I have heard of this happening and also heard that Honda has replaced them with Leagers. This sounds completely unbelievable to me. Has anyone had this happened? Will Honda replace this?

I snapped it completely in two behind the chain guide.

 

Mine did the samething about 6 months ago, to fix it I got it welded, and then I powdecoated it. It hasn't broken yet and seems stronger than stock, but if it breaks it is a +2 lonestar for me. I didn't even talk to my dealer about it, I fixed it myself, I'm sure my dealer wouldn't replace mine with a aftermarket one.

 

About six months ago I read where some people with 1999 400EXs broke their swing arms and dealers would give them a replacement swing arm over the counter. That's what I read, how much truth there was, I wouldn't know. At the time there were no 2000 400EX swingarms breaking.

 

Join the club! Mine along with 3 of my friends cracked in half in the exact same spot as yours. I had to buy a new one. The most that the dealer offered me was a discount which wasn't crap. I was going to get a lone star but didnt want to wait 8 weeks.

 

No I don't think they would replace them with leagers... when you brake your swingarm the first theing the dealer thinks is "abuse/misuse/" Even though they brake easily

 

When a close friend broke his around January of '99, Honda was having trouble coming up with an extra unit that wasn't being put onto a production bike. They offered to purchase him a Laeger which he was all set to do. Ended up having to wait too long for the Laeger and Honda came up with stock unit. Amazingly enough, they also replaced his bent rear wheels as well (they were egg shaped on the inside edges from axle flex).

Personally, I think certain batches are stronger than others. It took quite a bit to break my friend's, but mine has went thru much, much more, for a longer period of time. I also believe rider weight has a lot to do with it....

BTW... He went over the dealer's head and delt with someone to the effect of Honda's East Coast Regional Rep, directly.

 

Just a question.
What kind of terrain do you ride? MX? Trails?
I'm not really slow on my banshee, but I couldn't break a swingarm or axle!! I did break some brackets (the ones that hold the pipe..on one pic from behind on the site. you'll notice the left silencer is lower...held by a tie-rap), but I really don't think I could break suspension parts!!
How and where do you ride?

 

See my website below for pictures...

Most broken swingarms are happening at the track, bad landings....

 

OK.
I get it.

 

Zorro;
I ride pretty hard and race XC and H.S. It didn't brake on a jump, it broke on a second gear tree crossing (tree down across the trail). It still shouldn't have broken, but just goes to show, you can't race a quad to long or hard with stock parts.
Nick