Sooo, You Want an Aluminium Swingarm??
by
Phil Stob

Yes, you can put an aluminum swingarm onto an ST that originally came with a steel swingarm.

The benefits:
- The aluminum swingarm is 3 lbs lighter (15 vs. 12lbs)
- Bling factor
- Stiffer.  Have you seen that casting?
- You will also have a lighter wallet.  Lighter is faster/better right?
- It beats cleaning gutters on a rainy weekend

The parts that are unique to the aluminum swingarm (you will need):
- Axle (the one with one nut and a 17mm socket on the other end)
- Adjuster assemblies, complete.  Plates on the sides, caps on the back, and the block inside are all different size from the steel set.
- The chain rub strips on top and bottom of swingarm.  I surely didn't see this one coming, but its true. This is just another example of why Ducati can't seem to make any money.
- Pivot Pin retaining bolts.  2 of them.  Special little wedge shaped thingys.  Nice design. Guess they learned enough on the 900SS swingarm.

Other bits that do carry over:
- Pivot Pin. with the rubber caps
- Hugger / chain guard
- screws that hold the plastic bits on.
- Brake hose guide/clamp
- Bottom shock/height adjustment rod mounting bolt and funny T-nut

Things you have to remove to change your swingarm:
- Exhaust system, completely. Always fun.
- Foot rest assemblies
- Rear brake master cylinder and reservoir. (just remove the bolts and leave them hang there)
- Height adjustment rod, or shock, you pick.
- The old swingarm (almost forgot that)

Lessons Learned:
- A bike lift is good for this job.  Someday I'll get one.
- A second person is useful when fitting the swingarm to the frame.  Someday I'll learn to ask for help. The rest can be done with one person.
- Ducati swingarms are shimmed to fit.  Buy a small arrangement from your dealer before the job. They are relatively cheap. He should have them.  Looks the same as the SS series.
- The thin shim goes on the chain side, and the adjustment is made on
the other side. Have your dealer describe this when you go buy some shims.  He'll look real confused at first if he hasn't visited this little design anomaly. Its described in the parts list, sort of.
- Add more grease to your pivot bearings inside the engine cases. Molylube or some other thick high pressure type grease is good.
- Fitting the pivot pin with a bunch of molylube sqidgin out while trying to line up those paper thin shims while wrestling a 12 lb.
cantilevered swingarm  while reaching on the other side of the bike to push the pin in, and align it on the other side is a real treat and test of your patience and determination. That's where a friend would come in handy.
- The screws in your steel swingarm are rusting in place as we speak.
- The conversion could be/should be done in an afternoon with a friend, and all the right parts.

Good luck!!

 © 2006 WolfCentral Productions

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