A mate of mine removed the hugger on his Fireblade to find this hole and is a bit unsure what to do next. I said I post on here for him as I'm sure there are a few blade owners on here too. It's about the size of a 2p piece and deep as a finger nail, with the lighter material looking and feeling like fibreglass? Anyone have any advice for him? I think it's a 2015 model with about 10k on the clocks. As ever, thanks for any help and advice
That's what we're trying to determine. Shame as it's a nice bike, with a full Akra system and 175 bhp.
I'm almost certain that would be repairable.....a welder, preferably one who knows bikes, will know how to sort that out in no time.
Considering the stresses that a swing arm is under, fwiw I would be reluctant to use that. It appears that the alloy has actually rotted through ? -On a bike that young such deterioration seems rather extreme, and looking at it I can't help wondering if it has been exposed to some sort of corrosive medium to eat through the surface finish & the structure beneath.? If ^ that is the case, then presumably the same agent will have entered through there, and may be inside the swing arm doing similar damage unseen elsewhere within.?
It is difficult from the photos to work out how deep it is, to take that ‘what if’ away id be inclined to find another swing arm and let Honda UK know, I expect it isn’t an isolated incident. What I cannot establish is whether there was damage in the paint finish or if it started around the hugger bolt hole and worked it’s way under the paint.
It’d be inclined to take that off and stick it in the nearest skip ! Swingarms can usually be had for reasonable money if you look around.
Looks like galvanic corrosion to me, was there a stainless fixing in there at some point? As soon as you get saltly water added to the mix it'll eat straight through it. How deep is it? If it's less than 1-2mm I'd clean it up and repaint and swap the fixings out. Swingarms are stressed but on the blade it'll be stiffness driven rather than stress. As long as there are no stress raisers, make sure it's all smooth when you clean it up it'll be ok. If its over 2mm I'd look for a new swingarm as like others have said it's not a bit job to swap.
Sorry just had another look at the pictures, looks like it is t a cast section there and possibly aluminium sheet, weld together? If that is the case and it's eaten through the complete sheet bin it and stick another one in. I'd be tempted to send some pictures to a local dealer and try his luck for goodwill first though.
similar to above wonder if this is a case of copper slip chemical reaction between 2 metals/alloys but what is clear there is some form of corrosion there
I’d say somewhere along the way that hugger brackets taken a whack and caused that hole and the fibreglass type material is the sound deadening that’s exposed, for the price of a replacement and peace of mind I’d buy another and throw that away
Thanks for all the input chaps. He's taking the bike to a Honda dealer today. He's not keen on fitting a second hand SA and new ones are a grand but if it can't be safely repaired it's the latter I guess.
It’s hard to be sure from the photos but is it a 2008-2016 model Fireblade? If so there’s plenty of spare rear swingarms out there going for much cheaper than a grand ! Just my opinion but spending a grand to replace a part that can be had for a tenth of the price is just madness. Them blades are only worth about 5k upwards now aren’t they? Here’s one I saw on eBay, replace or service the bearings and away you go. I must say them standard brake line clips look terrible on some of them, you can see why there could be corrosion problems if neglected. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153954562551
