350X Frame gussets and welding - another one for your pleasure!!

[Dirtcrasher]

I have another 86 350X frame here to do for a 3WW member thats local. He can reply if he wants to be known....

I guess the shipping scares guys away but according to GOAT it may be possible to ship them cheaper than some people assume. It does take a good 6-8 hours to fab the gussets, remove the paint and mig weld them back in place. It all went very well though......

I have some other pics to add but can't find my KODAK camera manual and I need to swap them from internal memory to the memory card which of course is impossible to do by the menu I'll post them up when I figure it out

Sadly, even the 86 frames with the updated wrap crack so it had to go - BYE BYE!!

I added another gusset this time to the lower frame rail, I've never seen them break there but it looked lonely and seemed to want some friends Only took a bit more time so what the heck.

Here's some pics:











You can see here how I get that frame wrap to tie into both the upper and lower gussets I fabricate, IMHO that should make it SUPER STRONG!!





Never, EVER use that stock frame wrap (yes, even 86 model) and motor mount without beefing it up

The shock pushes UP and the frame and your weight push down. The one single mount on the left side takes allot of abuse. BEEF IT UP!!

I may even weld another small boss or two to that motor mount that absorbs all the stress before I finish. Thank god I have a spare naked motor to line everything up.......

Roy AKA "TANKS350X" said "Hey, don't make it better than mine" but it's all a learning experience and you learn from each one and apply that to each new build :

It should be done soon, I still have to finish the motor mount and the rear seat pin area that cracks. Some people talk about the neck twisting, I haven't seen it or done it myself yet (DC knocks on wood) If you roll it that hard I may as well make the whole frame out of .250 tube and plate

[tanks350x]

Even though I'm partial to mine Just because it is It's coming along nice. Another super job as usual

[Bunnyhop]

That's nice work. Gusseted in all the right spots too.

[Jason Hall]

Hey DC your work looks NICE!!! Just a suggestion - on Goats 350x I put an extra motor mount on the opposite side of the engine where the bracket breaks the left side down tube. I ran the mount straight up under the top shock mount. Along with a triangle gussot for side load

I really don't understand why Honda would put a mount that close to the Chain (Major torque point) and only connect It to the one point on the Frame

[thefox]

Looks nice! I need to do that to mine as some point. I have already welded up a cracked left side tube and still have 2 other cracks to take care of (and I don't ride that hard, must have been the previous owner ).

[beets442]

+1.... nice fab and good welds DC..Beets

[JasonB]

dead seksy! Good job person

[The Goat]

I've never understood how the welds where the swinger bolt goes through actually manages to deal with the pivoting of the suspension. With the motor in front and the rider either laying weight on the pegs or the rear subframe, we're talking some serious stress.

DC...intake tube...gusset it. A lot of people don't realize that when they gusset a frame they completely change the way that it absorbs stress. I asked for gussets everywhere except on the big beefy backbone only to come to the conclusion, and have it confirmed, that a very rigid frame will transfer a lot of stress to that area. Shouldn't need much, just a reinforcement where the two smaller pieces of tubing meet the backbone.

Stand back and look at it and you'll see just what I mean. Like I say, I don't know crap about bikes, but I can break anything.


EDIT: I shipped my frame to Jason after Louis said it was easier and cheaper than people realized. Bring it to a UPS distribution center, and try to get them to take a few inches off the subframe when measuring, afterall that is flat area, and explain things can be easily stacked ON that portion.

I wrapped mine up with shop towels, electrical tape, and saran wrap. Worked just fine.

[NESC104]

Steve,
Nice welds, its looking really good. Cant wait to have that back. Now I will just have to choose a color to powder it....

[Dirtcrasher]

Glad you posted up It's suppose to cool down tomorrow/Fri so I'll get it done then!! If you wanna swing down Sat or Sun let me know even if you just want to check out the track and take a rip.....

I wish more guys lived closer or were willing to pay the shipping costs (or at least look into it), I feel real good about these frames when there done

I'd buy frames, brace them and resell them but I think with a rough cost of 300$ give or take that allot of people wouldn't want to do it. Maybe as more of these frames fail I can do a few more.

For some reason, people will buy an 800$ shock, 300$ on tires and rims, dump 1000$ into there motor and 300$ on new plastics without investing 200$ into a frame that outlives everything else

I'm trying guys, really am trying to keep the costs down as much as I can and still make a profit.......

[NESC104]

Steve, I have a frame that you can have to get the ball rolling, its a 86 but it needs some work which we know you can handle. I'll drop it off when I pick this up.....

[Ironheadtmb]

Looks like really good work