"Junkyard Dog" 200 Softail

[jacked800]

Todd,
I had one of those Econotigs and it was a great little machine. But I've since up graded to the Syncrowave 200 and the difference is remarkable. The range of what you can do is so much better. I welded two Pepsi cans together. Like doing sheet metal, the 200 goes lower, runs cooler, and makes things easier. Then going bigger, it burns a lot hotter if you need to do thicker aluminum stuff........
I'm no expert welder, but that machine almost makes me feel like one. John

[Todd Achten]

I am in the process of building my swingarm. I am trying to nail down the placement of the shock mounts.

Want i am wondering is if anyone knows if:
1) With the shocks mounted in the frame and the frame lifted on a jack, does the swingarm "fall" back into the frame?
2) Or does the boomerangs stay flush with the rear of the stanchions.

What I am trying to do is make sure that the swingarm does not "slam" the shocks on recoil/rebound.

The shocks that I am using are the post 2000. I don't know what the measurement is on a pre 2000 from eyelet to eyelet (when not mounted in the frame). If I knew that.........I might be able to figure it out.

Here are a few pics to help explain the questions.

[eric]

I just went out and looked at my frame, hope this helps.
The lower boomerangs on the swingarm are about 3/4" "sucked in with the shocks installed and no weight on them.

Eric

[lamf]

mine are adjustable pre 2000 ... i have them adjusted at 11.25" from center of eyelet to center of eyelet ... did some searching just now & saw an adjustable shock advertised which stated it was adjustable from 11.00" to 11.50" ... with mine adjusted at 11.25" (mounted in the frame), the lower part of the boomerang is sucked in towards the front of the bike about a 5/8", & the upper part of the boomerang sucked towards the rear tire about the same distance ... doesn't really move much at all when i lower the jack all the way down, very little, but it looks to me like tha jack is taking some of the weight off, so it's hard to tell. i just got my front wheel hub milled yesterday so it's off the bike, but i'll try to get my front wheel on soon & let you know if it moves any more with all the weight on both wheels.

[MechWerks]

I am in the process of building my swingarm. I am trying to nail down the placement of the shock mounts.

Want i am wondering is if anyone knows if:
1) With the shocks mounted in the frame and the frame lifted on a jack, does the swingarm "fall" back into the frame?
2) Or does the boomerangs stay flush with the rear of the stanchions.

What I am trying to do is make sure that the swingarm does not "slam" the shocks on recoil/rebound.

The shocks that I am using are the post 2000. I don't know what the measurement is on a pre 2000 from eyelet to eyelet (when not mounted in the frame). If I knew that.........I might be able to figure it out.

Here are a few pics to help explain the questions.

1) Swingarm falls back into the frame (compresses shocks). The shocks handle both bounce and jounce. Shocks have an internal bumper.
2)No.

Pre-2000 frame shock mount holes are about 11" center to center with the swingarm stanchions flush with the frame stanchions. Only have a set of early ST shocks laying around that are 11" center to center but have 2" drop kit installed...not much help. Of course final results depend on weight put on the rear axle...so things will vary widely.

[Todd Achten]

Thanks for the input guys. It looks like if I add 5/8" to 3/4" distance between centers on my mounts......that that will be a good place to start.

So it looks like: 11" c/c on the eyelets for pre2000 shocks and with the boomerangs flush with the stanchions (at the rear of the frame) then c/c of mount point will be 11-5/8" to 11-3/4". (I came to these numbers from the softail plans)

I don't have my post 2000 shock drawing with me at work right now but.........if I remember right...........c/c on those mounts points is a little shorter. I will just add the 5/8" to 3/4" to that number.

WOOHOO! One engineering (fabrication) step closer to the road.

[MechWerks]

There are a couple of paths. Use stock shocks and add adjusters to get dropped axle height. Use stock shocks and build the swingarm to lower the bike (raise the axle). Nice thing about building your own.

One warning about a softail...it is a bunch of lousy compromises in design. The worst is the location of the belt drive center, swingarm pivot and axle center. Basically the belt has a different arc center (axle center to transmission output center) than the axle center to swingarm pivot center. The issue being how the belt tensions and slackens through suspension movement...keep it in mind.

[Todd Achten]

One warning about a softail...it is a bunch of lousy compromises in design. The worst is the location of the belt drive center, swingarm pivot and axle center. Basically the belt has a different arc center (axle center to transmission output center) than the axle center to swingarm pivot center. The issue being how the belt tensions and slackens through suspension movement...keep it in mind.

Steve.........you are dead on with that fact. I really don't think that too many builders (at least first timers) think about those sort of issues. I spent a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time working on the design. I took all of those issues into consideration.

Trying to engineer the distances between/and the relationship to one another was a lot of trial and error. That's why I like cardboard. It's much cheaper than steel for design purposes. As the final figures come in..........the final arc between the pivot to axle, and the trans to axle.........there is only 1/8" difference between the two arcs in 6" of travel. Which in the end I did not think was going to cause me too much problem with chain tension.

There are a ton of things that I had to do to make things work for this build. At least to make me happy. I started out with the idea of using the Sneaky Pete design with a Sportster drive train. By the time I made the stanchions fit the arc profile that I wanted for the rear wheel, placement of the pivot point to work out with the trans output center, stretched the front end, curved the downtubes, well..........lets just say the frame does not look much like the original plan at all.

[jacked800]

Todd,
another thing to watch out for is that 5th tranny bolt hitting your shock. I've seen them hit on aftermarket frames so didn't feel too bad when mine hit, rubbed the shock. I went with the works shocks that are only 2" OD to solve my issue. If you watch out for it, I'm sure you could place that shock over far enough to clear it. .....John

Maybe it's a misunderstanding on my part because I don't know if you are stii using the sporty mill or changed up.

[Todd Achten]

Maybe it's a misunderstanding on my part because I don't know if you are stii using the sporty mill or changed up.

Still using the Sporty.

[Todd Achten]

Well..........after spending a month remodeling one of the bathrooms, I am getting back to the build. I now have the frame welded together and have the swingarm built. I welded the neck on tonight. Here are a few pics.

[indian Mark]

Cool. Bolt on a couple more parts and you'll be riding!

[lamf]

looks good todd ... keep going

[Todd Achten]

Doing a little mock up to get a few more ideas and locate mounts and brackets.

[jacked800]

Looking good Todd. Nice job on that swingarm.... wicked pissa as they say up here. John