guess the biggest questions would be axle diameter and spacing requiernments
Did do a little homework this afternoon. Best of all, however, was speaking with someone who'd actually done the deed and getting confirmation of what I'd already begun to figure out.
Rear swingarm as an assembly can be used complete. So the swingarm, axle, belt guard, etc can all come off one bike and go on the older one. No mixing and matching.
No changes to the frame either. Only retrofitting required will be to the transmission. The long hole the rear fork shaft goes through has to be enlarged to allow the change from the .625" to the .750" shaft.
Was told that once all the old pieces are out of the way there is plenty of access in the frame. So no need to pull anything that you wouldn't otherwise be pulling to make the change.
The confirmation from someone who had actually done the deed came from a very helpful and pleasant gentleman at
www.glide-pro.com . His company sells an upgraded fork shaft and bushing/bearing kit. So no doubt he'd suggest the bigger swingarm and his shaft kit as the ideal upgrade combination.
The other relatively easily accomplished alternative I found to complete the retrofit is from the Sta-Bo people whose swingarm bushings several of us have used. Along with the StaBo I and StaBo II kits for pre and post 2002 bikes they also offer a StaBo III bushing kit. This kit's purpose is to put the newer swingarm in the older bikes.
Since the hole in the tranny for the fork shaft isn't enlarged this kit would seemingly have to hang the bigger swingarm on the 1/8" smaller shaft. It would do this in their "Delrin" (still don't know what the hell that really is) bushings.
Since enlarging the hole in the tranny costs nothing (if you've got bits and hones) doing it that way would be cheaper (assuming using the stock parts). Expense goes up if one goes with the fancy aftermarket fork shaft and bushings/bearings though. Using the Sta-Bo kit, however, has to mean staying with the smaller shaft. Honestly probably not that big a deal. But if the goal is to make the whole rear more robust cutting that corner would annoy me a little.