Yesterday afternoon I noticed that one of the original frame welds had a stress fracture, resulting in almost total separation of the joint. Metal is a bit thin for an arc welder with 2.5mm electrode, but managed with a bit of skill on low current and just overdid the weld to make sure it was stronger than necessary. Hopefully this is of interest to someone, either with similar problems or just a note to check your frames' condition every now and again - they aren't particularly strong or well designed in truth.....
Yup, that's one of the weak spots! The other main one (two) is where the loop of the rear sub frame meets the rest of the frame (by the removable strut on the left, and above the exhaust bracket on the right.)
Welcome to the forum!
Ride safe,
Simon
Thanks Simon, I guess I just appeared out of nowhere and posted a close up picture of a frame weld on a public forum - what a weirdo.
By way of introduction then, I am a RAID model owner, imported 1994 edition, had the bike 4 years or so. Still running with nearly all original parts including steel swing arm, working digital speedo etc. I like to keep my bike a bit muddy and scruffy looking, but with all operational parts working perfectly.
There are other things I could have posted previously, such as a digital speedo hall sensor fix for £2.99, corroded connectors found for digital speedo, but good information on these topics is already here.
I don't find the TTR a problemetic bike to maintain, considering the abuse it gets off road. The only real problems I have with the basic design are a lack of any waterproofing effort with numerous electrical connectors and handlebar switches, plus the curious droopy exhaust route (to allow a tiny bit of water to collect rather than enter the cylinder I assume?) ... and massive weight of the stock silencer.
Anyway, glad to be here, off to mid-Wales in a couple of weeks to explore for a few days....if the frame holds up.
Mine has started cracking in exactly the same place. Crack only extends around the top of the weld to the main frame so far. That's after 100 miles of 'enthusiastic' green laning with a tool bag strapped to the seat hump most weeks for last 5 years (plus previous less stressful life!) and with the TTTRs stainless exhaust fitted. I previously had to have a massive penny washer welded in to make a new mid-exhaust mount after the std bit of bent steel kept cracking - that's held up for at least 5000 green lane miles now. I've also had a 5mm steel plate welded to the bottom of the downtube to give better support to the CRD bash plate, which I'm getting close to having bashed to pieces now! The frame protectors that came with it seem to have very little function though, barely a mark on them still. The subframe is a weak part of the bike really and needs looking after. I got my frame powder coated and that's been very effective in stopping corrosion but in retrospect if I could go back to when I acquired the bike I'd get the 2 mods done, inspect thoroughly for existing cracks, brace the known failure points and have it powder coated straight off. I also put clear speed tape over all the wear and impact damage points on the newly coated frame, which I mapped before the frame was stripped. Apart from the one new crack it's held up pretty well and after 3 years of pretty serious abuse I still have virtually zero frame corrosion.
