Ducati Monster Forum

2004 S4r.

Sorry for the shitty pictures, I took my wife's Nikon D60 with a nice new 55-200mm lens, but come to find out, my dumbass didn't put a SD card in it, so I had to use my Bold.

Here is the swing arm in stock form:

(http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/jshoward11/CurrentSwingarm1.jpg)
(http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/jshoward11/CurrentSwingarm2.jpg)


Now I just purchased this little beauty from Chris@cyclecat. Brand new, never mounted.

(http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/jshoward11/CarbonSwingarm3.jpg)
(http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/jshoward11/CarbonSwingarm2.jpg)
(http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/jshoward11/CarbonSwingarm1.jpg)

This is a Dymag Carbon Fiber Swingarm. From what Chris told me, Dymag made between 20-25 of these for street bikes. He says this is the last one that is not mounted on a bike and has no idea how many are still in existence. He got this from Alfred at On-Cycles.

Now, there was a story a while back about one of these and it came apart on the track. From what Chris told me, the guy (or whoever he bought it from) tried to convert a street version into the race version. Apparently the individual removed that metal "ring" in the hub portion. Well, the make the beast with two backser came apart and hopefully the guy wasn't hurt too bad.

This thing is bad ass and pretty rare. Almost makes me want to keep it above my fireplace and not mount on my bike!!! I am really not a bling person, but had some good investments come due, Chris gave me a good price, so what the hell?

This is longer than stock, so a friend was telling me I need a longer rear spring as my stock one could make the beast with two backs up handling and lead to instability and a potentially dangerous situation. Anyone have thoughts on this? If so, where do I procure a new spring?


Also, I will be selling my stock swing arm once I get this installed in the next few days. It has 7k miles on it and appears to be in perfect condition. It will only be the swingarm, none of the other parts or anything as they are going on the new one. If interested, PM me now. I will post in the appropriate forum once I have it back and clean it up (not that it is dirty, but just general road grime and won't sell it that way just because, well.......I won't)

OH!  Me first, ME FIRST!!!

I hate you.   ;D

I guess I won't be selling my S4r now!

hmmm.....motor work next...........

I do not appreciate this kind of language in this setting.  >:(










J/K.  Looks Awesome!  I will be dreaming about it tonight in my sleep!

Did you measure your cases yet, that swing arm is intended for a narrow case (SBK).

the length isn't on the shock mount side, its in the middle and realized on the wheel end. Your wheel base is longer, giving you a more stable feeling, but I don't think anything changes in the distance between the OEM mount location and this one. You'll want to measure fo'sho'. I don't think there's any change needed to the shock, besides maybe making sure sag and everything is 'right'.

That looks like an SBK-style swingarm.

The shock/pushrod mount is quite high in comparison to the Monster, and IIRC the lateral positioning is different as well.

I suspect you'll have to do some shock/rocker/rocker mount/pushrod mods to get it to work.

Congrats, and looking forward to better pics!  [beer]

He'll also need a Corse (Dan Kyle) style rear link to make it work properly.

This is why I am having Chris install it for me :-)


He says it is a direct fit. I'll have to talk to him about this.

Oh yeah, your S4R exhaust won't work either.  :P

sounds like it won't fit for a lot of reasons  :P ... pm me when you want to sell  [thumbsup]

Nah! Just a little custom exhaust work and suspension linkage and he's on the road!

I have one on a customer 998R here in the shop -- simply beautiful artwork they are!  (I wish I had one myself)

As for putting on a S4R?  It's not a 100% bolt-on setup as soon will be discovered.  

Also you will need to do a custom rear header as nothing will fit it that exists.  Shock and shock linkage problems will prevent the use of the SBK rear header and the rear header needs to go SBK outside routed -vs- S4R through-swingarm mounted.  And then you need to decide how you will do cans/routing configuration when finished.  Thus why I always make a custom exhaust for these swaps.

You guys are correct.

Calovini is going to do some research for me


Moto - let me PM you

update: Just spoke to Chris who knows a guy by his house that does custom exhaust, fabrication, etc.

We should be good to go  [thumbsup]

Not like I can ride anyway this time of year.

Very cool. The fab work will be worth it. Now how about a carbon tank and Ti frame?

Gorgeous part. Do you know what the weight difference is?

Jud I hate you. You know I had sex with said swingarm in Indy this past August right? I was trying to talk Chris into gifting it to me  [laugh]
 Now as Troy would say " You don't need a CF swingarm. Learn to ride your bike first!"  ;D
I still hate you  [cheeky] 

Can't wait to see it on the bike, looks great  [thumbsup]

 [bow_down] [bow_down]

I hate you.


But in a good way  ;D [evil]

Nice!

You'll have to cut your engine cases as they are wider but that has been pointed out already.  Also you might want to support the swingarm with some frame extensions ala SBK style. 

Do you have the chain guard and swingarm guard that goes with it?

This part weighs 5.5lbs


I think the stock weighs 11lbs or so I was told.

I just know this part weighs 5.5lbs.


You didn't negotiate well enough or Chris likes me better.

There is quite a bit of custom work that needs to be done, but Chris is excited to do it as he hasn't got to do much since he left Cycle Cat.

