85 swingarm shorter than 87?

[Banshee_370]

gentleman at a local shop told me that the 85 swingarm is shorter than the 87..any truth to this?

[deathman53]

no, its the same length. The differences are a smaller diameter carrier, brake stay, caliper ring and axle. 85-87 are the exact same length.

[Banshee_370]

so why does my 87 have an 85 swingarm but the previous owner also gave me an extra 87.....is it worth it to swap out to the 87

[deathman53]

the only reason I can think of is because he had a 85 setup and something was wrong with the axle or carrier from the 87 setup. And instead of buying new parts, he got the 85 stuff for a song. When the atc's were cut-up, the motors went back to honda and the rest just went to who ever wanted them. Many people bought the swingarm assem. for real cheap for when/if they needed it. I seen trx250r's with 85 and 86 atc wiring, 85 swingarm assem. and some had atc rear plastics. My only reason for this was the parts were got for very cheap to be used when needed or they wanted to put a bike together with parts they had(I did one like that, it was 85, 86, and 88/89 parts). What does the bolts look like for the rear sprocket? I would just leave it alone until something comes up and parts need to be replaced. The important thing is the make sure you have a 85 axle with the rest of 85 rear end parts. 85 axles have 8mm bolts(12mm head) holding the sprocket to the outside of the sprocket hub. If you have a 86-89 axle, your chain is misaligned and will jump.

[Banshee_370]

the bike came with a durablue axle. when i got the bike the lock nut and threaded collar it sits on was stripped, and there was play in the rear. i decided to buy a new collar, new locknut and a carrier w/ new bearings

now that the carrier doesnt fit i dont know if i should switch everything over to an 87..if i need a new axle i would most likely keep the 85 set up.

how do i tell if my axel os for an 85 if its aftermarket?

[deathman53]

I don't know for sure how to tell a aftermarket 85 axle apart. Its probably still gonna bolt on the sprocket the same way that stock does, sprocket on outside and bolts protruding out toward left side. nothing else will fit a 85 swingarm, because of the carrier OUTSIDE diameter, it uses the same bearings. If you have to buy new stuff, get a 86-89 setup, don't play around with single year only parts. Let the guess, the carrier is too small to fit the 86-89 swingarm(alot of play) and 86-89 carrier is too big to fit 85 swingarm? Thats atleast how it should go.