Well for the past month I have been forced to deal with the possiblity of a weak link in the YFZ's frame. From what I have gathered, since this issue hasn't blown up all over the net yet, that it's not a huge issue (like the Z400 shock mounts) until you flip your YFZ pretty good. From what I have seen, and gathered is that most of the Pro Racer bikes are not guessted(yet?), and seem to be holding up ok, but if you flip one over on it's nose your going to have troubles. I flipped my bike on it's nose real hard, and crushed the top of the frame in through the radiator. It landed so hard the the pastic mounts on the frame went through the plastics and folded over. My steering stem is almost a complete 90% now, and it was pushed through the gast tank. The only way I got the tank out was to cut it's plastic cover off. Luckily if your Tank is not cracked, then you can leave it in the sun for a few hours, and it will "Pop" back into shape......I was lucky.
On to the Frame:
The weak link that I am talking about is the top of the frame from the shock mounts to the rear gussets were the tank bolts up. THERE ARE NO SUPPORT BARS RUNNING FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP FRAME RAILS. So if you flip it on it's handle bars, it takes the leverage (like a giant lever) and kinks the frame right behind the radiator, cause there is nothing there to distribute the impact, and prevent it.
The upper steering stem support tube was bent back, and twisted because of the way the bike landed. All my plastic tabs were bent in one form or another. My cross brace was also bent and both my main upper frame rails were bent. The left hand side was bent so bad that it crushed the top of the radiator aswell. In fact the way the top of the frame bent, and twisted my radiator was mangled in 3 different directions. But again luckily it was not broken, so a simple run to the local radiator shop they were able to straighten it back out as good as new, and it only cost me 50 bucks versus 217.95 for a new one. My frame was in such bad shape that we decided to cut off the top and start completely over. From what I can tell we burnt the paint off an old peace of frame tube, and it did not have a seam like standard steel has, so it must be some form of Chromoly, just not sure on the grade.
Well I'm not good at written explanations, but it can be fixed. I have a million pictures that I've taken along the way so if anyone has this unfortunate accident, and is compatent they can rebuild a frame then just let me know, and I'll give all the guidance I can.
This is what I have been working on for the past month.
In this picture you can see the top tube collapsed in on the radiator, and the steering stem upper support bar was bent pretty far back, and twisted sideways. The radiator was bent 3 different ways, but luckily it didn't break, so I got it straightened for 50 bucks.
Up close
Our solution was to cut the top off and start over.
The end result is alot more 4130 chromoly, and a much stronger frame.
And everything fits perfectly. Also my extra bars are hard to see with the plastics on so that's a plus
Right now it's at the powdercoater's getting finished up, so my bike should be back together within 2 weeks. :rock
On to the Frame:
The weak link that I am talking about is the top of the frame from the shock mounts to the rear gussets were the tank bolts up. THERE ARE NO SUPPORT BARS RUNNING FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP FRAME RAILS. So if you flip it on it's handle bars, it takes the leverage (like a giant lever) and kinks the frame right behind the radiator, cause there is nothing there to distribute the impact, and prevent it.
The upper steering stem support tube was bent back, and twisted because of the way the bike landed. All my plastic tabs were bent in one form or another. My cross brace was also bent and both my main upper frame rails were bent. The left hand side was bent so bad that it crushed the top of the radiator aswell. In fact the way the top of the frame bent, and twisted my radiator was mangled in 3 different directions. But again luckily it was not broken, so a simple run to the local radiator shop they were able to straighten it back out as good as new, and it only cost me 50 bucks versus 217.95 for a new one. My frame was in such bad shape that we decided to cut off the top and start completely over. From what I can tell we burnt the paint off an old peace of frame tube, and it did not have a seam like standard steel has, so it must be some form of Chromoly, just not sure on the grade.
Well I'm not good at written explanations, but it can be fixed. I have a million pictures that I've taken along the way so if anyone has this unfortunate accident, and is compatent they can rebuild a frame then just let me know, and I'll give all the guidance I can.
This is what I have been working on for the past month.
In this picture you can see the top tube collapsed in on the radiator, and the steering stem upper support bar was bent pretty far back, and twisted sideways. The radiator was bent 3 different ways, but luckily it didn't break, so I got it straightened for 50 bucks.
Up close
Our solution was to cut the top off and start over.
The end result is alot more 4130 chromoly, and a much stronger frame.
And everything fits perfectly. Also my extra bars are hard to see with the plastics on so that's a plus
Right now it's at the powdercoater's getting finished up, so my bike should be back together within 2 weeks. :rock