Swingarms and driveshafts

I want to know what everyone has done with their swingarms/driveshafts when they customize them. I searched the forums, and some even had some interesting threads, but most of them just fade away, with no details or final results...

I want to see some pictures, builds, threads, etc...of what people have done to theirs. If its mild or wild, I want to check it out.

I want to get some information together, as driveshafts are still new to me, as are modifiying bikes past making them run.

I won't be modifying my seca750, but if I came across something in the future, i wouldn't mind practicing on something.

I'd like to see people that have put monoshocks on their bikes, single sided swing arms, fat tires, skinny tires, new wheels, spoked wheels.

IF something like this already exists, please shoot me in the right direction! I look forward to what you have!

Josh

 

search?

 

My recent write up on using spoke wheels from a 700 virago.
Wire Wheels and a 150 Rear - Virago 700 style!!.

As far as drive shaft mods. There has not been much. The only functional mod that I have seen is an open driveshaft on a hard tail bobber project.

Ghost

 

One guy streched his shaft, but he has not been updating in a while.

 

And this is why i asked to get it all together. If venlis would have read my starter thead, all of it, he wouldve seen that ;-)

Id like to make up a collection of xj‘s that have been modified. Xs‘s vmaxes and viragos are a plenty, lets see what happens to our xj‘s!

 

I streched this XJ1100 a couple years ago.

 

Do you have any infor on your build? That is sweet! I admire the mods people do so much....and it really helps me with understanding the physics/dynamics behind it so much.

How did it affect the handling, as far as city riding goes?

 

The best way to splice a driveshaft is to get 2 identical ones and splice them with a larger piece of tubing welded by a pro, then balanced.

As for a monoshock XJ - -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6WDE4pZwWM

Just don't do the hot pink jams - OK ?? 8)

 

My welding was good, but being away from it for 5 years rusts up the skills a bit...my grandfather on the other hand, is a welding pro (he's done quite a bit for hobart/teledyne and still welds at the marina by his house, aluminum engine blocks, motor mounts, stuff like that. He welded the gas tank and oil pan on my dads tractor, without taking them off)

I think the monoshock would be more than possible if you took the whole swing arm off of a 81-82 xv, and put that on. I'm not sure how the swingarms would line up, but im sure with some light welding or bushings, it shouldn't be an issue.

Any one ever measure that up? When i get out of work today, i'll see what i can find for measurements!

 

The Virago swingarm is wider than XJ swingarm by approx 1/2 inch. you would still have to do more modifications to make one fit.

Ghost

 

That seems easily doable, as long as the six packs stay cold! I am getting more interested in the virago swinger.

 

What type of bike?

The monoshock 81-82 920 Virago was a belt drive. You will wind up having to totally reengineer the swingarm to get it to work on a shaft drive bike.

Other problems you will have to overcome.
Insuficient travel length for the shock.
Insuficient strength in the shock mounting.
Reengineering the intake system.
Reenginereing the electrical system.
Treat the left side of the swingarm as an immovable object. Any changes to the torque tube poisitioning will affect the driveshaft u-joint location, and cause it to bind if not make it un useable.

The six packs will keep the can-o-worms good company. You will have plenty of both.
Ibuprophen, or Acetominephine? I want to buy some stock before you start.
Just the thought of it gives me a headache!!

Ghost

 

I thought the 81-82 xv750s had a drive shaft and mono shock. All the ones I've seen have had that anyhow. And if they both have drive shaft, if the width is different, That can be cut down...or enlarge the bike frame? As far as electronics, I'm not worried about that at all. Having an electrical engineer for a father in law has helped loads with electrical understanding....

If the xv750 isn't shaft...then I can see the nightmare getting into it. I really need to see the parts all apart in front of me to figure this out.

Has anybody tried a single sided swing arm? Or found ONe? I found it for the xs650, but since the xs is pretty different from the xj, i don't want to compare the two....I was wondering if a bmw swinger would be workable...but are shaft.....

I have loads of migraine excedrin. The six packs are more for my wife to deal with me banging my head against the wall...the excedrin is for said wall banging...

I still want to see more rear end mods though!

 

I missed the XV750 as it was not listed under 81.

That will solve the shaft drive issue, but like I said. Do not move the left side. The problem this brings up is making sure the shock cradle is centered on the swingarm. The best bet is to narrow the swingarm to fit inside the stock frame. Not as much chance of throwing the bike off center that way.

I have not seen any single side swingarm mods, as you will need a way to maintain the hub attachment to the final drive.

If you do go ahead with the monoshock swing arm. Take pics, pics ,and more pics. I deffinately want to see a good write up on it.

Ghost

 

I think if it is to be single sided mono shocked...it would most definitely have to be a disc brake, which opens more cans of said worms. The bike I have is in excellent shape, looks wise, but the engine needs a complete rebuild (only like 80lbs across all cylinders) and a transmission that doesn't like to stay in any gears. I never checked the valves, as I didn't ride it much and I have to rebuild the engine....so valves would get done just to have it all brand new inside...

I still have 5 months left in Korea. I am getting my ducks lined up now...Because that is how I like to operate. I really need to get some parts in front of me, to mock something up, and I think I'll startthat over here, with some plumbing supplies...brass or copper might make a kickass 1/8th scale model...and give me some ideas....

I'm sure there has to be some lunatic in a garage somewhere that had a wlder and torches and too much free time. Id like to see what he came up with (or she) and what they did.

As far as using a different make/model swing arm or driveshaft(IE bmw/honda) it would be the same principal wouldn't it, just make sure the gearing works correctly?


Hmmmmm time for more research!

