metmachex swingarm wheel alignment

[smudge]

 

 

Hi, I'm Smudge from Ireland, I'm currently working on a slabby 1100 , I bought the bike about 5 years ago, it was in a sorry state some one had done a really bad streetfighter conversion, but it had the original 1052 motor which ran really well, my dream bike has always been a really well done 90s style streetfighter I just love them, so I started tipping away at it and collecting bits and pieces , so far I have put a complete front end from a 98gsxr 1100 on it with some lovely billet yokes , rewired it from scratch using motogadget m unit and switches and new ignition unit and a few other jobs that needed doing , the bike came with 17/4.5 back wheel conversion which I swapped for a matching 98gsxr  17/5.5 , the original swingarm was very tatty, and I always wanted a proper braced jmc style swingarm but couldn't get hold of one , about 3 and a bit years ago I managed to save up enough money to order one off Metmachex, after waiting about 3 months the swingarm arrived , I was gutted to find out that it didn't fit properly, there wasn't enough room for the shock to work properly ,after some emails, photos and phone calls they agreed to fix it, so I sent it back and waited again when it came back it still didn't work , so more emails, phone calls later they agreed to make a new one from scratch if I sent it back to them ,so I waited for another 3 months , when I finally got it back again it fitted lovely with plenty of room for the shock to work, I was delighted and thought nothing more about it,  I am planning on making my own sub frame which will bolt on to brackets welded on to the frame, so before I started I thought I should check the frame over to make sure everything is straight and true , I noticed when checking wheel alignment that the back wheel was hanging out about 10mm over to the right! The frame is pretty good so I took the swingarm out, ran a straight edge down the sides of the wheel and marked off on the pivot tube and sure enough the wheel is 5mm off centre, this is my first project like this and would really appreciate some advice on how I could sort this out , I was thinking I could take 3mm off the left hand wheel spacer to bring the wheel more to the left while using the older  sprocket carrier to give some clearance for the sprocket nuts and maybe packing the right hand side of the swingarm at the pivot point to get an extra mm ,I'm not sure how this will work out with chain alignment and chain /tyre clearance , I would really appreciate any advice or ideas, it would be a real shame not to use the swingarm everything else on it is perfect and I don't fancy my chances of getting my money back off Metmachex engineering! Big thanks to all the guys that contribute to this website, I've learned so much through it. Amendment- following advice received I have since rechecked the wheel in the original swingarm and the problem is the wheel I'm using NOT the swingarm . As far as I'm aware Metmachex engineering no longer make swingarms and Metmachex swingarms is now a separate company. Even though I had to send the swing arm back twice and wait fecking ages for it to be sorted, the quality of the welding and product in the end was still pretty dam good.

Edited August 19, 2020 by smudge
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[Askamaskinservice]

Welcome to OSS.

And you know we like pictures, right.

That wasn't any good with the swing.....

[Dezza]

Wow, that's a lot of text. By the sound of it the people that used to run JMC now run Metmachex. I got a JMC swingarm years ago and it took them 3 goes to get it right.

[mark35gun]

Hi and welcome, we like lots of pics 

i think the only thing you could do is alter spacing on the wheel if you can, you could of course cut down the pivot tube and space it there, but you shouldn't have to

bit of a shitter that one, i would be back on the phone to them i think

[smudge]

yea, it took a feckin age to type out on my crappie windows phone, I'm knackerd now. ☺

[Blubber]

Windows you say... Any blue screens during the typing? 

 

Welcome 

[smudge]

brackets only tacked on to check fit up at the moment , wanted them to follow the line of the tank.☺

[GeorgeEI7KO]

A right ball ache with the arm. Regards from Athlone 

 

[clivegto]

I have a Metmachex arm in my Turbo Slabby with 17x5.5 carbon fibre wheel. You need to centre the wheel first & by the looks of your setup machine the sprocket carrier down shortern the sprocket bolts make wheel spacors the all willbe good. Had a slingshot wheel in before the carbon one & that had a different setup to the one that's in now. Will take a picture in a bit. 

[clivegto]

We like pictures don't we. Talon sprockets have a 2mm of set so if turned round you gain 2mm obviously & you can space the front sprocket out a bit. 

[smudge]

4 hours ago, GeorgeEI7KO said:

A right ball ache with the arm. Regards from Athlone 

 

cheers bud , regards from Tipperary.

[smudge]

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2020 at 10:33 AM, clivegto said:

I have a Metmachex arm in my Turbo Slabby with 17x5.5 carbon fibre wheel. You need to centre the wheel first & by the looks of your setup machine the sprocket carrier down shortern the sprocket bolts make wheel spacors the all willbe good. Had a slingshot wheel in before the carbon one & that had a different setup to the one that's in now. Will take a picture in a bit. 

Hi thanks for the advice, Jesus your bike is pure class! Yea i think I get what your saying , i need to basically move the whole carrier 5mm into the wheel so i can move the wheel 5mm into center then fanny around with sprocket spacing to get chain alignment sorted? When you had the slingshot wheel in did you have any trouble with it centering in the Metmachex swinger? I'm using 98 wheel with the slabb/sling left hand spacer.

Edited August 17, 2020 by smudge

[Pheasantplucker]

Worth taking the time and trouble to get it right.

I collected a failed streetfighter project this morning with a nice JMC arm in it but the fella who built it had the chain run so bad it has eaten a chunk out of the arm, didn't spot it till i'd handed over a wedge of cash!

[smudge]

yea , your totally right on that, this is my concern with moving the wheel so far over , anyone got any advice on what they consider acceptable chain/ tyre or sprocket nut/ swingarm clearances?

