Swing arm mod..Suzuki VL800 / M800 / C800 / M50

Well after a chat with Dave at Barry.... I checked out the Mistress K mods thread! That's one cool lady by the way! Anyhoo I liked the left side swing arm removal idea (didn't even realise it was just a decorative piece!) I jumped in this morning and removed it! It certainly does look a lot tidier...... and I am shortly gonna take it round a few mountain roads to check out the handling?

From what I can see it isn't necessary as a brace or anything, so not expecting any probs in that direction.... it's also a fair lump of metal, so I've lightened the load a bit as well !

Will post pics if I can .....but there not as good as the ones on Mistress K's thread anyway....well time for a quick spin........

Hi Exile done mine a few months ago every working perfect.

Fantastic, just what I wanted to hear! get some pic's up as soon as you can then Exile. If Mistress K, Alfie & Exile are happy then that's a good enough for me. I will crack on with that at the first oppertunity. My poor bikes got enough to deal with hauling my fat arse around without the added insult of a big lump of metal that don't need to be there!

Thats a proper pic Alfie... thanks !! Well no difference in handling at all and it does look so much cooler.... piece o piss job too.........

I think Mr.I you should take yours off ... help compensate for all the stuff you've put on !!

exile wrote:

I think Mr.I you should take yours off ... help compensate for all the stuff you've put on !!

Yeah I reckon I've double the bike in weight with all the add on's

I read about this on an American site, ages ago ... and I totally
forgot about it until now. 8)

Badger wrote:

I read about this on an American site, ages ago ... and I totally
forgot about it until now. 8)

UPDATE ................


Just done it.... It really does give a cleaner look. 8)


The only problem was the lower bolt that Mistress K described as a 'pain in the arse', I had a bit of bother, but remembered my old Dad, who was a motor mechanic, saying ... 'don't force things, and don't get angry, have a cuppa, and think about it'. I didn't have the cuppa, but did think about it, lashings of wd40, and took off all the rectifier [I think] fittings, so I could get my hand behind the spanner, and whack it with the persuader. ..... [the spanner, not my hand] ..............success.

I taped the unused bolts to the fittings, so they will never get lost, I will then have all
the fittings to hand if I sell it to a stealer,
or someone wants to put it back on. [yea ... I know ... ]





I need to find some chromed heads now, and suchlike, to tidy the holes up, and the big allen key bolt that's a bit 'sticky out'.

Clean man ......... real smooth. 8)

What a diference
I will have to do mine in the morrow, that is so clean looking now much much better

By the way, I took the whole chromed panel off, and noticed my coolant
fluid was a little low, so I topped it up. Just a thought if anyone has
to take the panel off.

Good point, I will check mine

I did mine too the other evening after reading this thread. The lower bolt is a bit tricky, I considered removing the vertical plate that the black cover clips on to but just about managed to get the bolt out without doing this.

Looks better now!



Some time ago I also removed the rear pegs. I don't carry a pillion and even if I wanted to, it's a 5 minute job to put them back on. This cleans up the look even more...

ChrisS wrote:

.....Some time ago I also removed the rear pegs. I don't carry a pillion and even if I wanted to, it's a 5 minute job to put them back on. This cleans up the look even more...

These bikes look great with a solo seat. I shall be measuring the bolt holes at the rear, and looking in the diy shops, or wherever I can, for some chromed or stainless ones to put in, including something for the big hexagon one. I have pushed a blob of copper grease in them for the moment.

I usually run mine as a solo for half the year for couple of reasons.
1st, It makes a really nice change to go from a fully dressed bike down to basics which also looks great
2nd, winter riding makes the bike pick up a lot more shit & in doing so I have less to clean. I take off the seat, siisy bar, saddle bags, rear pegs, screen as well as a lot of the chrome accessories that I have.

Try these for chrome and stainless steel fasteners LINK

Nice one Mr I. I will bookmark that link.

How much weight does it save by taking off the mock swinging arm?

To answer Steve the weight for the false swing arm is 1.73kgs.Also if anyone is interested the weight of the standard exhausts is cans x 2 = 9.53 kgs headers x 2 = 3.65 kgs.Hope this helps in some way.

Badger wrote:

By the way, I took the whole chromed panel off, and noticed my coolant
fluid was a little low, so I topped it up. Just a thought if anyone has
to take the panel off.

I've been thinking of drilling an inspection hole to check the fluid level and I'm looking for a big enough rubber cap or plug to fit such a hole. I'm not cutting the insection hole til I get my hands on a suitable plug. The largest I have so far is a plastic cap for a BMW Airhead swingarm.

Thatt some flippin heavy pipes

The inspection hole is a clever idea

Are you sure this can be done on the M800? I had a quick look at mine and thought it all looked quite necessary!

All the info you require is on site LINK

Mr Intruder wrote:

They were originally made of plastic many years ago (2001 & 2) and were there for no other reason than cosmetic symmetry and to give a hard tail look.

alfie92 wrote:

The false swing arm is 1.73kgs.

JasMK wrote:

Are you sure this can be done on the M800? I had a quick look at mine and thought it all looked quite necessary!

It does look all quite necessary but isn't. If you study the mountings you will see that they are rubber bushed, and the Suzuki parts fiche calls it a "Cover", plus on the earlier models it was just a piece of plastic.

It's just a fugly add on that serves no purpose other than the reasons that are there above. Bag it & bin It or stick on a shelf to gather dust, its a heavy useless piece of crap.

I'll think about this one for awhile before committing I think.