Nothing's Ever Easy

Right, so the new swing-arm came back from the machinist today with a bill that almost made my eyeballs explode. The tab for the brake mount was nicely done as were the new bushings to accommodate the new swing-arm, but damn it was expensive! I mounted it on the bike after a trip to Princess Auto for some spacers ( read: washers) to fill the gap between the swing-arm and the frame, but I mistakenly sized them to the bushings rather than to the pivot arm, so after another trip to Princess Auto I finally fitted it. At first it was a bit loose, but tightening the pivot-arm nut cured it. I mocked it all up just to get a look at her after I repainted the fenders I bought off ebay, but that may have been wishful thinking...

I began to put wheel adjusters when I noticed that the new swing-arm was thicker than the old one, so the adjusters wouldn't fit onto the new, thicker, aluminum job! I muscled them on as best as I could, hoping that once the axel was tightened, they would come in line, which lead me to my next discovery.

The lengthy oval-like axel holes are smaller on the new swing-arm! This means that the old axel nuts won't fit. Now I'm screwed.

My first idea was a dawn-lit run to the Motorcycle Salvage to see if I could find workable parts, but further thought led me to conclude that the DR 500, the model from which this swing-arm comes, must have a smaller axel. So even if I got new axel nuts that fit, there was no way the old axel would fit through it.

I tested my theory, and sure enough, the axel barely even made it through the holes alone, never mind while shrouded by two axel-nuts. So there goes idea number one.

Idea number two was to use a smaller axel, but then it wouldn't fit my wheel, and there is no way I'm changing that, so that idea was gone as quickly as it came.

My last option is to take the swing-arm back to the machine shop and have the holes enlarged to match the old ones. I just hope he can do it tomorrow. The race is on Sunday and there is still a ton of stuff to do, like ensuring the bike will run for longer than 30 seconds.

I'm beginning to think I might have to run Dad's Bike. Heaven help me.