From the mid-1990s till the early 2000s, Ducati had a type of swingarm that was being used in the Monster models as well as in the Sport-touring models. The small models had a swingarm made of steel, the models with more engine capacity often had ones made from aluminum. Both look very similar, but have quite some differences in size and profile cross-sections. They work fine, but all of them share one problem: The chain adjustement „sheets“, hereinafter refered to as „chain tensioners“. To be seen in the picture on the right side.
Everytime one tries to loosen the rear axle-nut, the thing would turn with the nut, until it starts to deformate and scratch the swingarm. The only way to prevent that from happening is to hold it with pliers or a clamp, which can be very annoying. ->
We came up with a solution, that can be installed plug and play, eases chain adjustement and prevents the old tensioner from damaging the swingarm
The design we came up with was realised as 3D-printed Alumide (PA12 enhanced with aluminum particles)
A milled part would have been nicer, but for the sake of saving some money on the trial versions, we decided to have the prototypes printed.
We had the first prototypes made with a layer-melting procedure, that produced results that are basically good for nothing. We are lucky, that there is printing procedures that massively more accurate and nowadays even affordable.
I strongly advise, not to invest money in some home-based 3D-printer, because very good products can be manufactured even for smaller pockets.
An overhaul of the tensioner that you can see on the left in the upper picture was mounted onto an M750 Ducati and is being tested since then. So far, the results of the tests are promising. While we aim to be able to offer milled parts for a reasonable price, we plan on offering Alumide printed versions too, that are to be less expensive and deliver the capability that the original sheet-metal part never could.