The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

Here is the process I took to do this and save money.

1 Ship rear wheel to Kosman Specialties. Shipping and widening $650

2 Purchase Dunlop Elite 3 240 tire $130

3 Swingarm, $15 angle grinder from Menards $5 Engine enamel Autozone

4 Mounting and bearing removal and reinstall $65

5 Have to say it satisfaction doing myself "priceless"[]

Total cost $865 []

I used a large eye bolt to fasten the swing arm to the work bench. Then reassembled the wheel with mounted tire with all spacers and caliper bracket then put the axel and nut on. The tire does touch in three places but very slight. The wheel can even be turned without grinding any material off.

Then marked the spots where I had to grind. I may have taken off an ounce of material. Put the wheel back on and there were no clearence issues. The wheel spun easily with about 1/4 inch to spare. At no time did I grind into the heavy structural parts of the swing arm. Then did some dremel and sanding clean up wiped it down good masked off the areas I modified and used the spray paint only on the areas modified.
The paint matched close enoungh and its all in an area that you couldnt see anyway.
Related posts below
http://rswarrior.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=62269
http://rswarrior.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=62123


Insert Image:

35.9 KB
Motivation !!!!!



Insert Image:

89.12 KB
Mock up



Insert Image:

62.98 KB
Right side area modified



Insert Image:

58.22 KB
Left side area modified

cool, thanks for the summary, might have me a new project.

Nice work! Just wondering what people have been doing with the welds in the modified wheel. Keep them or will they get smoothed?

With some work with a few scotch-brite pads and some time polishing the new welded on portion and the origional areas I like the way the weld looks. There are some members who chose to keep the welds and do the same I did. Kind of where I got the idea. I am definately not the pioneer of this mod but I think with the tire choice and rim size and minimal work on the swing arm its overall cost and time invested was well worth it. Only catch kind of stuck with a Dunlop tire though.

The welds that Kosman makes are great looking and emphasize the mechanical aspect of the widened wheel. I left mine and polished it and it looks great. Nice job and nice write up on cost for others considering this mod!
Andy P

Great job! Very cost effective!

The best thing about that mod is you did it yourself. The sense of pride is so much more than had you just purchased a kit. At least that's the way it is for me. Good job, bro.

Also, Jimmy, you can mount a Metzler 240 on that rim. According to the following Metzler website, acceptable rim widths for the 240/40 R18 tire are 8.0" to 9.0". Look on page 13 of the pdf.
http://www.us.metzelermoto.com/media/metzeler_vtwin_07_lo.pdf

So, you aren't locked into just the Dunlop. Although, the price is so much more appealing with the Dunnie compared to the Metz.

If I go with a Metzeler in the future some more swing arm grinding would be needed. Its about 3/8 inch wider but could be done.

Boy, you've got my attention I must say.

Can anyone comment on the difference between the DIY grinding job, and what it is that the vendors are doing? Are they basicaly doing the same thing? or adding the "gussetts" after taking off more material?

Nice work! I too think that the Kozman welds look great! I am sure this topic will come in handy for present and future warrior owners wanting to go with the 240. Sweet!

quote:

---

Originally posted by gchalifo

Can anyone comment on the difference between the DIY grinding job, and what it is that the vendors are doing? Are they basicaly doing the same thing? or adding the "gussetts" after taking off more material?

---

Keep in mind that jimmy2's DIY mod was done with an 8" wide wheel instead of the typical 8.5" wheel which would require a lot less material removal (the Dunlop 240 is also narrower than the Metz 240). As he stated you just have to grind away enough material to give the new wheel/tire combo clearance. The 250/260 and larger swingarm mods require a lot of material removal, reworking, bracing added, and welding done to maintain structural integrity of the swingarm.

I think this DIY mod being done with an 8" wheel and the Dunlop 240 is a briliant idea since the material removal is so minimal and it opens up the DIY aspect of it to more people that wouldn't normally mess with it.

Nice job, jimmy2! [8D]

Too bad I have my heart set on a 260 or I would be all over this!! Maybe my wallet will force me to go this route when it comes time, but either way great job.

Do you have any pics of the interior of the swing arm where you removed the material?

Iam really intrested Jimmy in your overall impression of how the bike handles with this mod. Also I noticed that your bike is lowered, and I assume you have the 1000# spring, any issues with that? how long was the turn around with your wheel? and yes if you have them could you post some pictures of the inner swingarm where you took the material off?

Excellent job jimmy2 ... great photos and neat post! []

Here's a good comparison of the 240 Metzler & Dunlop Elite 3 mounted on Kosman 18" x 8-1/2" weld-up wheels. This of course is not comparing apples to apples in regard to the 18" x 8" weld-up as i'm sure it will look slightly different. I'm running a 1-1/2" belt!

---