Not for a Commando, but ... / Swinging arm

laurentdom

laurentdom

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Nov 30, 2012
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Hi All,

Does anyone know where to find a swinging arm that fits in a Slimline Featherbed frame and accept wider tyre (110 - 11cm wide being the limit: about 5 millimeters of clearance on each side)?

Thanks for your help.

PS: Many posts refer to Jim Schmidt's parts and Landsdowne dampers. I use both of them and can testify that they are very worth the money, not speaking of superb support provided by Jim and by John.

L.
 
Mick Hemmings used to do one.

I'm pretty sure most of the replica featherbed frames that racers use will accept wider tyres than the original swinging arm.
 
I used to do them Manx style for Slimlines but not any more unfortunately, not sure who does them now,
Not for a Commando, but ... / Swinging arm
 
I think you should try unity equipe.com. The phone number is 44 (0) 01706839059.
Hope this helps,
Martyn.
 
If I whisper this, so not to upset certain people, you could save yourself the price of a swing arm by cutting /filing the inside away to give the tyre clearance and weld a suitable piece of metal over the hole. But ensure that you have enough chain clearance with the tyre sidewall first before proceeding.
 
At one point, not very long ago, I had a 110/90 - 18 Avon Roadrider tire on my slinline frame with stock swingarm. And while clearance was tight, it certainly fit. I rode it for several years that way.

I'd advise against cutting an original swingarm. There's not too many of them out there, so it would be a real shame to start hacking one up. That's of course my opinion and I'll admit that I', a bit of a purist snob. But it's a slippery slope to start modifying these things in a way that make it so they could never be original again.
 
wilkey113 said:
I'd advise against cutting an original swingarm. There's not too many of them out there, so it would be a real shame to start hacking one up. That's of course my opinion and I'll admit that I', a bit of a purist snob. But it's a slippery slope to start modifying these things in a way that make it so they could never be original again.
Click to expand...

I could comment that at the classic races a while back now, I noticed a swingarm in the pits that had had a 'hack job' done on it.
I looked at it, scrappy welding and all, and wondered if it had been reinforced inside to strengthen it, especially since it was to be raced.
The answer was no, it was back in the pits, within a lap !!
Scrutineers must have been looking the other way ?
 
Many thanks to you all.

I agree with most of you about not changing anything to a Featherbed chassis unless it is reversable.

Some human creations deserve respect and conservation!
 
I've seen swing arms made of oval tube, but why ? My Seeley has a 4 inch tyre on the back, however does not need it. Many bikes handle much better with skinny tyres. A lot of us fitted 18 inch rims with fatter tyres in the 70s - a good way to stuff the handling of a featherbed. My Triton handled like a bag of shit after that, I was always dragging it away from the edge of the bitumen when coming out of turns - bloody exhausting on a tight circuit. The return trip is very expensive.
 
Because modern tyres are made (and are available) in wider sizes than those skinny old triangular profile tyres ?

I'd venture to suggest that Commandos, at least, feel more stable on rounder tyres (Avons etc) than K81 shape.
And we are talking road bikes here....
 
Why would you want to fit larger race tyres to a road bike when normal road tyres are quite adequate ? Are you telling me that this is a safety issue ? Perhaps you need to fit trainer wheels to your bike ?
 
Who said anything about race tires. ?
Just the choice of available tires is good enough reason.
And so they are not worn out in a few thousand miles. ??

Since you don't ever ride on the road, perhaps you have not met tires wearing out ?
 
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