Swingarm removed..

Removed the swingarm today ready to be sent for anodising black. Other bits to go include, caliper mount, adjuster blocks, axle nut, R&G crash bung monting blocks and footrests from my Rizoma rearsets. Also removed the subframe, engine mounting plates and a couple of other bits to go off for powder coating black. Should be back within a couple of weeks so I'll post the pics then.

Awsome Dr F...

I have decided against doing this but still think it is very cool!

Anyway...It is winter in the nth atmosphere up there, so I guess it is a good time.

I would love to see the pics!

Gregz, as someone who has an orange bike and likes to make their bike more fasterer, I see you have come to appreciate the extra speed that comes with the colour black. You yourself have started to introduce more black to your bike, subframe, engine mounting plates, (have you done the wheels?) even the seat in an atempt to make your bike more black and therefore more fasterer.......... Welcome to the dark side!

Hey DrF. Why not get the zorsts done while the bike's in bits?

This is what I'm planning to have done to my headers.......




although I have only got the "standard" SS headers on my bike (which are now quite discoloured).

Probably black (for once I agree this might make the bike faster)

Just been looking at the link and I think I might be interested. I would probably only do the exhaust under the bike, up to where it joins the Y piece just above the swingarm, this is the bit that looks crap and can't be cleaned. Of course it will make the bike faster, it's black isn't it!

Got the parts I sent to the powder coaters back yesterday. Only droped them off on tuesday. Subframe, engine mounting plates, rear footpeg hangers cut down. I was going to just remove the hangers, but after seeing a cracked subframe on an SD, I decided the added strength between the upper and lower subframe rails was worth keeping so I bought a pair on eblag, and cut them down. He's done a fantastic job as usual, all done in satin black to match the frame, and just £20!
Just waiting to hear from the anodisers about my swingarm and other bits, I sent them last week, but I don't think they return from their christmas break 'till Monday.


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Awsome Dr F..... but......

You will have fun trying to get the subframe back on - as you did not mask the ends that fit into the frame. You will need to file these down to get the powdercoating off as they are an interference fit originally.

Regardless, that is just a bit more hard work - but eventually you will have an SD looking almost as good as mine!

this is a spare subframe I had, so I havn't taken the other one off yet. I would have noticed the end needing masking otherwise, not the end of the world stuff. As for the rear footpeg hangers plipton old mate, if you look where the hangers are bolted on, you can see that it bolts to the top horizontal rail, and the lower rail, thats the bit of subframe you can see under the seatrunning down to the frame. The hanger triangulates and strengthens the two rails, if you take this bracing out ie, remove the hanger, you will weaken the subframe as a whole. I have seen a subframe cracked just below where the hanger bolts to the lower rail. So if you cut off the bottom part of the hanger, the bit you see hanging down with the footrests on, you can still keep the strength of the subframe and lose the unsightly footrests.

Just a question to anyone out there who has removed the swingarm. There are two thrust washers, one either side, of the swingarm bearings but only on one side of the swingarm. When I removed mine, I clearly marked on the box where I have kept all the parts I removed, that the thrust washers fit to the bearing on the right side (as you sit on) of the bike, yet on the KTM parts list I downloaded from the forum, it shows the thrust washers on the left side of the bike. Anyone throw any light on this? They could quite simply have been put in wrong, or the diagram is wrong.
What say ye?

It's OK, I've just checked the KTM repair manual, and it says the thrust washers or 'stop disks' are fitted to the bearing on the left side of the bike. That means they were fitted incorrectly at the factory

FINALY got the swingarm and assorted bits back from the anodisers today, it was going to be a toss up which happened first, Hell freezing over, the moon turning to blue cheese, Gregz getting his bike dyno'd or the swingarm coming back. As there is no chance of the other three happening, I knew the swingarm would be back soon, and here it is. They have done an excelent job, though there are a couple of areas with a slightly different finish, it's not bad, and will probably be lost when assembled back on the bike. The camera flash has made it look a bit more glossy then it really is. I'm a bit busy over the next week, so I don't know when I'll get to put it back together, but I'll post the pics when I do.

LOL.... at Dr F!

1) Nice... very nice.... now that impresses me!
2) Dyno booked for Wed
3) See my update to the airbox modifications... more oportunity to slander me!
4) I am planning on hell freezing over tomorrow

DrF. When you took the swingarm out, did you notice any water inside? I found a few CCs when I put the scotty on mine.

Possibly just the shock bolt cover leaking slightly??

Probably, the bolt is right in the firing line of water spraying off the back tyre. I didn't notice any water as such, but the shock bolt was quite corroded and a right b*stard to get out. Plenty of coppaslip on reassembly methinks.

Gregz, I would never slander any mods you do in the name of performance gains, I may have some doubts about some stuff, but you have more experience in this field than me, and hey, if any of it actually works, I can nick the idea!

Woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I went out to the garage and put the bike back together. It's now officialy blacker than a black thing from the planet of the black things. Luvly.

It looks very nice in that dark grey, DrF

Shame about the yellow reggy plate. You wanna get a black one like mine

What do you want a black one for? Trying to make it fasterer! Over here you can only fit black plates to bikes registered before 1973, but then you can remember those can't you.

Just got this from Dr F via email -

Hi David, there's been a thread running on the forum about this on which I said I follow the basic rule of if it was/is anodised the re anodise, if it was painted then powder coat. Things are anodised for a reason, like the swingarm, it means that bearings and such don't have to be masked and things like where the wheel adjusters slide up and down, or in the case of the caliper mount, where it slides along on its groove,would get marked easily if they were powder coated and there would also be clearance issues as the coating is thick compared to anodising or even paint. Also the look of the item matters, the swingarm keeps the brushed aluminium look when anodised but would look like plastic if plastic coated. The fact that the item has to be heated to 300 degrees for powder coating should also be considered, but I have had a swingarm powder coated in the past, although I wouldn't recommend it. Things like wheels, that will always look better painted than anodised, are better powder coated. It's high gloss, or satin, or matt if you so wish, very hard wearing and resistant to nearly everything including stone chips, so for something that looks good painted or has been painted then I would powder coat.

I've got to say, it's been a year since I had the coatings done and all of them look as good now as they did then. This is the company that did my anodising;



They seem a bit backward, you can't pay by credit card for instance, or send them pics of stuff for a price, but they are very good and do a lot of bike stuff. You send them your parts and they ring you with a price, only they don't and you have the ring them. Go to the newsagents and look through all the classic bike mags or custom builders mags, BSH, Streetfighters ect, that's where the anodisers specialising in bike parts will advertise.

Nice work Dr F ! lookin like you and I had better go do some dirt roads together....lol we could compare powdercoat to anodizing ?