Scored Very nice Zephyr swingarm on eBay

I found a very nice 91 Zephyr swingarm on eBay. These are so nice. Quite a bit better than the GS1100 swingarms. They have the cam adjusters in the back and can take standard eye to eye shocks, which are much more prevalent than the clevis stile shocks. The whole thing with ALL the parts including rear brake mount, brake link, axle, spacers, chain pad and chain guard for $70. These are a treasure when you can find them. They are almost as good as the ZXR swingarms, which are easier to find but cost a fortune when you do.

pic? is it longer than the kz swinger?

I have not measured it yet. The GS1100 swingarm is about 2.5" longer I know. As soon as I get it I will measure it and give the specs. I actually hope that it is not. Or at least no longer than the GS swing arm. I am not for that stretch look, or the loss of handling that you get with the longer arms.

same swing arm as is on this bike.

I was looking at the Zephyr swingarm on the 91 I picked up a week ago and was debating about it. It does look nice, but I would assume a lot of fabrication to make it work?
Looks like I can part and get at least $70 for my 50 mile drive picking up this bike. The wife gave me hell and said I'll be lucky to recoup my diesel fuel picking it up.

That Zephyr is one beautiful bike, if I had money I'd own one, preferably an 1100.

Anyway, I have a Zephyr 750 swingarm (stripped and polished) in my KZ 650 and the swap was surprisingly easy.

At the pivot the Zephyr swingarm is almost exactly as wide as the stock 650 arm including the end caps, all I had to do to make it fit was to trim down the swingarm pivot studs on the the frame ever so slightly with a file and the Zephyr arm slipped right in.

However, I had two issues:

- The Zephyr uses a 17 mm swing arm pivot bolt, the 650 uses a 16 mm. After some contemplating I decided to solve this issue by drilling the frame, not too hard once I got hold of a 17 mm drill. That means no going back to stock, but then I don't intend to.

- The stock 650 arm has two end caps on (one on each side) that hold the arm centered between the pivot studs. The Zephyr arm however is designed to sit in a flatsided frame and has no end caps, just a seal over the swingarm bearings.

This means that once the swingarm is in place and the swingarm sleeve is held between the pivot studs, the arm itself can shift sideways on the sleeve, not good.

Since my frame was already powdercoated and I didn't want to break the coating I couldn't weld a couple of plates to the pivot studs to keep the arm in place, which would probably have been the best option.

Instead I fabbed a pair of nylon spacers (pic 2 below in next post) that fit over the pivot studs and keep the arm centered - they work like a charm, their only function is to prevent the arm from shifting sideways, the swingarm sleeve itself sits perfectly secure between the pivot studs. I've been riding it like this for three seasons now with no issues at all, handling has only improved.

The Zephyr arm is slightly longer than the stock 650 arm, I didn't measure but eyeballing it I'd say 1.5 - 2"

As you say stock size shocks will bolt right up, no problems at all.

As for tires I'm currently running a 130, but was told that the Zephyr arm will take a 150 max.

Edit: Btw, I did have a third issue: the Zephyr arm is quite a bit wider than stock at the rear of the arm which caused some interference with my exhaust, the can (and baffle) had to be shortened a couple of inches to clear the arm - might not be an issue for you depending on which exhaust you have but worth checking anyway.

Here's a pic of one of the nylon spacers:

And a side shot from last summer:

I really have to say that I reeeeeeaaaaaaallllly miss my zr1100 so much and have looked to replace it with another. I have yet to see one on ebay or craigslist or anywhere for that matter. If any of you guys have an idea of anyone having one up for sale please pm me.
I lost mine in a garage fire and I was happy because I found my kz again and started to really put her back to beter than new standards but yet there is still that gap left unfilled by my zr.

Onkel, it looks like you ha =ve a ZR550 swingarm, not 750 as pictured above. 550 is about a half inch longer than 750 and is 1/4" narrower at pivot. The 750 arm has flat smooth sides, the 550 has the indents as shown in your pics.

Mjg, you could very well be right, even though the seller did present it to me as a 750 arm I never saw the actual bike the arm came off, so I can't really say for sure.

However, in a previous thread a couple of years ago on the old forum I discussed some differences between the 550 and 750 arm with another member. The pic below shows his arm on top (from a 550 according to him and sitting in a KZ 750 four frame) and mine (the alleged 750) on the bottom.

As you can see there are some differences around the pivot area, mainly concerning the bracing.

Whether I have a 550 or 750 arm doesn't matter much to me - it fits my bike so I'm happy - but for future reference it would be nice if someone could clear up which is which.

Anyone?

When I get mine I will take some pictures and measurements, and post it all. According to the Kawasaki parts diagram they both had the cross bar but the 550 has the seam while the 750 do not. There was also a 400 Zephyr but not in the US.