what ever I think I seen one that was stock 2 4 and 6 over then all you would have to do is slide the tire back and hook your new chain to the old one and pull it through if you get good at putting chain togeather you should be able to do the whole thing in 30 min or so

 

[Audiomaker]

Ok, so if I'm understanding this right...

If I swap entire swingarm assemblies I don't need to cut the chain as long as each assembly has its own? Do you just unbolt one of the sprockets to get the chain off?


Secondly, I have a pretty extensive shop. I've been thinking about fab'ing up a lift attachment for my forklift that has 7' forks. Either way, getting the bike (or parts of the bike) in the air is not problematic for me (used to work on my lighter cars using the forklift as a lift).

3rd, can someone break down the steps to R&R'ing a full swingarm assembly vs extensions? I haven't gotten in there, but it seems like a lot more bolts to do the extensions since you're removing the wheel, brake caliper, swapping the brake line, caliper brace...etc. WIthout looking at it, it seems like a full swingarm would just be the swingarm tube (pivot), whatever holds the shock to the arm (just doggones?), and whatever it takes to pull the chain out (sprocket?), and of course the forward brake line connection.

That's like 8 bolts (guessing) for the full swing arm vs several more for the extensions plus having to lengthen/shorten the chain at each swap.

Here's why I'm asking. I just went drag racing for the first time and it's pretty fun, but I only expect to do it a few times a year.
I was thinking I could set up a long swing arm just for those events... maybe even a 14" over. I could have that 14 over arm all set up... drag tire and all, swap it for the week or so that I'm using the bike for drag racing, and then swap it back when it's over.

So now I'm weighing cost, vs performance, vs hassle for doing that over swapping extensions in and back out again.

I won't be leaving the bike in the extended state because I don't want to compromise at all on turning performance the rest of the time.

6" extensions.... if they are nearly as much of a PITA as doing a swing arm swap might not be worth the trouble, but a 10 or 14" temporary swingarm swap might allow me to put some of the power of this turbo bike down on the track.

If swapping into a long swingarm is only marginally more difficult than adding extensions, and only a few hundred dollars more in cost, then that seems like a better value.

On the other hand, if swapping a long swingarm is a really big deal compared with adding extensions, then I would probably go with the easier route or just leave it be.

Keep in mind that I'm thinking of buying the long swing arm and the rest of the parts used. They are pretty abundant and relatively inexpensive (guessing I could do the complete rear end for under $500). That's a cheap entry into a sport really, and probably a lot cheaper than flipping my SWB bike over at the track would cost.

Anyway, that's my train of thought.

Ideas?

Sean
P.S. Remember, I'm talking about building a complete rear end to swap in and out. Arm, brakes, wheel, tire, sprocket...everything. It would sit complete waiting for the next time I'd swap it in. I'm not building it each time.

 

[black diamond busa]

Well you can check the track rules and see if you even have to run a back brake. If you don't that would make it easier and you will have more than $500 for a complete rear end.

 

[fiend]

You can buy an arm that will go from stock length to 6 or 8 over and only have to change the chain out. This would by far be the easiest and cheapest route. The only time it would take to switch between the two would be how ever long it takes you to switch the chain out

 

[Audiomaker]

All very good advice but I still feel a little vague about something...

Could someone who has done a swing arm R&R please tell me what they think the steps would be to swapping a complete swing arm out, and then a complete swing arm into a Busa, and a guess how long it would take?

Again, I'm not talking about taking anything off the stock swing arm, nor putting anything on the extended swing arm. I'm talking about swapping "whole" pre-built swing arms that already have wheels,tires, brakes, sprockets..etc. on them.

I am also not talking about the lifting/hoisting time.

I'm trying to get a time/difficulty estimate.

Thanks for the indulgence.

Sean

 

[Travis England]

Get an arm that will adjust to what you like zero to 8 over and have an extra chain ready

 

[dragonbusa]

If your only going to the track a couple of times a year whats the point? your not gonna be do any big time hole shots with no seat time at the track any way. with out some seat time 6" stretch is not going to make that much diff.

 

[Audiomaker]

If your only going to the track a couple of times a year whats the point? your not gonna be do any big time hole shots with no seat time at the track any way. with out some seat time 6" stretch is not going to make that much diff.

Because I hate the way the 0-8 swing arms look and don't want the excess sticking out the back 90% of the time when I'll be riding stock length.

Granted, my experience in launching is sub-novice, but I certainly won't be getting into this sport if getting reasonable times has such a severe flip risk. I'd just like to try it with a long swing arm a few times and if it's great, maybe I'll stick with the sport or even build another bike.

Drag racing is the only legal motorcycle sport even remotely close to me. There are no road racing tracks, so I'm trying to stay enthused and make the best of what is available to me.

I hope that answers the question.

All the Best
Sean