 

The problem with the swingarm driveshaft is that it is only a single u-joint shaft. You would have to maintain the exact locaton of the u-joint coupler to prevent binding.

I was thinking of narrowing the virago swingarm that I have. It would give about a 2" stretch to the rear, and a small bit of a lowering of the rear of the bike.

Ghost

 

I can't believe no one else has anything to add....

I tried finding the other threads on here, and there are a plenty, but all of them just ..... stop! There is never an end to any project that involves a swingarm/rear end! It's like all the bike owners just gave up, or forgot that they were putting information like that online!

Ghost, what about a vmax swingarm? Those are shafties, aint they? They also accept a fat tire...and retain the dual shocks. It would take away the monoshock/single sidedness...but .... much easier from an engineering standpoint...and if the vmax has a different gear/coupler/connector, Im sure the two drive shafts could be cut and spliced together to retain the original xj750 connection...

If someone has measurements/pictures/or failed(successful) attempts, now is the part where you chime in!

 

You're faced with doing rings, valve job, gaskets and gearbox work---

The typical advise on this site is to source another motor.

Even if you got a V-Max swingarm, you still can't move the driveshaft over to fit a big tire (unless you run the tire offset from the centerline).

If you had a machine shop and enough beer, you could fit a fat 330 wide tire in a similar way that they do it on chain drive bikes. They add a jackshaft supported by bearings. You would add 2 sprockets and a short bit of chain to the driveshaft that is moved over a few inches.

 

I wasn't thinking 330 big tire! wow, that is huge...I was thinking big like the vmax size...160. the 110 bicycle tire now just looks a bit off, with me on the bike...hahaha

I'm not looking at doing massive changes, but something just enough that people looking at it have to stop and wonder what exactly is different...

Maybe i need a machine shop....but i think it might be easier than that...

 

None of the Virago models had belt drive, sorry. Can't think of any belt-driven Yammies for that matter.

The 750 Virago was shaft-driven, as was the 920. Both were monoshocks.

The XV920R had an enclosed chain running in a grease bath, perhaps that's what you were thinking of. It had a monoshock rear as well.

 

Fitz. I will take your word for it. I looked at the parts schematic only long enough to determine that it was not a shaft drive.

Ghost

 

Here's mine- haven't given up, just hard to find time to work on it.

 

Some of the newer vstars are belted. I thought all the old ones were shaft driven. I really wish that other that have messed with the rearends would chime in. This is more about getting all ideas into o

 

That is a sexy rear end brawler. I like the outcome so far. . Ive been keeping up on your build of it. Are you planning anything plasticwise or leaving it all naked

 

No plastics, I want a very minimalist look. I am planning running a small fender on the swing arm, gonna re shape the old one I was running from an xs 650.

 

That sounds awesome! I can't wait to see it.

I like having minimal stuff, but it seems whenever I take something off, it causes 99098409485203498520349582049 other problems for me, hahah

I do think fenders are a bit neccessary though, rocks/rain/mud/bugs all hurt, and fenders make that a bit better

 

Ok, according to this, http://www.bikez.com/motorcycles/yamaha_xj_900_1983.php the xj900 has a 120 rear tire, 18 inch rims and a 100 front tire 18 inch rims. Dual front discs and a rear disc. Nice sounding, and for people that want the same size tire front and back, here we go...not much as far as mods go....

Now, as far as compatability goes, http://myyamahaxj750.blogspot.com/2009/ ... story.html XJ650 Maxim (1980-83) and Midnight Maxim (1981) models. Note that all of the Yamaha XJ650, XJ700 non-X, XJ750, and XJ900 models share the same basic air-cooled, inline DOHC four-cylinder shaft drive 5 speed powerplant and driveline.

I think it would be a slick easy change, to go from mismatched tire sizes and rear drum to full disc operation and same sized tires front and back.


What about someone using a chain/drive from the xjr1300. I wonder about cases, or middle drive gears being compatabile interchangeable...Yamaha was smart building stuff, and liked to recycle parts between models, making it cheaper and quicker to get products out to the public

EDIT: I guess this article was originally posted on here... this is the link to it www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14561.html

 

There's a guy who machines-up a few pieces that adapt a 16" Maxim rear rim to the front of XV's and XJ's so you can have "matching tires" on matching rims.
Peep This
And of course, older bikes like Fitz's Norton have matching tires,
But -
the tires then won't match the chassis dynamics, fork rake and trail, or shock valving - as engineered by Yamaha. Modern tires are designed for front OR rear fitment, and the tires that can be mounted on either end need to be reversed (see the arrows).

 

I think that if I were to use the tires from the xj900, nothing woudl have to be machined up...according to that article. the bikes are virtually the same thing...except for engine size....

I have seen a lot of the machined up wheels, I like them, a lot, but to have wheels that are supposed to be where they were designed for....I do know that when I was home this summer, and had to get tires for my seca the 18in front tire took some hunting to find....

 

Hey guys,
What if you took the XV750 rear swingarm and cut the mono shock supports off at the swingarm. Then, weld the support to the Xj750 swingarm in the same position? Use the diff from the XV750. And then take the XJ900 rear wheel assembly and make a bracket for the rear caliper to mount to the mono shock support. I'm thinking of going this route? What do you guys think? I'd appreciate the input!

Project Shadow Warrior

 

This is my concept. Think the bracket will squeeze between the rear frame bars? We'll see. I found a few for around $40-60.

 

i will tell you one thing off the bat. the aluminum to steel will not work. but if you were to get it to bolt to the existing point and the other side it could work

 

You are totally right! That's why I would purchase a XV750 differential with the bracket for the swingarm to bolt to. I think they have the same internals?

 

What modifications were needed to make the R6 front forks fit?