I have a month off work from my surgery, so I will totally be over there during the process. Lots of pictures will be taken.

Chris also has a stock 996 exhaust, so maybe no fabrication on exhaust will need to be done.

Who knows, we are just starting this process.

Not sure about cutting the engine cases, that hasn't been noted.

The motor is the same size as the 996.

Yes, chain guard and everything else is on it.

We just need to re-route exhaust and work on the suspension linkage.

Chris has been talking to some reputable people on what needs to be done. All will be good. Plus, he has a local fabricator a mile from his house that will do all the work.

Geometry and everything else will be checked before it hits the road.

Engine case needs machined -- easy to do though.  Also you will have a small problem with how the S4R rearsets mount in relation to the swingarm pivot bolt and the CF swingarm itself.  All can be overcome though with a bit more machine work and fabrication.

Remember if it was easy -- everyone would have done the swap already!  Welcome to the world of one-off customs.

Now the big question is:  what are you going to do to the bodywork / frame / triples / etc to compliment the new swingarm swap?

Make more money?

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

That thing will bolt right up to my 996 Jud.

No modifications required.

Just think of all the trouble it will save you. ;)

Cyrus is once again the most hated member on the board.

Throw me an offer I can't refuse

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]


One way or another, I can claim that title.




No other mods currently planned. Chris cut me a great deal on this, unique product, so I went for it.

No interest in a TI Frame, Carbon tank, etc.

I did just have some CC clip on's put on, so next mod would probably be a new top triple.

You don't have to buy the booze at the wedding. :-*

I'll bring a flask

my dog once sniffed the ass of a dog who's owner got a text from a guy who took a picture of this chick at a bar who used to date someone who worked at Dymag so I'm pretty sure it's a quality piece.


 ;)

I, on the other hand, have more direct information than Statler. My cheerios spelled dymag this very morn, so it must be a sign. In unrelated matters, I took a colossal charlie brown shortly thereafter, which I attribute to the pot of coffee i drank, and not the soothsayin cheerios.

thats the best one ive heard yet got to remember this one ;D

Some history on how the carbon swingarm got it's bad reputation.

I wonder if it's the same swingarm Cyrus bought.

I'd be afraid to run it because its so damn sweet looking!  [thumbsup]


http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/144129-post113.html (http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/144129-post113.html)

I remember reading that. Not a good idea to modify an engineered part to fit something else.

Any updates on this little project?

You getting carbon wheels too?  Seems like you should.  1) It will further reduce unsprung weight making the bike handle even better.  2) It will look totally badass!

Scott

Plus it'll make us more jealous.

Saw a wide rear on the counter at the dealer, picked it up, WOW!  Wicked light.  When you think that's both rotating mass and unsprung mass, it's probably the best mod you could make for both handling and acceleration.  The set probably costs more than I paid for my bike  :-\
 
Scott

+1    >:(

Now if Chris could actually convince him to take this bike to the track...

It's 'bling', not 'go-go mojo'.  Man, it's like you think people design all this carbon fiber stuff to make bikes go faster or something.

Scott

has anyone else heard that carbon fiber only has a shelf life of 5 years? I would be weary of structural parts (frames wheels swing arm) made from carbon fiber. I know its supper light and supper strong. I have broken carbon fiber parts tho... idk

I heard of this when I bought my carbon fiber helmet but I dont know how true it is..... shed some light down on me

helmets have a shelf-life, thanks to the foam and your sweat.

i have not heard anything about carbon fiber losing strength over time

negative on the 5 year wheel shelf life.   BST baby!!  [thumbsup]

The only thing I could think of is if carbon starts to photo degrade over time.  Most things that do that have a UV resistant clear coat.

Scott

AFAIK, on composite parts, it's not the fibers that degrade, it's the resin.

Correct.

Because the resin in c/f is epoxy and epoxy is not suitable for UV exposure.

If you want your c/f to last clear it with a urethane/polyurethane.

Nate is old and wise...so listen to him.

but mostly he is old  :-*

John is young, dumb, and full o'cum...

but mostly dumb...

ignore him. :-*

See, old and grumpy  [evil]

But yes, this time, you hit the nail right on the head.  [thumbsup]

Carbon does not have a shelf life

Basic Generalities...
Most/all metals have a fatigue life, meaning they will get weaker over time and are constantly trying to go back into their natural state (corrosion).
Composites do not have a fatigue life, meaning under normal use they do not weaken over time
UV light will degrade carbon and resin but, any good carbon is coated with a high quality clear coat which blocks UV light.  Check for yellowing or corrosion on any hardware.
Carbon is laid up in layers and in most structural applications the top layer (woven) is cosmetic and UV light does not pass through to the structural layers of carbon.
Galvanic corrosion is a larger issue than UV degradation, once again check for corrosion on all metal, especially Aluminum hardware embedded in the carbon, Titanium is always preferred.

Summary...
Your carbon swingarm will not break because it is old, it will break from some other reason.  If it was built by someone that knows what they are doing (and it probably was) you should have no worry's.

Case

You would think he was some kind of carbon fiber specialist.  ;)

Doesn't having tons on CF on your make you an expert?

Perhaps, but I was thinking of the extremely trick CF bikes (non-moto) that he makes. That, and he lives close to me and I like to grief him.