Opinions on this mess?

[Dorkburger]

Bit of a back story ....  A few years ago I became aware that my EF is bent somewhere. The tail / rear wheel don’t line up which I’ve come to find out isn’t necessarily uncommon. More alarming however, was when I noticed heavy wear on the inside of the front sprocket due to chain misalignment, which I cannot get straight. Turns out the bike was wrecked far worse by the PO then I realized the at the time of purchase. I stuffed it pretty good once also.... seeing how there are no Motoliner or similar shops (this would have been my preference) remotely near me, I’ve kept an eye out for a replacement frame - not that common of an item in the States. I found a roller earlier this year, and excitedly went to pick it up. Within a minute of the seller rolling out into daylight I noticed the frame was effed. It was outside long term, water got inside, and freeze / thaw cycles blew out the bottom tube. The price dropped dramatically so I took it home, as there were other parts on it I was after.

I’m thinking of attempting to squeeze the tubes back to square, weld up the split, clean it up, and if the tubes don’t collapse or do anything stupid, give it a go. Nothing tried, nothing gained, etc, etc...

I still want to look at mine, measure things, and at least try to find where it’s bent to satisfy my curiosity. With the reading I’ve done here lately, I also want to have a good look at the swing arm. The left axle cover came with big a gash / scrape, so maybe something happened there.

my preference is to save mine, but I’m looking for plan B just in case.

Thanks

[no class]

Depending on how much rust is inside the tube..... welding will be tough because of contamination .  I have seen worse.... but rebuilding the problem area can be done .

[KATANAMANGLER]

Rot on the bottom frame tubes is apparently common on these frames. You would want to get it right if its going hold the mighty 1135 though. Might be a better Idea to chop it slug it and weld new bottom rails in at a point where you have some meat.

[Blubber]

cut and replace the bad section .

 

Square box 28 mm is out there with a reason 

[vizman]

like the above, further investigation....

.....but save time and cut out the bad and replace with good.

[gs7_11]

Yep, easily saveable. Us bikers aren't used to this, but a car restorer would take on far worse than that and not blink. As time goes on, it becomes more worthwhile doing this kind of thing, because as you say, decent frames will get harder to find.

Especially when this new hipster craze of blobber/twatter/chipper has passed and we're left with a load of badly angle-grindered frames  

[Dorkburger]

Gents, thanks for info.

I've been trying to get a hold of a friends totalled ef frame (nasty front end collision) in hopes of cutting it up to fix this one, but no response from him yet. Also, his brother has another untitled ef that he recently told me he  is considering breaking  so the 1135 can be used in an infamous 83 1100e that has made its rounds thru the extended family, myself included,  that he wants to make live again. Ive made it known of my interest in the ef carcass if he goes that route. I just dont like waiting on others in these situations. 

Now that my non OSS project is winding down and cold weather is nearing im looking to set a course to address my ef. 

As far as the car guys... yep. With help, I replaced the front stub, firewall forward on a 66 ElCamino that got wrecked - goddamn lowered (and frikkin cool) cars.....Unfortunately I didn't have the time and money to complete it and it was recently sold.... after 17 years of dormancy.....

Again, thanks for the advice.... or should I say advise here??

Glen

Edited October 16, 2017 by Dorkburger
Clarification

[vizman]

kool....keep the beast alive

there is no 'us and them' you can only speak for yourself.....unless you're the glorious leader

[Havoc]

I replaced the loop in a GSX1100SZ without to much hassle. It wasn't because of rot, but that's irrelevant. I used fresh tube rather than looking for an old one to cut up. Go for it 

[Fjbj40]

Glen, have you checked with poussex on GSR yet? He is always parting 1150's

[Fjbj40]

OR....you could save yourself the hassle and come by this!

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sport-touring/annapolis-valley/1986-suzuki-gs1150-ef-motorcycle/1304327900?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

Your in Jersey, not to far a drive and with the exchange rate that works out to only $1300.00 USD, probably get it cheaper!

 

hehehe

[Dorkburger]

Daryl, you Canadians always tease us with your dirt cheap ef bikes..... the screen on that thing is huge. A good looker too. 

I haven't checked with Posseux. Money is stupid tight and I already own this one. Late nights in the garage are (relatively) free and ocasassionly mind freeing... or mindless.

[Fjbj40]

In that case, if you have a welder, then have at er!

[Swiss Toni]

And, after replacing the frame tubing, it might be a good idea to drill a small 'weep' hole at the low point. 

[Cheeky4648]

3 hours ago, Dorkburger said:

Daryl, you Canadians always tease us with your dirt cheap ef bikes..... the screen on that thing is huge. A good looker too. 

