What do you get out of longer swing arms? wont wheelie as easy?? better for hill climbs? anything else?

 

the looks

 

Won't wheelie as easy, better high speed handling, hill climbs, increased wheel travel. And the negatives would be decreased turning ability.

Jeff

 

For the most part...Someone would have to be on an unlimited budget to buy a swing arm for the way it looks...
The main reason that a racer changes things like the A-arms and swingarm is to tailor the bike to them.

A longer swingarm is going to put more weight in the back of the quad (for the most part). Which will change how the bike handles according to your riding style.
Take the banshee for instance...Everyone claims it is nose heavy. The swing arm could take care of some of that.
As posted above..Hill shooters like the added stability which prevents a flip over on steep grades.

 

sayit_fmf
I would disagree with you when you say that it will add more weight to the rear tires. It will move the center of the bike back but the weight(engine&frame) is in the same spot making the front even heavier. You want to pick the shortest swingarm that you can launch the bike with, because after you are out of the hole you will want as much weight on the rear tires as you can so you don't spin the tires. 4" is about as much as anyone should ever need.

 

I agree with rsss396. The extra length will make the front end heavier. On a banshee, many people go with a longer swingarm to keep the front end down but also it helps out the suspension some as the stock rear shock is setup way too stiff for the average rider. The longer swingarm would be a quick fix to getting better suspension performance but to do it right you should redo the shock. About the only reason I would go with a longer swingarm is if you can't ever keep the front end down or if you want to add a little stability for high speed desert racing.

H300F: what kind of riding do you plan on doing?

Jeff

 

i have to disagree on the commment on only having to go +4 on for anyone, u tellin me for a 460cc or any thing else even a 350cc banshee dragged out, only 4inch ext. is enough? I DONT THINKSO!

 

blue_banshee,
my recomondation was in general, yes there are extreme cases like yours, but for the most part 4"is all that is needed. The way I gauge swingarm length is you should have to hang over the gas tank in the loose sand and over the handle bars in the wet sand when doing a hole shot. If you are not doing this you may be hurting your mid-top end due to much wheel spin because of poor weight transfer.

 

The main reason the longer swingarm keeps the front end from wheelying is becasue it changes teh angle that the swingarm pushes the bike at. If you look at the stock arm loks as though it wants to push up under the bike thus lifting the wheels. By lengthening the arm it changes the angle and makes it more horizontal which pushes straight ahead and keps the front wheels on the ground. The longer arm actually take sweight off of the rear end and allows the tires to break loose instead of hooking up too much and sending you to the moon.