Swing Arm Debate

There are three approaches that can be taken on the swing arm issue. They are:

1) Modify an existing motorcycle swing arm to accept a larger pivot shaft, add support structure over the top of the wheel to improve stiffness. - I suspect that the dissatisfaction in the final results would off set any real or percieved effort that might result from taking this approach. This is a piece of the chassis that is important and needs to be done right and not cobbled together.

2) Scratch build a swing arm similar to the arm on the Vortex. This solution is probably the stiffest design for the lowest weight. It does make tire changes difficult but that shouldn't be often enough to be a big deal. It also has the advantage the ability to align the rear wheel and tighten the belt / chain drive without shims. Here is a link to one that is very nicely done. http://www.briery.com/vortex/rear_suspension/rear_suspension.html

3) Scratch build a cantilever swing arm (one sided). This would make tire changes easier, but aligning the rear wheel would likely require shimming. Yuck. On the plus side, I think the front hub from a FWD or 4x4 could be used, the yoke that normally connects to the drive shaft could be reworked for mounting the drive sprocket and the stock disc brakes from the donor vehicle could be reused.