SV650 - August Update

We had another track day booked at RAF Benson in the middle of the month, so held off stripping the back end of the bike down until this had passed to get on with welding the new swingarm.

These are all of the steel components that will go into the welded part of the swingarm. In addition to the above, there are a number of machined aluminium parts to mount the rear wheel which can be seen below.

The first tacks on the lower half of the swingarm. We thought we'd take it steady and tack a little at a time, then check it on the bike, then tack a little bit more . . . 

 

Here's a shot of the lower half of the swingarm on the bike with some of the CNC machined components loosely bolted in place. It gives a great impression of how its going to end up looking!

SV650 - More Machining

These parts have recently been machined to add to the collection of machined swingarm bits that are ready to go. These four pieces get welded into the end of the main tubes and are bolted onto the aluminium wheel mounting blocks at the rear.

We are now awaiting the arrival of the remaining couple of CNC aluminium parts which were outsourced, then we get to see if the parts all fit together as the CAD model suggests.

SV650 - Back to it . . .

Some more progress at last!

At the weekend we starting machining the first components that are required to build the prototype swingarm. The design has been sat in CAD for over a year now so its great to finally see some of the parts we've been looking at on screen for so long.

The first pieces to get underway were the chain adjusters. Inspired by the items found on GP bikes, they are simple in design with a fairly chunky appearance to them (they may well get refined later with more material removed).

We machined the side profile first on the CNC, then put the main slot through the middle before sticking them up on the end to machine the hole for the threaded stainless adjuster.

Next up we have the brake caliper hanger. This has been designed to sit with the chain adjuster block in order to prevent it from dropping when the rear wheel is removed. Again, I think its over-engineered and we can get away with a lot less material.

Here we have the result of the days work. These are the majority of the aluminium parts that will be needed to build the swingarm. The main blocks which bolt to the rear of the steel trellis are being machined elsewhere, due to a few complex angles that looked a bit too challenging for the tools we have, so we should have them back soon too.