Does anyone know of either a swingarm that can be made to fit the RZ that is wider where the rim of the tire would be than the FZ600 arm or any way that the swingarm can be widened at that point by 1/2" Where I am I do not have the luxury of junk yards but use ebay and this is a question it is difficult to ask. Thanks Dave
Wow, there have been so many tried over the past, I'm sure plenty of people will chip in their stories. I personally have a JMC arm from the UK. It wasn't the cheapest but it was the easiest by far. I told him what bike it was for and what rear wheel I was using. It fit perfectly and looks the dogs bollocks. I run a Honda CBR600F2 rear wheel (4.50*17) with a 160/60-17 tire. It is about the largest I could get without the chain rubbing the frame. I had to weld a 520 outer front sprocket to a 530 inner to get enough offset to clear the tire. Machining to align the rear sprocket and get a rear brake setup was minimal. I raced the bike a few times but turned it into a street racer after and raced a more stock RZ. I found the Avon 110 and 130 tires were really quite good and would suggest spending money a good rear shock, tapered bearings and such to get it to handle better then just ride the wheels off it! Dean
Thanks for the reply Dean. The bike already has the fz with the fox and everything else that it needs. The problem is I run the CBR F2 rear wheel with the Michellin 160 tire and the only tire warmer I can get on, because of fouling the arm, is an old tire sox (no cover). I have some really good PDI's on my CBR that I want to use because they are so much better and give a lot more even heat and has the built in thermostat. I used to run the Avons when I had the 18" wheels and the 130/650VB18 Avon is really good. The other 130 broke away all the time. I just need it wider at the front. The FZ arm tapers in too quick.
Take the existing FZ arm to a local fab shop that does aluminum work. Mark it from top have them cut a gentile clearance in the area you want to widen on both sides .375" deep, then weld in a new section from .125 alum. If the arm material is full width there this should create no issue with strength...
I had the plan of using a piece of large diameter alloy tubing cut length wise to fit an curved cut in the swingarm and cutting the stock FZ swingarm where the tire cleanace is an issue and welding the cut tubing piece in place. See the bad image below. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b91/tkm433/FZ600arm1.gif Other than the need for your tire warmers there is no need for a wider tire on the RZ. First off due to cleanace issues with chain alignment and the frame the widest tire that one can most likely fit on the RZ with out the worry of overloading the ouput shaft due to a offset front sprocket and having the chain rub the frame is a 160. On my RZ I am running a 160/60 17 BT090 on 4.5" wheel and it clears the FZ600 swingarm with very little room to spare. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b91/tkm433/400hugger2.jpg
This is what I was suggesting but there is no need to use tubing (costly and difficult to cut to the proper shape). You can trace the shape of the cutout on a piece of thin car board, cut the filler out of flat .125 aluminum and carefully form it with a mallet. I believe a longer taper to the back of the arm so more of a shallow J shaped cutout and filler will be stronger than a shorter full radius piece of tubing.
This is what I am suggesting.. If you wanted to beef it up a bit you could gusset between the front of the cutout and the cross brace.
I will take the arm to a fabrication shop and see what they think. The only worry is the width on the top is, contrary to the visual aspect, where the most strength is. This distance would now be shorter. I know on steel structure it is the width of the flange and the distance apart that gives the strength, not the vertical members. Perhaps a small fillet above would return the strength. Thanks for the advice and the picture. Hopefully they will say this is doable.
If you can't get it done up there I can talk to my machinist down here in Marietta GA. He's done some great stuff on my RZ, Norton and other custom parts. He's ridden bikes since the 50s in the UK so he knows bikes
