GSXR K4 swingarm corrosion

[BFleming]

The aluminium swingarm of my recently acquired 2004 GSXR needs attention. It was a black finish originally, but there is a lot of surface corrosion/flaking paint after 16 years of all-weather use. What is the best way of refinishing it? It is aluminium, so I could...
1) Take it off, rub it all down, prime & paint it
2) Take it off & send it off to be blasted & powder coated
3) Buy a cheap but corrosion-free secondhand unit from Ebay & fit that instead

All opinions appreciated.

Edited by BFleming on Friday 21st August 12:21

[Jazoli]

You could do all 3 of your options, just do whatever is the least hassle for you.

[Dog Star]

If you can I’d go with option 2, no question.

[roboxm3]

Take it off and give it a going over with a Scotchbrite flap-wheel thingy and make it look “factory” plus no more corrosion etc. issues...

[neutral 3]

Lots of K4s out there still, they sold very well, so find a nice used swing arm from a breaker.
Waste of time and ££ getting your one re furbed.

[Steve Bass]

If you're going to powder coat it, just be careful aboutt the inherent dimension changes power coating causes.

Personally, I'd look at a product/process called gun coating.
The swing arm is small enough to fit in a houshold oven and the finish is amazing and incredibly durable

Something like..

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/...

Edited by Steve Bass on Sunday 23 August 07:12

[mickyh7]

You have to ask yourself has the Corrosion weakened the Arm?
No point cleaning and recoating a piece of Alloy which may have lost its strength.
Left long enough, all metal will turn to dust. Your Swinging Arm is 16 years old!
Spend your money Wisely now.
You can't spend it when your sliding under a HGV on your Arse?

[Weso]

mickyh7 said:

You have to ask yourself has the Corrosion weakened the Arm?
No point cleaning and recoating a piece of Alloy which may have lost its strength.
Left long enough, all metal will turn to dust. Your Swinging Arm is 16 years old!
Spend your money Wisely now.
You can't spend it when your sliding under a HGV on your Arse?

Pretty confident it'll just be a bit of light surface corrosion.
Absolutely no need to be concerned about structural integrity.

[Rubin215]

You're going to the hassle of taking the swingarm off anyway so it then comes down to your budget.

Cheapest is to refurb it yourself; either rub down and respray or something more exotic like polish and laquer.

Next up is powder coating; it will probably cost less than £50 and be no hassle to do.
Anywhere worth their salt will mask off or plug the areas where internal dimensions are important so there should be no hassle in refitting.
I'm not a big fan of powder coating for alloy frames and swingarms however as the extra thickness of the coating is always really obvious.

Probably most expensive will be finding a decent nick one, whether it is ebay or a breaker; yes, there were thousands made, but they are all the same age now and most will have some level of corrosion.
Finding a decent one you will be happy with might take time...



If it was me, I would clean it up with a wire brush and then spray it with a rattle-can.

[BFleming]

Thanks all. It is just surface corrosion, the way aluminium does. It's not great though. I must admit rubbing it down and spraying it myself is looking most likely.

[Steve Bass]

BFleming said:

Thanks all. It is just surface corrosion, the way aluminium does. It's not great though. I must admit rubbing it down and spraying it myself is looking most likely.

Soda blast & Gun Coat...or heat cured paint & lacquer

[BFleming]

I ended up degreasing everything, rubbing it down, using a dremel sanding wheel, primed and painted it. Looks ok (not perfect), so that'll do for another while!

[conkerman]

I was hoping you would anodise it

[BFleming]

conkerman said:

I was hoping you would anodise it

Next time!

[Krikkit]

Looks like a really good job leaving it on the bike