One of the first things I did, 8-1/2 years ago, was mount the swingarm. I was originally trying to build the bike with no machining or welding capabilities, so I made some fairly ignorant decisions. One was the left-side swingarm mount. I had a 12 mm axle located in a 14 mm hole. I used a jinky arrangement with a sheet metal escutcheon plate and some 6 mm socket head bolts — it was a wholly unsatisfactory arrangement. So, while figuring out how to mount the pegs and foot controls, I decided to remedy the situation. I turned a brass reducing collar on the lathe to properly center the pivot bolt.

I then replaced the 6 mm spacers between the frame and engine mount side plates with triangular steel plates of equal thickness. I bought 7 of them off Ebay for $10, and they came with two pre-drilled holes on the wide end. I drilled an additional hole for the swingarm pivot directly between them (15 mm for the right side, 12 mm on the left). This is a nice snug fit, and when these are bolted to the frame from inside, they will add additional support for the swingarm bolt while simultaneously giving me a more tucked-in mounting point for the footpegs.

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