This is a Single Sided Swingarm (SSS) project conversion for the Superhawk/VTR/Firestorm that I began almost about a year ago. With all projects, I took a long time to get started but here I am half way through it and want to share with you all. I am going to detail my experience and hopefully can help those who want to tackle this challenge.

Before I begin, I would like to send a big shout out to Brian L and Beau S (captainchaos). Brian wrote to me about his conversion and gave me the confidence to tackle it myself. Here is his post on the forum. Please email him for additional information. He is extremely helpful. Beau was kind enough to forward to me his unused header, a critical piece which you shall see below. Without their help, this project would not have been able to be where it is today.

What you will need:


Major Motorcycle Parts:

1 - VFR 800 rear swing arm. VFR 750 swingarm will NOT work because the mounting scheme is completely different. I used a 1999 VFR 800 unit.

1 - VFR rear brakes assembly

1 – VFR rear wheel

2 – VTR header. These headers will be dissected in order to fabricate the exhaust. If you have an exhaust tube bender, then it would be better to fabricate from scratch. For my project, I used existing header and played lego to complete the job.

Before you begin, make sure there is a way to suspend the VTR so that way you can work on the rear end.

Step 1:
Remove the rear wheel



Step 2:

Remove the swingarm by removing the pivot bolt
Remove the rear sets and get it out of the way
Remove the rear brake assembly
Detach the lower shock assembly bolt



Notice that the shock is mounted slightly to the right and not in the center? This mounting scheme is to clear the exhaust header. By mounting the VFR SSS, the shock must be moved 47.5mm (see note) to the left. This will position the shock directly in the middle of the exhaust and new exhaust header must be fabricated to overcome this obstacle. Detailed below.

Note: Slowhawk is doing the fab as well and according to his set-up, the distance is 55 mm. It appears that based on the two differing numbers, I can only attribute the variation to manufacturing tolerances.

Step: 3

Remove the header and remove the shock and mount the VFR SSS in place of the original swingarm. Shim the swingarm mounting point so that the rear sprocket will be aligned with the front ones. The thickness is 5mm with inner diameter 20mm and outer 30mm. This is essentially a washer that fit between the right engine mount point and the swingarm. Alternatively, the inner ring of the original arm can replace the VFR unit after trimming to the required length. I chose to go with the washer method.

Note: Please see the exchanges below. I have verified using the string method to determined the shimming of the swingarm does not result in misalignment with the front wheel and. Again, this differs from Slowhawk's set-up but it falls within Brian L's fab.

Note: The VFR Swingarm chain guard should be removed at this point because it will interfere with the front sprocket cover of the VTR. This can be trimmed when things are complete or new hugger mounted.





Step 4: (Linkage Plate and dog bone)

The shock linkage plate and the done bone must be fabricated. I am going to post Brian’s drawing along with the dog bone. This is required since the VTR dog bone cannot be used.



Step 5:

Remount the stock shock to the SSS swingarm and rotate the shock to the top so the location for the new shock mounting hole can be drill. This new hole is 47.5mm (see note above regarding variation)on center from the original hole (this might vary a little given manufacturing tolerances). The key is to ensure that the shock is at 90 degree to the road and not bind. The top mounting point on the frame is made of thick aluminum. Take care to drill through. Since there is already a hole there from the plate where the tank hinge is mounted, care must be taken when drilling this new hole. Take your time. Use a small drill bit and slowly increase in size till a new 10mm hole is created.



Step 6:

Mount the shock to this new point. At this point, tighten things down to see if there is any adjustments that needs to be made to avoid binding of the shock and the movement of the swingarm.

Step 7:

Lower the VTR so there is load on the suspension. This is so that the next step, fabrication of the exhaust can be made while taking in consideration Suspension travel.

Step 8: (Fabrication of the new exhaust header)

As mentioned earlier, I used two headers in order to fabricate mine. The result is a 2 into 1 Exhaust system. This part of the conversion is the most difficult since it must be done from scratch. If you have access to a pneumatic tube bender, I would suggest to fabricate from scratch. For me I went the old cut, align and weld scenario.

This is the result:



As you can see there are 8 joints but it can be done. If you are fabricating new header, note that in order for the rear exhaust to fit, there should be a junction. This is important since you will not be able to mount the header without it. The clearance between the components will be very tight.

There were a lot of cutting, tacking, fitting and re adjusting to make the whole thing work. Constant removal and remounting of the shock and front header was needed. Patient is the key here.



Once I finished routing the exhaust, I had to figure a way for the muffler to be mounted. I ended up with a center mount option using the right muffler from a Kawasaki Z1000. I had thought about using the R1 Dual unit but ended up with this for a unique look. Below was the original plan but with the SSS, the dual exhaust would not work to my satisfaction.

Original Fighter concept:


Kawi Exhaust and fabricated mount:


After installing the Exhaust, I noticed that the clearance between the rear tire and the exhaust was a little too close. I had to raise the rear up using an aluminum spacer. There will likely need for tweaking of the front end for balance handling after wards as a result.

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