| Author | Message | ||
     Captains1 |
Hey Guys. Hoping for some advice. Managed to score myself an S1 unfortunately it has some frame damage. It was dropped on its right side and the air cleaner dented the frame. Wanted to some advice on how to fix it. Dont really care about looks just want to know its strong and safe. I have spoken to a few weld shops. Some suggest filling the dent with weld and grinding it back. Others suggest cutting out and rewleding in a section. Anyway hope u guys can help   | ||
| Analbeard |
Leave it if there are no cracks to the nearby welds, but then I am a lazy sod. | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Nowt wrong with that. You could just fill it with bodyfiller. Wouldn't mess with welding. Maybe lead fill it if you want metal in there. Or just leave it and paint. Rocket in England | ||
| Lynrd |
Just filling it up with welding rod isn't going to add any strength - the grain of the steel is already interrupted, and if the welder is inexperienced (like, the kind of guy who would recommend just welding it up) he likely is going to add too much heat to that very thin wall tube and actually make it weaker.. Technically, that dent Is a weak point but that area is not very stressed. Agree with body filler if the dent bothers you, or maybe brazing if you want to get fancy. The welding shops that recommended cutting it out and replacing it are correct - To repair it correctly would be cut it out, machine spuds to the ID of the tubing, insert the spuds and then weld that mess up. Butt joints on thin wall tube are tricky but it could be repaired. I wouldn't bother, personally. As I said, that area is not stressed. For the price of doing it right, you could probably buy another frame from some mouth breathing chopper builder. But I'd just touch up the paint and run it . | ||
| General_ulysses |
I'd fill it in with brass braze or silver solder, then grind flush, repaint and RIDE. | ||
| Captains1 |
Hey thanks for the advice guys. I was going to just leave it but I know i wont stop thinking about it. I will be speeding down the freeway and it will always be in the back of my mind. Im just one of those people. Anyway I just recently got the bike and i was thinking of stripping it down to the frame replacing isolators, powdercoating etc . So it will be in an easy state to weld. I also dont live in the USA so getting a new frame would be a real pain and expensive. There arent many "mouth breathing chopper builders" with S1 fames where I live Hahaha". When I strip it i might take the frame to a couple of shops and get them to tell me exactly how they plan to fix it. I defiantely dont want a hack job that will comprimise it even more. Just not to sure about the best and safest way | ||
| Reepicheep |
Bondo paint and ride. If the frame moves any more (and I don't think it will) you will see the Bondo crack as an early warning system. It's not like this is an aluminum frame that might have hidden cracks or become brittle, this is an honest to God steel frame. It is insanely tough. |
