Rear Suspension Bell-Crank Thingy

[bob]

I just stumbled across the fact that on some model years of GS the "Cushion Lever" (Suzuki's term for it - great euphemism, don't you think?) is steel.  My '89 is an aluminum casting.  This is the piece that attaches to the frame at one end, the shock at the other & the dog bones in the middle.
Is the steel one a casting also, or is it a welded fabrication, or what?
Does anyone have an extra steel one laying around they would like to part with?  Anybody know what years got the ally one & what years got the steelie?

[KevinC]

The steel one is just bent sheet metal welded together.

Why would you want a steel one? I'll trade you my steel one for your aluminum!

In the US it seems only the '89s, and maybe a few early 1990 bikes got the aluminum one. Other countries are likely different. My Canadian '92 has a steel one, but it still had the GS "clip-on" style bars, which were only on the '89 US bikes.

[bob]

I'd like to get a steel one so I could try some modifications to it - I can weld steel pretty well, but my aluminum welding skill is not to a level that I would trust it for a critical suspension component.