I haven't checked with Posseux. Money is stupid tight and I already own this one. Late nights in the garage are (relatively) free and ocasassionly mind freeing... or mindless.

Friend of mine has just broken an ef. He has the frame which is all good as I've seen it. I'll check with him if you want. He's heading past joysey in December. Might be a cheap fix. 

[Dorkburger]

4 hours ago, Cheeky4648 said:

Friend of mine has just broken an ef. He has the frame which is all good as I've seen it. I'll check with him if you want. He's heading past joysey in December. Might be a cheap fix. 

Definitely intriguing. I’m not, nor would I ask him to hold it, especially since plans are far from concrete,  but please let me know it’s status when The time gets closer. Appreciated.

[Cheeky4648]

He dosnt tend to sell chassis as they are a pita to ship. I'll see what he wants.

[Dorkburger]

Well, it’s shaping up to be a bad winter for bike projects with a lot of other stuff going on. I did finally get the title transferred over to me. First time it’s officially changed ownership since 1993.... I was slightly concerned - while I was removing parts from the bike I noticed that the tab for the steering lock was cut off... no issues though. Since I was dealing with the pain of the MVC (motor vehicle commission), I also got a replacement registration card as I’ve been rolling with a nearly illegible one for two years - it went thru the wash after receiving it in the mail. 

I do have a set of modded 1150 forks enroute to me. Gold Valves and Sonic springs installed. Price was fantastic.  

Edited January 20, 2018 by Dorkburger

[Dorkburger]

Well, it’s time for school.... I’ve yet to get my hands on the donor frame, although I was close... a few things in my mind changed. I’m tired of waiting on others, I was tired of the roller clogging up my small garage, and the frame is worthless and useless as is so why not give it a go? Tubing arrived today. It doesn’t appear to be rocket science, and if my welding is half as bad as the factory, it will be fine... it will be a slow go, but if the repair goes well, I can paint the frame black as it should be, and swap my stuff on, cleaning things up as I go. 

 

[Zweihammer]

You can do it! If you were closer, I’d give you a hand. Which option are you gonna do?

Cheers, Zweihammer 

[nlovien]

back to your original issue - learned this from too many times assuming - 1st thing I now do is take swing arm off and place the pivot shaft and wheel spindle on matched blocks - basically if it doesn't sit solid at each x 4 corners then its bent beyond use ( couple of mm here can throw out the wheel contact by over 10mm ) - it also throws out the sprocket alignment

checking the frame itself isn't easy without making up stuff but you can go a long way by amplifying the two key points - steering stem to swing arm - are they perpendicular to each other ?  - stuff a long piece of tube through the headstock and swing arm pivot points - not accurate but a half decent eye ball - recently showed a friend his frame was twisted by doing this - mind you, it was for one of them american cycles, their probably all like that

[Dorkburger]

Thanks. Turns out the tubing I ordered was the wrong size, as in a bit too small.... oops.

The plan was to replace the tube with a piece of straight tubing due to my not getting my hands on the donor frame. Closer inspection also found that the rust damage extends into the curve near the lower crossmember at the rear. When the riding season is over, I will do as suggested as far as checking the swinger and head /  pivot. Checking the swinger was already on the list as a last hope to an easy fix. 

Time will tell.  

[Zweihammer]

You probably already thought of this, but sleeving the joint inside with plug welds to smaller tube or solid slugs could help maintain the strength.

How far up the curve does it go? You might consider mitering the bottom in ,slitting and cutting the wall of the straight to allow you to extend the bottom tube forward to the other side and roll in the outside edge to blend it in.

 If that sounds confusing, I can draw a picture or do an example.

Cheers, Zweihammer  

[Dorkburger]

I understand what you are suggesting. I put a call out to my cousin to see if he can get that GS frame tube to me. He is in PA, but he and his family travel back and fourth semi regularly. Stupid me shot myself in the foot. We were there this summer on vacation. I wanted to grab the whole thing, but it wouldn't fit in the car. I should have cut out what I needed.... 

[Dorkburger]

Bit of an update.....

Thanks to those mentioning the swinger. I pulled it off and took some measurements. I propped it up by four corners and It doesn't sit flat. One side  off by about an1/8 inch. Also, it's kicked over to one side by a 1/4 inch. The 1/4 inch number came from measuring the  one from the parts bike. Obviously a bit of an unknown, but the spare sits flat and had no crash marks like mine did.  I may be able to rock on with my original frame after all. That would make me happy, and save a bunch of work - it is my only cycle after all....

Edited January 26, 2019 by Dorkburger