Welding on a bike.

[Guest]

Specifically with the electronics still being in place and attached. Can it be done safely or will it destroy crucial components? I am using a flux core wire welder which is setup with a reversed polarity i.e. the positive pole is used as the "ground".

Over the years I've heard both sides of the story and have always opted for removing the key electronics like igniter and R/r but I wonder if that is being overcautious.

The reason I ask is I am fabbing up some raised clip-ons to make the riding position more comfortable. I wanted to put them on the bike to help tack things in place once I check the fit. I would do the finish welding off the bike.

Thoughts and suggestions folks?

[Badooka]

It can be done- I would wrap up all electronics around the area and a good idea to disconnect your grounds on the bike. Why the reverse polarity???? I hope you have the argon or at least inert gas-welds without out it are inferior- if you are only placing brackets it might get by if not too much stress is on the weld joint.
Oh and get your seat completely out of the area- mig splatter with decorate your seat, and not for the better.

[spyug]

As I understand it , the reverse polarity is a requirement to have flux core wire work correctly. My welder came that way and there is no option to change it. As a flux core wire unit, it has no shielding gas.

What I want to do is put my fabbed clipon bracket on the fork and triple tree to see how it lines up and feels. The riser and bar tubes are currently only bolted in place and the idea would be to position things as I want them and just tack things in position. I would then take them off the bike for finish welding.

I was really wonder about the affect of the reversed polarity ground scenario on the bike's circuitry.

[harley10]

Do you have BARS for upgrade huh do you , do you !! Lol

[posplayr]

Simple answer is the reverse polarity should not matter because you are going to avoid having a frame potential impose any voltage or induce any current in the harness.
To do this:
Remove the battery so that plus and minus leads are isolated from each other.
Don't weld on anything near the stator cover.
If there is a harness ground attached to the battery neg separate it from the engine primary ground.
Keep the ground clamp as near to where you are welding as practical without burning it.
Cover anything you don't want decorated.
I only did this once but I had no ill effects.





Side issue, you using flux core to weld aluminum triple clamp?

[spyug]

Side issue, you using flux core to weld aluminum triple clamp?

No they are actually steel (possibly iron?) castings. I will document it more fully once I get fresh batteries for the camera but essentially I took a spare set of clip on bars from the parts bike, chopped off the stock bars and with some 7/8 tube made 3" risers and topped them with new bars. Kind of ghetto engineering and they aren't going to be pretty but possibly functional. Thanks for the info.

Do you have BARS for upgrade huh do you , do you !! Lol

Well I will have when the Gatekeeper and I make the pilgrimage down to see you. Hopefully toward the end of the month. This is a little test project to keep me occupied until the weather breaks.

I enjoy welding but am not really great at it so a little project every once in awhile helps to advance the skills.

[Badooka]

As I understand it , the reverse polarity is a requirement to have flux core wire work correctly. My welder came that way and there is no option to change it. As a flux core wire unit, it has no shielding gas.

What I want to do is put my fabbed clipon bracket on the fork and triple tree to see how it lines up and feels. The riser and bar tubes are currently only bolted in place and the idea would be to position things as I want them and just tack things in position. I would then take them off the bike for finish welding.

I was really wonder about the affect of the reversed polarity ground scenario on the bike's circuitry.

AH I see it's your unit that reverses the polarity, I thought you were doing it.
As I said if you remove the grounds on your bike, your circuitry will be safe.
Just test it with a meter to make sure you are ungrounded. A few quick tack welds will be fine to get them set but a nice solid bead for permanence.
Sizzling bacon is the sound you want to hear.

[harley10]

Great Bacon now I'm hungry thanx!!

[spyug]

Thanks guys. To help you visualize here is a pic of what I'm doing. I have puts bolts in to test fit and hold things. The idea is that I'll fit them on the bike, see where I want them and tack them in position.

When I go to finish weld with the lovely sizzling bacon sound I'll remove the nuts, cut the protruding bolts down flush and secure them with weld. I will also weld in the open tops of the risers to grab the bolts internal to the risers and finish off the tops.

The positioning of the bars follow the stock clip-ons but raise them up about 3". Hopefully that is all I need but the backup plan is to go with a bar supplied by friend Harley and standard risers on to this spare top triple clamp.

As I mentioned, I enjoy fiddling and projects like this help to give the brain a wee workout. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[GateKeeper]

Well isn't that friggen interesting.....my only thought is..are the bars too wide apart now, or is it just the angle we are seeing this at, seems your hands will not just be up higher but spread our more as well....?

.

[spyug]

You are correct they will be out about 1&7/8" either side. It seems like a lot but it doesn't feel that strange. I had them just sitting on top of the triple clamp currently on the bike and it felt ok although doing that puts them about 2" higher than they will be.

The proof will be when I actually fit them to the bike.

I'll let you know.

[Badooka]

Great Bacon now I'm hungry thanx!!

Funny true story here,
My neighbor went to the doc he told me, Doc asked me if I exercise- I said no.
The Doc asked why- and that I was overweight and needed to lose some.
So he says Doc, when I exercise I get hot, when I get hot I sweat, and when I sweat it smells like bacon and I get hungry and eat!!!! He said the Doc almost hurt himself laughing- best excuse to not exercise he ever heard. Bacon is powerful.

[1_v8_merc]

I've welded plenty of times, with battery still hooked up.
Just make sure your Ground clamp is attached closer to your welding path than the battery is. And more importantly, make sure your ground is Solid.

[Badooka]

I've welded plenty of times, with battery still hooked up.
Just make sure your Ground clamp is attached closer to your welding path than the battery is. And more importantly, make sure your ground is Solid.

If your willing to risk smoking something from an arc then by all means progress,
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. I can't even count the times I dropped the welder whilst trying to hold a piece still with wood and the damn line gets tangled all the while looking from under a mask! And all the colorful language comes out!!!!

[posplayr]

If your willing to risk smoking something from an arc then by all means progress,
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. I can't even count the times I dropped the welder whilst trying to hold a piece still with wood and the damn line gets tangled all the while looking from under a mask! And all the colorful language comes out!!!!

I wonder how often merc is running points ignition and a fired and over charging shunt R/R.

Yes keeping the welder current return path short is important, but I would not rely solely on that when nothing electronic on the bike has been designed to deal with anything an arch welder is capable of producing.