| Author | Message | ||
     Maidu |
I recently laid my 2006 XB12R down, luckily mostly just minor damage. However there are some dents on the right side where the pucks should be. I want to fill it in with epoxy and slap on the pucks to cover the damage and prevent it in case of future mishaps. However, the crease where the frame angle changes is dented. My thoughts are to torch it and pound the dent out while its hot. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.   | ||
| Id073897 |
My thoughts are to torch it and pound the dent out while its hot. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Cold and hot forming of aluminium is a complicated process and in general can not performed without ground knowledge about the material and access to heating/cooling equipment of high accuracy usually out of reach of the most of us. Aluminium tends to get noticebly harder and brittler once deformed which heavily reduces ductility. Depending on the material attempts to remove deformation mechanically without softening the material before will lead to overload breakage. Visit this site to get some detailed information: http://aluminium.matter.org.uk/content/html/eng/de fault.asp?catid=4&pageid=-150454454 | ||
| Kilroy |
I hate to bring this up, and I am by NO means an expert, but your frame's integrity looks to have been compromised. If you have seen any recent pix of the Gixxer frames that are splitting, you may see your future. I wouldn't screw around with repairing this. It is a fairly important part of the bike, and I would hate to see it fail at the wrong time, as I am sure you wouldn't either. | ||
| Texastechx1 |
there are companies that repair stuff like that while still making sure that the frame is as strong as it should be. I would leave something like this up to them. do a search online. it will be more expensive but not as much as a new frame. there was a guy in the XB section I think that had a small dent, filled it painted it and put a new puck on there, looked like new, but his was no where near as bad as yours. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I believe there is a liner painted inside the frame, don't heat it. | ||
| Maplegum |
Do you have comprehensive insurance? That's considered a write off since the integrity of the frame has been compromised. If not, what about mig welding a small plate onto the dent and pulling it out. Of course you'd have to drain and vent the fuel. Don't blow a hole through the tank when welding either. Once you've got some pressure on it, tap very lightly around the dent to relieve the depression slowly....repeat, slowly. You will probably have to weld and cut 5 to 8 plates of variable widths to get the job done but in the end, it's almost back to normal...ready for a small amount of filler. As for painting, mask off and spray with a good car paint and finish with a matt clear. I'm not sure about the liner inside as suggested by Reepicheep. If this is the case, you may have to use a liquid fuel tank liner to finish the job. Obviously, you'll want to have this done by someone who has a good background with bodywork and welding. Good luck! |
