I know mine does not have these holes. I drilled ones at the ends of the swing arm and water came out. I wonder now if I should drill some here as well as I am not sure mine has drained 100%. Assuming the water is getting there from the mud flap, how is that water getting from the mud flap to the ends of the swing arm? I doubt there is a nice clear path. I suspect there is a hole in the inside of the arm at the cross member, but how big is that hole? Even after we drill the ends of the swing arm how much water is still sitting in this cross member, possibly rotting it away?
Oh, that hole! I guess I saw a post about it sometime ago, but confirmed mine doesn't not have the one pictured...nor assuming it has a sister one out of picture frame. I do note that for people that have that partcular hole(s)...they'd have to go through significant gyrations to make it expel water that's likely lower than them. I *think* there is a clear path between the mud flap area and the ends of the swing arm. I'm reasonably confident drilling the ends of the swing arm allow all the water out (after bouncing around through normal suspension motion)....or so much that the small amount that may stay wicked inside or not displaced by a generous amount of WD-40 is such a small amount--to not worry....too much. ...until or unless somebody puts a bore scope into the swing arm to look around.
WD-40 "Long Term Rust Inhibitor" A new product they came out with http://www.wd40specialist.com/products/corrosion-inhibitor/
Mine has the holes pictured and also a bigger hole in the cross tube above the link. I'm thinking the water can come out while I am going down steep hills, but that wont get it all out. I will drill the holes at the rear also.
laying the bike over on its side gently (onto some tyres perhaps) and observing if more water made it's way down to the rear axle area of the swingarm would probably answer that question. I haven't done any drilling on my bike yet, but I'm sure if you were concerned, you could drill as many holes as you felt would be required to ensure complete drainage of the crossmember.
how many holes can be drilled until I reach a critical point for stability? Would be an easy way to save some weight ;-)
I drilled mine in the same location but felt like I broke through and then ran into something else solid inside the arm. Water was dripping out for about 5-10 minutes, so figure I don't need to drill any more. Any one else run into something solid near the end of the swingarm?
Where's the hole Mike? Near the rear where the bolts are to adjust chain tightness? Could that be what you hit?
Put the holes in my swingarm today. Holy Screaming Virgins Batman. Drained about 300ml of water and sludge out of it. Thank god for this thread. All sealed up now...I hope.
I marked it with a yellow oval, essentially about half-inch from the weld. I could try drilling more but was not aware if there was something inside the frame that was hitting more.
Mike, The only thing I can think that you might have hit is either the adjustment bolt that is in the picture (possible) or the other side of the swing arm. Either way probably best to leave it as it is. If you got the H20 out that's all that matters.
I just finished addressing the issue. 7mm tap and bolts. That should take care of me. I don't do the swimming thing here in AZ, so the only water would be from washing it,
I drilled a second pair of holes about another 3/4" from those holes, then sprayed a bunch of WD40 Rust Prevent down the open holes from the mudflap till they it dripped plenty. Hopefully that does the trick for while.
For my inaugural Cafe Husky mod post, I thought I'd start with my in-process solution to the swingarm being totally full of rusty latte. Call me idiosyncratic, but I decided I'd rather crash a motorcycle because I was going too fast than because I was going too fast and my swingarm disintegrated on me after a long slow hideous process of air and water turning my steel into iron oxide. As others have noted, the water is entering the swingarm at these two holes, where the mud flap mounts by way of two weak sauce plastic screw inserts: View attachment 43498 To deal with the rust already inside, others have suggested spraying WD-40 or similar in there. The problem I see with that is that it won't coat every surface, nor will it stop the rust from propagating. My solution: 1) Drill drain holes in the bottom of the swingarm about two inches in front of the axle nut (lowest point you can drill without hitting stuff inside the swingarm). 2) Buy this stuff, because it KICKS ASS: Read about it here: http://www.eastwood.com/internal-frame-coating-w-spray-nozzle.html 3) Stick its long skinny hose up every hole in the swingarm and coat the whole thing with this sweet phenolic resin zinc phosphate miracle. As an aside, I do not recommend filling the swingarm with expanding foam. It's porous, doesn't stop rust already in there, and won't stop future rust. This stuff will. To deal with the water getting in, others further up the post have suggested drilling and tapping the holes, then bolting down the mudflap using stainless bolts and washers. The problem I see with this is that no matter how well you seal the threads of the bolts, you still have a floppy rubber mudflap in between your bolt head and the swingarm which leaves a gap where water can penetrate. My solution: 1) drill and tap the two mudflap holes to 5/8, as others have done. 2) Take two stainless 5/8th bolts and drill about a 1/8th inch hole right down the center of the bolts, being careful not to drill all the way through. Like this: View attachment 43500 Yes, the tap broke off in the bolt on the left. After chugging a bottle of vodka and beating my chest in primal rage, I got over it. Next I'm going to: 1) Coat the threads of the 5/8th bolts with thread sealant. 2) Using the rubber-coated washers in the pic, tighten the bolts into the swingarm. Between the sealant and washers, no water will ever get in there ever again, forever, until death do we part, and not even then. 3) Using the smaller bolts and some washers with a full-inch OD, bolt the mudflap to the tapped holes in the big bolts with the smaller bolts. 4) Drill some drain holes in the bottom of the swingarm about two inches in front of the axle nut (lowest point on the swingarm where you can drill all the way through without hitting the adjustment bolt inside there.) When I drilled my drain holes, a ton of water came out. It left this Jackson Pollock on the garage floor:
I'm curious if anyone who hasn't submerged their bike in a stream and drilled their swing arm still found water? I have a Strada and haven't hardly even ridden on wet roads so I'm wondering if I should drill my swing arm too. I'm contemplating buying a left over Terra which likely see such conditions. If I do, I'll address this issue as well as the airbox.
