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Old September 13th, 2018, 08:15 PM   #4
InvisiBill
EX500 full of EX250 parts
 
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Name: Bill
Location: Grand Rapids-ish, MI
Join Date: Jul 2012

Motorcycle(s): '18 Ninja 400 • '09 Ninja 500R (selling) • '98 VFR800 (project) • '85 Vulcan VN700 (sold)

Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 1
MOTM - Aug '15
'18 Ninja 400 swingarm spools

Just wanted to provide some info that I gathered from around the intarwebs... Unlike earlier Ninjettes that use 10mm spools, the 400 uses 8mm. The ATOM Black 8MM CNC Swingarm Spools by MC Motoparts work well. The bolt holes for the spools don't extend all the way to the outside edge of the swingarm, so the extension past the lip on these works perfectly (with others, you may need to add spacers). I got used to my 500's centerstand, so having swingarm spools helps a ton. For example, the engine oil wants to drain out almost directly onto the sidestand foot.

For being such a simple little part, these particular ones are fairly complicated. The spools themselves are designed to take a 10mm bolt. When using an 8mm bolt, there's a spacer that slides inside to take up the extra room. So slide the spacer into the spool, then install the 8mm bolt through the spacer/spool into the swingarm using your 6mm allen wrench, as usual. Don't forget a bit of blue Loctite to keep them from coming loose.

There's a protective/cosmetic cap that goes over the bolt head on the end of the spool. The colored ring fits on the end first, then there's a cap that screws in behind it to hold it. The cap has a large internal hex shape, like it would take a very large allen wrench to tighten. Included in the box is a small plastic hex adapter, which fits inside the hex of the cap, and accepts the 6mm allen wrench used to tighten the mounting bolt.

I haven't actually lifted the bike with them yet, but so far I like these spools. They're a little bigger than the ones I had on the 500. The extra size might help act like a mini-slider, but they're not obnoxiously huge or anything. The brand is silkscreened on one side of the spool. This can be oriented to be facing down and you'll probably never even notice it's there. They have a few colors for the ring on the cap, if you want to coordinate. The black ones are pretty subtle, just how I like my stuff. The cap should help keep the bolt head clean to avoid future problems.

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