I believe the RS went to a single sided swingarm in it's last year because Triumph didn't want to make a last run of dual sided swingarms just for it, as the 955 Daytonas were also going back to single sided at the time. Thereby making the LE(Last Edition) RS an ST with just enough RS parts on it to make it an RS.

The advantages of SSSA are:
1) Chain adjustment is much easier
2) With less swingarm moving around you can tuck the bags a little closer into the bike.
3) It looks cooler :-D

SSSA are also marginally heavier and slightly less rigid as dual sided. But these things are really only noticable at true race speeds. Most of us mere mortals will not notice these things.

 

I think Triumph went to the SSSA when it became the rage when they started showing up on race bikes. (Having to do with quicker tire changes) The RS stayed with the DSSA except for I think the last year of production. The Daytona had the DSSA then in 2002 (I again believe) Went to the SSSA for the Aston Green model. Then went back to the DSSA. There arose such a grumbling from the masses that they went back to the SSSA and have stayed there. Count the D600 in here too.

Actually it's all on looks. The DSSA usually weights less and can be more rigid. While most folks think that the DSSA looks prettier.

Marketing sells.

I think that the SSSA RS's were made up of ST's to finish out the run. Not sure about that though.

I think I got close here.

Don

 

I forgot to mention the quicker tire change benifit. Then again, you do have to have a MASSIVE socket and torque wrench to do it with. So some argue it's not that much more convienent, LOL

 

So will the headers and full exhaust setup off a single side swingarm setup work with a double side swing arm? Will 2000 st or 2003 rs exhaust system work on 2000 sprint rs?

 

I'd say it's more for looks than anything else. Not too many race bikes are running SSSA anymore and I can pull my rear wheel and reinstall it in under a minute with hand tools so when you talk air tools and have all the special lil' keepers that factory bikes have the speed of changing a tire is mute.

 

One nice thing about the SSSA is that it is pretty hard to get the rear wheel out of alignment like it can be with a DSSA. We all know those little notches for the adjusters are just soooo accurate.

Having changed a DSSA many times and my SSSA once, I can say that I really, really like the single side :-D

There are still quite a few models with them, bikes like the VFR, Aprilia Futura and MV Augusta come to mind. I heard somewhere that the main reason why they have been dropped on the race replicas is because they were ruled out in racing. Plus with the race bikes approachiong 200+ HP they would have to be made much heavier now to deal with the stress they are under. Not sure how accurate that is, but something I read/heard somewhere.

[ This message was edited by: bluedogok on 2005-06-14 16:33 ]

 

Looks, definitely. Hey, it works for me! Even though I fit the hard luggage almost constantly.....
But I gotta wonder, with unlimited budget and knowledge, can a lighter/ stiffer SSA be made? I'm thinking magnesium or Carbon fiber.
I just saw an article while leafing through a moto mag where a racer type Honda (moto GP I think) was using a Carbon fiber frame, and dialed in the required flex by engineering it into the forks and swingarm. The swingarm flex could be adjusted by a tensioning cable system. Interesting stuff...

 

The SSSA have dropped out of favor in racing because they were getting too flexy with the new super sticky tires running these days, so it was either make the swingarm stronger (heavier) or go to DSSA, take a look at any race and I think you'll see the answer :-D
Not really a rule change just the way to win.

Definitely a good point about the factory alignment marks, those are more of a gross reference point than anything to trust.

I think the bike DragonDan is talking about is the MotoCyszz(sp?) I saw the article about the "cable tensioning" in the swingarm. That will be interesting to see if they get that bike racing.

And I never said I didn't like how a SSSA looks :wink:

[ This message was edited by: BigE on 2005-06-15 06:09 ]

 

What is for sure is that the pre 2002 had a different exhaust than the 2002 on ST.

WOT lists the same part # for the muffler. Post 2002 for instance:

100066841-0-2

Exhaust System

www.worldoftriumph.com

100066642-0-2

Exhaust System Single sided swingarm 161318

www.worldoftriumph.com