broken frame

[MX MadMann]

the only real bad thing that has broken on my 400 was the friggen frame. thats cause i continously launched it over huge jumps with stock suspension. hey i only weigh about 140 so im not fat kid. i used to go too big on jumps and not land on the downramps. oh well , honda replaced it for free even though it was a year old and 6 MONTHS OUT OF WARRENTY!! nothing else has broken that needed to be worked on besides tiny crap here and there.( frame brake day , about in july of 2001). i was landing a jump , not very big , maby like 45 feet or so. i hit the ground hear a pop , and the first thing that goes thru my mind is " yee haw , my shocks blew out , so i can get some new ones guilt free!!" then i realize that it will not steer , it wont steer because when the a arms came up , they bent the tie rods. i then proceded to roll off the side of another huge table top and it flipped thru a ditch. it took like 12 people to get it outa the ditch and onto my trailer. heres a picture. the frame broke in 4 places around the front shock mounts , one place you can see , the other place was right above that crossmember that connects the frames downtubes. tell me what you think.

i was wondering if anyof you had gusseted frames. i wanted to know where i could buy some of the little frame gusset pieces of metal with the holes in them so me and my uncle ( coolest dude ever) could clean up some welds , weld the gussets in all the stress points. and have it powdercoated. my 6 month warrenty is out on my new frame so i wanted to start fixing it up before i break this one.

any pictures , tips , or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Mxbubs]

All you have to do is take a piece of paper, and cut it out to fit the points you want to gusset. If the piece doesnt fit, just keep trimming on it until it is perfect. Once you get the paper cut just right, place it on your sheet metal and trace it out. I used 1/8 carbon steel sheet metal, its about 40$ for a 4x8 sheet. Take it to a local machine shop and have them cut your gussets out on a table band saw. Then grind the corners to clean them up.

since you got a new frame you should get your frame gussest and sell it, then you can buy yourself a new pair of shocks

[trx400ex]

Originally posted by Matrix250R
since you got a new frame you should get your frame gussest and sell it, then you can buy yourself a new pair of shocks :confused: ???????

honda replaced it for free even though it was a year old and 6 MONTHS OUT OF WARRENTY!!

what are you :confused: about?
he has a 2 frames. 1 brand new one. 1 cracked one. he should get the cracked frame guessested (fixed) and sell it. THEN he can buy new shocks (because he kept bottoming out and thats how he broke the 1st frame)

was that SOOOO hard to understand...? :huh :rolleyes:

[Poncho]

Who in there right mind would want a welded broken frame?:huh

[kabd69667]

Originally posted by Matrix250R


what are you :confused: about?
he has a 2 frames. 1 brand new one. 1 cracked one. he should get the cracked frame guessested (fixed) and sell it. THEN he can buy new shocks (because he kept bottoming out and thats how he broke the 1st frame)

was that SOOOO hard to understand...? :huh :rolleyes:

Take a look in his sig guiness.....

TCS shocks

[MX MadMann]

yeah , i got shocks now. honda diddnt give me my old frame back when they replaced it with the new one so i cant fix it up and sell it. can you guys tell me where all you put gussets at?? im thinking around the shock mounts on both ends. around the footpegs somehow. and maby in some other places if i can find them.

[airheadedduner]

Add a gusset to all the shock mounts and rear suspention linkage. Around the pegs and the block where the stearing stem mounts. I had a fabricator do mine. He made the swingarm pivot point double thinkness being I almost ripped one side out. I had all my motor mounts strapped and gussetted too, One more on the downtube right behind the swingarm linkage too. He added a peice of angle iron to that to make it stronger and disperse the stress better. I had to have 2 frames for a while on my R cause I broke them all the time cause myy front shocks suck and I had to back off my rear shock to match them. I bottom all the time. I just trashed one frame beyond repair to accept a stock motor. MY local fab guy has lots of experience moddin stock frames cause of me. I will post pics of my frame gussets if I have the time. BTW How do you like those TCS shocks?

[Atomic83]

Where is the picture?

[airheadedduner]

Originally posted by Atomic83
Where is the picture?

I said I would post it if I had time. I may not have time to but I will try.

[trx400ex]

Originally posted by Matrix250R


what are you :confused: about?
he has a 2 frames. 1 brand new one. 1 cracked one. he should get the cracked frame guessested (fixed) and sell it. THEN he can buy new shocks (because he kept bottoming out and thats how he broke the 1st frame)

was that SOOOO hard to understand...? :huh :rolleyes:

chill out, THAT wasnt so hard to understand, but "since you got a new frame you should get your frame gussest and sell it, then you can buy yourself a new pair of shocks " was... he already has shocks, and your only gonna get about 50 bucks out of a broken frame, hardly enough to get shocks

[MX MadMann]

hey airheadduner , i think he was asking for my picture that i said i would post but when i treid to post it , it wouldnt let me. every time i change the batterys in my digital camera , it sets the settings to the most clearest and hugest picture it can take. so it was like 300kb or somthing like that and it wouldnt let me post it. anyway , if you want to see it really bad , post your email addresses on here and i will send it to you. it is of the front right corner while sitting on the trailer still with the plastic on it and everything. it looks bad. maby if one of the administrators will post it for me if they can do that or whatever i dont know. anyway , its a pretty good picture of it.

[MX MadMann]

oh yeah , those TCS shocks are awesome. everyone who rides it is like " i was expecting a super plush ride" but the thing is , the faster you go , the better they work. they work hella good over big jumps. i dont have a steering damper on yet so its heck on ur arms unless you have monster guns like me:huh . not really though.

[airheadedduner]

IT came after my post so I though it was for me, oh well. DO you guys think Honda will replace my 86' R frame? Cause you where out of waranty. 6 months out, 16 years out, thats not that far apart :devil
I just got my original frame gussetted after trashing my spare frame. Rode it once, didn't even ride hard cause I had ammonia and I broke the bottom motor mount tabs off the frame and broke through the downtube behind the swingarm pivot. I am getting sick of that, just had an expensive gunmetal metalic paintjob done on it too. What a waste. Great to hear TCS shocks work good. I was really considering a set and would be willing to sacrifice low speed ride plushness for bottoming resistance. I mean, who would ride slow if they had TCS shcoks anyway.

[DEAL]

I gotta gusset my frame this winter!
I don't want it to break!

[airheadedduner]

Don't do it enless you need it!!!!! If you are trail riding or not bottoming that often it is not worth it, it is a lot of work. I bottom a lot is why I break them. Bottoming to the point that my frame is hitting the ground. I actully broke the taillight on my bike cause the rear sproket and caliper where hitting it. A stock frame is fine under everything but the most extreame use. I admit I do abuse my suspension a little which is most of the problemm. The front motor mount bolts always snap and without those for support it twists my frame and breaks it in other places.

[motochris]

I know quads are diffrent than dirtbikes but i have an idea for ya. The pros will strip down the frames and reweld and add welding to the stock frame welds. Gusets are good to add to make the frame stronger. Use a mig or tig welder and not a stick welder. A stick welder make the welds to brittle and won't alow some flex with out cracking the weld or chassis tubing. Also to help lighten the frame and loose a few pounds is replace some of the steel bolts with alum ones in less stressed places. Good luck