If the welding is performed by someone that knows what they're doing you couldn't be any farther from the truth with this statement.

 

Originally Posted by Bmusg
Personally, I wouldn’t consider grinding and welding on a critical item like a swing arm for bikes as heavy as these touring sleds. Very easy to not only weaken the part but also change the brittleness in the area of the swing arm most prone to cracking.
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The whole bike is welded together, no difference unless it was arcological time.
I wish people that had no clue about a subject would not take the time to post stuff they know nothing about.

 

Google up "cracked Harley swingarms" and see where they fail. The "whole bike" isn't welded together in a shadetree mechanics garage. Feel free to drill it out bigger and weld plates on it to your hearts content. Don't concern yourself in the least with stress relieving or heat treatment. In my business, I've see a lot of pretty looking welds fail the x-ray. Do what you want, I just said I "personally" wouldn't do it.

 

Again you trespass into what you know nothing about.
the design was wrong on the swing arm and esp aggravated if the Schock mount lowering kit was Installed..
the failure is not from the weld but from not being noble enough from the start.
simple.
now don't argue what you have no clue about