[DieselGeek]

I have fitted a 2011 Triumph Sprint GT swingarm and 2011 6" wide Speed triple wheel to my 2006 Speed Triple.

All the parts are a direct swap with no farting about or custom work .

I started out by flipping the pegs and supporting the the motorcycle. The 18,000 lb rotory hoist might be overkill but one can not be too careful , you could substitute axle stands.


Here is the difference in the mounting face of the two wheels .


I will first cover the fitting of the different axle to the swingarm of your choice . The pictures on the bench are of the Sprint arm , the Speed is identical .

First de-stake the nut on the crush drive and remove the nut . This allows the crush drive to come off and the axle to slide out the other side . My 2006 needed a gentle tap with a rubber mallet to free the axle , the Sprint virtually fell out .



Remember to observe all the positions and order of the spacers and shims as they are removed this will save you from having to post up a " help I don't remember ..X " thread

Here are the measurements of the two axles

 

[DieselGeek]

Service the eccentric

All dimensions are the same .
If you have a 5 pin axle and want a 4 pin style ..... just swap the axle .


NOW while you are this far you can service your eccentric hub .
You have to remove a very sturdy ring from the caliper bracket .



Then loosen the 17mm pinch bolt a little more and wedge the clamp apart a bit and use a rubber hammer to nudge the eccentric out .
My hub was nearly totally dry .




Clean it grease i and stick it back together

 

[DieselGeek]

Changing the Swingarm is no different than servicing the swingarm bearings and Shock linkage . I am sure at least some of you have noticed this sticker and done what you are supposed to do ....right ?


Once you have the chain and shock free



The WSM says you can leave the shock in , but for the time it takes , just remove the shock .

Using the special tools remove the locking ring and loose the tension ring then slide the pivot pin out . the whole swingarm will slide right out the back .

You will note there that the chain can in fact be removed in one piece .

Installation is the reverse of the above . following the book to get the torque values and sequences correct .

The Sprint GT swingarm where it bolts to the frame is exactly the same down to the shims . It fits into the frame just like the stock one did , just 4" longer.

Here is a crappy end of the night pic of the finished bike . Better pics to follow in the following days .




Also a pic showing the different finishes of the two wheels

 

[DieselGeek]

Cell phone shot

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[Speedycaptain]

How much longer is it?

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[Lord Flashheart]

Great job, Norm! Did you happen to take a pic of the two swingarms side by side?

Also: what are your first impressions of how it handles?

How much longer is it?

The Sprint GT swingarm where it bolts to the frame is exactly the same down to the shims. It fits into the frame just like the stock one did, just 4" longer.

You're welcome!

 

[DieselGeek]

No I did not
It was hard enough not to get carried away and plow ahead, I had to make myself stop and take measurements / photos

It was on my list of photos to take .

I ended up with a 118 link 530 chain .
I set the eccentric as far back as the new 6" rim would go , till it touched the arm . I then used a floor jack , with the shock off the bike still, to raise the arm up to the point where the chain would be the tightest. I then ran the chain around the new sprockets. I turned the adjuster in until I could fit the links to make the chain dead straight. I marked the chain, lowered the jack and installed the shock. I had to turn the adjuster in a half link to fit the master link and the chain tension was darned near perfect .

I have only been out on a couple of shakedown runs , making sure I did not muff something up. But all signs point to it being :funbags

I imagine it handles a lot like a Sprint GT with Gixxer forks .
I strapped my 180 PR3 onto the new 6" rim .
A buddy here just picked up a M109R with a chip and all the bells and whistles. We went out for a "launch party"
The bike launches hard and requires a lot less backing off the throttle to keep the front down , she just squirts forward and pulls a 2" wheelie the whole way . Again I have only had 5 klicks in the saddle so I have not tried any shenanigans ...yet .


On another note , If I had stuck to the 5.5 rim I could have had another chain link of overall length , but the 2011 rim is so cool.


I forgot to mention in the opening that I sourced all my parts from Imperial Sportbikes either on eBay or off eBay . They have the most detailed photos and information available of any breaker in the eBays.
Tim was great to deal with and he went that extra mile to make everything just right .

 

[DEcosse]

It's quite surprising how significant that 4" is on the bike - does not sound like much but sure changes the visual quite dramatically
For the cost vs that custom option definitely a great choice!!!


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[speedy haole]

Thats wicked... :bow
totally dig the look of the extra 4", and that rear wheel looks slick!

 

[Martin_R]

I have fitted a 2011 Triumph Sprint GT swingarm and 2011 6" wide Speed triple wheel to my 2006 Speed Triple.

All the parts are a direct swap with no farting about or custom work.