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by smudge

[clivegto]

Had no problem fitting the previous Gsxr1100w wheel a lot easier than the carbon gsxr750k5 fited now. The slabby 750 & 1100 swing arms are different was your first one for a 750. I have a couple of JMC arms as well, the Metmachex one is far superior in build quality. 

[smudge]

okay ,so after some advice I went and put the original swingarm back in with the 17/5.5 water-cooled and the 17/4.5 slingshot wheel and they to are 5mm off centre to the right ,(apologies to Metmachex) I have seen so many posts and photos of slabsides with the 17/5.5 conversion and although they do fit , are we sacrificing wheel alignment for chain/sprocket alignment? Would be interested in hearing from some one who has done this mod , thanks for all the advice and apologies for any confusion.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by smudge

[vizman]

 

Try harder

[MeanBean49]

On 8/16/2020 at 6:29 PM, smudge said:

okay ,so after some advice I went and put the original swingarm back in with the 17/5.5 water-cooled and the 17/4.5 slingshot wheel and they to are 5mm off centre to the right ,(apologies to Metmachex) I have seen so many posts and photos of slabsides with the 17/5.5 conversion and although they do fit , are we sacrificing wheel alignment for chain/sprocket alignment? Would be interested in hearing from some one who has done this mod , thanks for all the advice and apologies for any confusion.

 

 

Its worth measuring the centre of the wheel to the inside face of the sprocket when doing anything like this, thats the measurement that matters. Thats how you know that the wheel is central and your chain run is right.

I could be wrond but seem to remember slabbies (or some of them anyway) and slingshots are different, slingy is approx 100mm, and a slabby is less, using a slingy wheel in a slabby irrelevant of the arm is going to cause alignment issues. (May just be a case of using slingy front sprocket spacer on slabby motor)

Anyway point is measure all the standard stuff and the new stuff and compare so you know what you need to achieve.

Or like loads of people do, chuck a 6" busa wheel in thats way out and just tell everyone its fine whilst riding round in a constant circle. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by MeanBean49

[smudge]

hi, thanks for the advice , like I said this is my first "proper bike build" mainly messing around with dirt bikes the last while, so any advice is welcome and appreciated, I measured like you said and I make it  somewhere between 105 and 108 depending on which carrier you use , which makes sense because there's a 2mm difference between them? I don't have the original slabby wheel to compare (Jesus I wish I did ) engines not in at the moment so can't check chain alignment , remeasured the slingy 4.5 in the swinger and it's not as off as the water-cooled 5.5 one (2.5-3mm of center to the right) if the chain alignment was right I could live with that? Was wondering if the water cooled wheel is the problem , maybe this mod only works out with the 17/5.5 slingshot wheels? I thought the backend of the bike would be the easy part!

[MeanBean49]

1 hour ago, smudge said:

hi, thanks for the advice , like I said this is my first "proper bike build" mainly messing around with dirt bikes the last while, so any advice is welcome and appreciated, I measured like you said and I make it  somewhere between 105 and 108 depending on which carrier you use , which makes sense because there's a 2mm difference between them? I don't have the original slabby wheel to compare (Jesus I wish I did ) engines not in at the moment so can't check chain alignment , remeasured the slingy 4.5 in the swinger and it's not as off as the water-cooled 5.5 one (2.5-3mm of center to the right) if the chain alignment was right I could live with that? Was wondering if the water cooled wheel is the problem , maybe this mod only works out with the 17/5.5 slingshot wheels? I thought the backend of the bike would be the easy part!

Measurements sound about right for slingy, seem to remember a figure of 100mm, never measured a water cooled wheel, srad, busa and k series are all 110mm and if cant remember if slabby was 90 or 95 possibly.

[smudge]

thanks for the info, its appreciated , I have read so much stuff on the web about the 17/5.5 wheel upgrade for the slabby being a "bolt on job" most saying to use the 17/5.5 carrier and to space out the front sprocket an extra 2mm to get the chain alignment right, haven't found any that mention wheel alignment? Would really appreciate any feedback from anyone  who has done this mod with either the slingy or the water-cooled wheel , was the wheel off centre? If so by how much? Do you notice it when riding? I'm going to look out for a 17/5.5 slingy wheel to check it out. Thanks again.

 

[clivegto]

My same bike last year with slingshot Gsxr1100w back wheel. Your 1/2 way there get on & fit it, it's not that tricky. I don't actually remember the exact measurements  Good luck. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by clivegto

[smudge]

hi, thanks for the advice and encouragement it's all appreciated, fitting the wheel is no problem, wheel alignment is the issue I'm dealing with , now that i know the problem is the wheel and not the swingarm (thank christ )this makes it easier, I think I will probably take your original advice and have the wheel/carrier machined 5mm to bring it into centre, or pick up the slingy 17/5.5 ,  I'll know more when it comes to final assembly and I can double check chain alignment and chain/ tyre clearance, just out of curiosity did you check wheel alignment after you fitted the "w" wheel? Thanks again , much appreciated.

[clivegto]

Yes, you only need a bit of string to centre it down the frame from the headstock to centre the wheel, then use 2 long straight edges either side of the wheels (no tyres) to check alignment.

[smudge]

17 minutes ago, clivegto said:

Yes, you only need a bit of string to centre it down the frame from the headstock to centre the wheel, then use 2 long straight edges either side of the wheels (no tyres) to check alignment.

So I take it you never had the issues I had with the wheel being off centre to the right? I'm using the late model water cooled straight spoke wheel with the slingy left hand spacer (13.5 mm)?