Two broken reds in one day

[Jones]

So my two 1985 big red 250s have put up with a ton of abuse over the 3 or so years I had them. I made the mistake of mentioning to my buddy that they are pretty much indestructible. Noticed the one I was riding. Was pulling to the right reallly bad and when I took my hands off the bars it decided to roll haha. Just after discovering the broken fork I look at my other one and sure enough the frames broken.

I just ordered steering stem bearings and have another fork but what do you guys think would be the best way to fix the frame.? Figured I'd ratchet strap it tight weld then ad a gusset over it maybe a pipe cut in half maybe drill some holes to plug weld too.

[atc007]

WOW. Never seen that one. I wonder if they lived near salt water in their previous lives. A professional welder can glue that back together,but scrutinize every single inch of those bikes carefully before moving forward! My guess is you'll find some more flaws waiting to rear their heads.

[Kamnahrt]

Agree with what atc007 said, you will want to go over that frame with a fine tooth comb. If its like that in 1 spot chances are there are more just like it, that was just the highest stressed one showing its head. As for fixing it, if you are concerned about cosmetics. Get a piece of pipe that fits the ID of the tube snugly, bevel the frame back push it together and burn her together. You could also drill some holes and plug weld it in a couple places to that slug on the inside. Smooth it all out and a fresh coat of paint and your good as new. Then like you said, if you're not worried about cosmetics, add some gusseting on the outside with a piece of pipe.

[83ATC185]

I agree i would strip it to the frame and inspect it like your life depended on it.

Buy a sport trike and gusset it if you wanna jump it

[renotrikeguy]

Not seeing a lot of shiny metal in the pictures. Looks like the issue has been there for a bit of time now?

I agree with "The Dude". Please do a build thread when you start fixing them up. I have a 85 250es I need to get put back into shape as well.

[Jones]

One down one to go ended up spacing the gender forwards a bit so it barely touches at full lock