Well that answers 2 questions I have wondered about for a while, but never had a 5 peg axle or GT swingarm to measure. Nice work.

You didn't happen to put the Speedy vs. GT swingarm on a scale? I wonder how much more unsprung mass the longer swinger adds.

 

[Tinkermatic]

How long did it take you? Thats a pretty serious shop set up DG. Yours or works? I'm a bit jealous either way... Nice job man!


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[DieselGeek]

Like the side by side photo , I meant to do some sort of weight comparison.
Again I got so into the work that I forgot .

But based on packing the two parts around I would say that the longer arm is not much more than a kilo or so more , and the weight is concentrated toward the frame mounting point, where the bulk of the length is made up just aft of the shock hole.
I was surprised when I lifted the old part off the bike minus axle and eccentric . The arm is quite light .
I will try to set up some sort of side by side on the bike for perspective .
but here are some eBay pics for a bit of comparison

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/tmeiners/IMG_8632_002.JPG

 

[DieselGeek]

I did the job after work .
Started around 6pm and finished about 9. In that time I tore down both arms measured and photographed , cleaned and lubed the bearings and eccentrics on both arms as well as setting up the new chain and learning to use my new chain tool and nervously riveting my one and only master link.

It is an honest 15 min job to change out the axle and service the eccentric. The hardest part was de-staking the nut on the crush drive and getting that sucker off .
The swing arm could be realistically removed cleaned an re-fit in under an hour if you have no distractions .

The shop is where I work, and do all my wrenching there if I possibly can.

 

[Poenster]

That looks sweet!! Job well done!

 

[com5984]

Love your work Norm, am very interested in your thoughts on handling improvement etc or just purely cosmetic

 

[DieselGeek]

As Ken mentioned earlier the cost savings on this project are HUGE compared to going the custom route . The custom arm was going to be 2" longer and require new bearings at the swingarm pivot. It would have had no provision for a hugger and no flat mounting point for my plate arrangement . I figure it would have been 4,500$ all in for the Roaring Toyz option .

For this I was $425 for the 2011 Speed rim that I was going to put on regardless of weather the swingarm deal was going to pan out . ( I ended up with an additional 100$ off from Imperial ) $380 for the complete 2011 Sprint GT swingarm ( 2,300miles on it ) . And the cost of a new 18/45 supersprox stealth sprocket / chain kit with a lifetime guarantee .
Much Better for the wallet.

I took her out for a good long ride Sunday , about 500kms . My observations so far .

The rear brake is poo . I cleaned the rotor before putting everything together, and bled it . Then bled it again the next day, there was no air to be seen . The rotor is much larger and the braking performance should be much much better and this issue s the biggest disappointment of the whole build . It feels like ...

I am going to remove the caliper and put the new EBC Kevlar pads into it that I just put into the Speed caliper last fall. I should have done that in the first place. I am going to scuff the rotor up as well , then re-re-re bleed and maybe see if I can adapt the shops vacuum pressure bleeder to the bike and try that .

Handling :
As I mentioned before I put my 180 section tyre on the 6" rim and I have gained 4" of wheelbase.
I will not lie to you guys, I did this mod for cosmetics. But I am pleased with the changes in character.
From a stop light under hard acceleration I no longer need to stand way forward or roll off the throttle to keep the front down. Power wheelies are still possible , they just require a bit more of a yank. I am fine with that .
I have always enjoyed spirited corner exits, and even more so now. Before whacking the gas coming out of a first or second gear corner would sometimes lift the front wheel and induce head shake. Yes this is bad practice, I do it anyway . Now due to the extra leverage on the arm to the tyre whose profile is also different now , the tyre breaks traction and drifts out leaving a nice black arc in my wake
I thought it was possibly a low traction corner or something , so I painted a few other choice corners in Red Deer and in my home town.
Steering felt a little different for the first dozen or so turns , but quickly returned to comfortable . I may have lost a small fraction of cornering clearance but not enough to make a difference to me , it just means the Ti scratches I added to my pegs are far more useful now

 

[DieselGeek]

 

[meanchuck]

Now due to the extra leverage on the arm to the tyre whose profile is also different now , the tyre breaks traction and drifts out leaving a nice black arc in my wake
I thought it was possibly a low traction corner or something , so I painted a few other choice corners in Red Deer and in my home town.

This probably has more to do with shifting the center of gravity more towards the front tire which in turn gives you less traction at the rear tire since there is less weight on it.

 

[DieselGeek]

Either way .... I am fine with it

 

[meanchuck]

I wasn't saying it's a bad thing, the ability to easily drift it out of corners is a lot of fun, my R3 does it really well.

I am just glad you still have decent cornering clearance after the swap, since mine will be lengthened the same amount it should ride the way I want it to.