Opinion polling for swing arm swap/wheel combos

Hey everyone,

I'm going to be installing a ZRX1200 swingarm and want to use a GSXR rear wheel with it (to match the front), and am at an impasse as far as how to do this.
The primary problem is I don't -really- care for either of the two solutions I have come up with.

The big deal is the axle for the ZRX is smaller than the GSXR axle. One way or another something is going to have to get sleeved.

Checking the wheel bearing options, I can install ZRX wheel bearings into the GSXR wheel, as they both have the same outer diameter, however the ZRX bearings are 3mm wider than the GSXR bearings. Great. I am figuring I can offset this with the wheel spacers (much larger than 3mm), or worst case scenario mill out the wheel pockets another 3mm. Then I could get a proper sized bushing for in between the wheel bearings and in the caliper bracket. The problem arises with the cush drive, as it is a rather silly size and setup, and the only solution I see if to sleeve the inside of it.

Using stock bearings etc, I could just sleeve the axle to the correct size, however I am afraid this may fuse over time leaving me with a wheel I can't remove. The diameter difference is about 8mm, so there is no way the axle would exit the swing arm if the sleeve fused to it, nor could I go with a light press-fit to begin with as again, no way to get the axle into the arm.

Soooo, am I over thinking this? Is there something obvious I am missing apart from "don't use that wheel" ?
I've got some minor OCD on things like this, and having mismatched wheels isn't going to happen.

havin g the same delimma 99 zx6 wheel uses what I believe to be a 25mm axle (haven't actually measured it) in either case both swing arms I have wanted to use use 20mm axle I am thinking I should get swingarm tha matches the wheel and adapt as an assembly to the bike I am interested in what answers you receive

Yeah same scenario it sounds. The ZRX1200 axle is 20mm,the 06+ GSXR axle is 28mm. If I have to go to a ZRX wheel I will, I just hate mismatching things. Plus availability of parts for ZRX is in the toilet, rim prices are quite high even for ugly ones, and I'd probably have to buy everything else new

my solution is to have my swingarm milled to fit my axle combo so my brake arm and everything is pretty much bolt on and any maintenence doesnt require additional hard to find or machined parts I may be way off in my thinking. I boxed everything up today to take to my machinest to get his input. (even if I buy another swingarm with the correct axle size I will still have pivot mount issues to machine)

That's cool, not an option for me though; the ZRX uses a bizarro eccentric adjuster instead of standard block style. Even if I had custom eccentrics machined, the increase in axle diameter would surely result in insufficient adjustment travel... that and the axle would be about 1.5" too short, though a custom axle could be made for it I suppose if it weren't for the eccentric problem

i see your delimma hoprfully banshee will have a solution

can i have those old junk rims...i'll even pay the shipping...why fill the local landfill

go green...send the stock take offs to Tri

i'll put em in a usa deep freeze and maybe when the craze is over...we can re-fit these king of mcycles


bent kickstands and ground down ign covers aside....if we dont blow up.....even those will be needed..repro...sneezepro

trianglelaguna wrote: can i have those old junk rims...i'll even pay the shipping...why fill the local landfill

go green...send the stock take offs to Tri

i'll put em in a usa deep freeze and maybe when the craze is over...we can re-fit these king of mcycles


bent kickstands and ground down ign covers aside....if we dont blow up.....even those will be needed..repro...sneezepro

Haha sounds like Tri wants to buy our crap! :side:

any update? i supose u have tried to find the proper size bearings at a bearing house? all balls racing comes to mind.

www.allballsracing.com/index.php/forkconvertion

they have researchech and suply bearings for doing front end swaps, maybe if u called they could come up with something for u ?

i'm no expert on this, so im wondering why u think the bearing would seeze to the axle? cant u just use a blue or green locktite so they stay put without mating?

mark1122 wrote: any update? i supose u have tried to find the proper size bearings at a bearing house? all balls racing comes to mind.

www.allballsracing.com/index.php/forkconvertion

they have researchech and suply bearings for doing front end swaps, maybe if u called they could come up with something for u ?

Ah yes, an update....

I did everything I could to find ready made bearings to no avail. I did not look into having anything made though. The local bolt and bearing houses (2) could not do anything for me, and searching online I only found a few that were in far away countries (Poland, Hungary, etc). There were a few I found closer to home, but they were listed as 'camshaft bearing' for Aprilia and a few oddball bikes... I'm not sure what those were, but I'm pretty confident I wouldn't want to be doing 80mph on them in a swingarm.

So after another week or two of hemming and hawing I finally came to terms with having mismatched wheels.
I found a good deal on a nice condition ZRX12 wheel and went ahead and got it. I figured with the three spoke curved design, that is very close to the 08-09 GSXR three spoke curve as well, just different thicknesses... but you could play that off as 'well, the wheels twice as wide, why wouldn't the spokes be thicker?'.
To get the 08-09 wheel on the front all I would have to do is use the 08-09 rotors to fit the 06-07 forks/calipers, so no big deal there.

So for now I have the swingarm mounted, had the KZ swingarm bushing machined down to fit the ZRX swinger and trimmed down the width about 3mm or so to fit the frame. I haven't decided on what I am doing with the rear peg brackets yet, as they seem a bit in the way.
I have KYB shocks in the mail, the rear wheel in the mail, and the ZRX cush sitting on my desk now.

Currently I still need to find:
ZRX12 spacers for rear wheel
ZRX lock clips for eccentrics
ZRX12 caliper bracket/spacer
ZRX12 caliper and thrust rod

Once I have all that, I can see where I am at with chain alignment and make some spacers for the engine placement to align it properly... currently I have the trans mounts gapped out ~1" each to allow for thrust that will be taken up with spacers, since the stock thrust nuts won't work in this frame.


Edit to add: the seizing issue is something I was just unsure of... I have seen on a few occasions sleeved stuff like this (not particularly bike axles) that seized together due to uneven expansion/contraction rates and chemical intolerance between two metals. even with a thin oil coating etc... I'm not a pro on stuff like that which is why I asked on opinions on it, but ultimately I decided even if its a 5% chance it is too risky since it is in an application where I could not simply press it out and start over... it would be permanently captive between those eccentrics.

Quote
"Once I have all that, I can see where I am at with chain alignment and make some spacers for the engine placement to align it properly... currently I have the trans mounts gapped out ~1" each to allow for thrust that will be taken up with spacers, since the stock thrust nuts won't work in this frame."

what is this all about? are u trying to relocate the motor for some reason ?

i and others ,have had to mill the cush drive to align the rear sprocket to the front. i used a 5/8" offset counter sprocket. others got away with less. was this a MK11 frame?
some of us had to relieve the frame for more chain clearance as well.

The engine is a 2007, the sprocket is not spaced the same as... well the frame or the swingarm