So, I took the parts out to Mark's place and, after having a long chat about the "possibilities and problems", I left them there and went back to doing "other things" for a week or two.
And then Mark gave me a call one evening and said "Its done"... Well, I was actually not expecting that, because when Id left it with him, as I understood it, he was going to do the cutting, but then just "tack" weld the parts back together so that I could do a trial "fitting" onto the bike to see that everything was where I wanted it...
But, "done" it was!
So, I went and picked up the modified swing-arm and set about fitting it onto the bike.
And indeed it basically fits and looks like I want it to :)
The bike doesnt have its "body pannels" on but you get the idea :)
But then I had to try to connect up the suspension linkage which is where I was expecting to have difficulties... And indeed, there were difficulties... The rear shock absorber would not connect to the linkage - It was obstructed because it was contacting the "throat" of the swing-arm yoke!
It was not possible to do accurate measurements of this area till I got the new swing-arm into place, so Im not surprised that my "rough" measurements were off... And as it turns out, I was "off" by about 15mm! (Thats quite a lot)
But, that wasnt the only problem...
After setting things up carefully it appeared that the rear wheel was "off-centre"!
Now, Id been quite carefull to try to get this right so I was surprised to see this. It seems that the swing-arm from the Honda is mounted off-centre in the original bike frame, because thats the only way this could have happened... And, Ive not had the opportunity to measure the Honda bike frame!
Note that the rear wheel is about 1cm to the left of centre!
So, Having looked at it all again, and measured things all again, it seems to me that the best solution is to re-cut the swing arm and put some spacer sections in to solve the shock absorber problem, and move the wheel back to the right too. Thats unfortunate because that means it will be expensive (This is why I wanted it just "tack" welded for the trial fitting!)... Bummer :(
So, I gave the bike and the swing-arm back to Mark, and he'll call me again when its done.
In the mean time, Ill go back to doing "other stuff" while I wait.
And this weekend, that included being "Best Man" at my very good friend Rick's wedding with Jen :)
