Time to pay, sad mistake

[Guest]

Ok, Lame mistake, but what’s done is done. I have no tears left.


I snapped in half the top mounting post for the rear shock. This post seems to be welded in place to the frame. Checked to see if the part was offered and it is not.

Here are my options as I see it.

1. New frame.
2. Find an old frame cut off the part have it welded by a pro.
3. Have a fabricator make another and weld it in place.

Any ideas? Anyone here made this mistake or something like it. It’s a heart breaker just costing time and money.

[txironhead]

A good welder should be able to grind the old part off and weld on a Grade 8 bolt in its place. You may end up having to use a different size acorn nut on that side but you'll be back on the road. Make sure you bring him the broken-off piece and the shock so he can get the sizing right.

[Dave8338]

A good welder should be able to grind the old part off and weld on a Grade 8 bolt in its place. You may end up having to use a different size acorn nut on that side but you'll be back on the road. Make sure you bring him the broken-off piece and the shock so he can get the sizing right.

Ditto on that.

[Sunburn]

Think i'll end up spending more time looking for a guy to do it then the time it will take to weld it on.

The hunt is on...

[80GS1000]

Can you still roll the bike around?

Try using a body shop if you can. Most of those places have a pro welder on staff that's used to making repairs to metal.

If you can't roll it, then you might have to get a guy with a portable MIG welding setup to come by and weld in a new bolt.

[gustovh]

Find a new grade 8 bolt, drill out the old one, slide the new one in the hole and weld. That should be stronger and safer than just cutting off the old and welding flush a new one.
V

[emjay]

I snapped off half the threaded section of the post on my 850. I talked to a guy at a motorcycle shop that can fix it. (It's a pretty cool place dedicated to old bikes!) He says the post goes into the frame, not just welded on to it. He says you need to cut it off flush with the frame then drill it out and insert a new one and weld it to both the inner and outer sides of the frame.

I decided the cost and time wasn't worth it yet, so I used a die to cut some more thread and used thinner washers. With a little locktite it held fine. Then I installed new shocks this spring and the nut wouldn't hold anymore. I then cut it one size smaller and got the correct acorn nut and it's good to go.

If you didn't break all the threaded section then you may be able to do something similar. Good luck.

[dardoonk]

Well, If you've still got one side, you can just beef everything up and run a single sided shock. It looks cool on this Ducati.

[txironhead]

Would this work?

Cut off protruding piece. Drill out the frame. Slide heavy-duty bolt through with washers on the inside and outside. Install shock, washer and acorn nut. Ride.

It won't be as structurally sound as the original, but it might make it roadworthy enough to ride to a welder and have it welded in. Plus, most of the work is done so it'll be cheaper just to have the welding done.

[Nessism]

Just my opinion but I'd drill/grind out the old post and then have a machinest fashion you a new one which then should be welded to attach. It's going to cost you a little money but shouldn't be too bad - less than $100. I hate mickey mouse repairs on structural parts.

[DonL]

I got the same problem with my GS1000. Let me know how you resolve it, ok?

[DonL]

Here's what I found in the archives.

DATE: July 31, 1999
QUESTION: Shock mount replacement - 1979 GS750EL
Is it possible to remove and replace the stud that the rear shocks mount to? A previous owner installed the wrong size nut on the stud and now the first 3/4" of threads are non-existent. I need to replace the stud or tap some new threads. I looks like I could knock the stud out of the frame and install a new one. Can anyone confirm this?
RIDER: Les Chamness
REPLY: Frank Perreault
Any good machine shop that also does welding should be able to do this. Talk to your local auto parts place or Suzuki shop to see if they can make recommendations. It won't be cheap though.
Tips and Tricks
Repair on a stripped rear shock mount / bolt
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I recently had some success repairing a shock absorber mounting bolt that had its threads worn almost smooth by the shock absorber. I noticed that posters to this board had repaired this problem by removing the old worn bolt and welding a replacement onto the frame. Since I had my hands full doing other repairs to the bike I decided to try to re-cut the threads on the existing mount. I used a 3/8”-24 die, which is just slightly smaller than the stock bolt, to carefully recut the threads, removing a fair amount of metal in the process. The end result was clean new threads that matched up perfectly with a standard (non-metric) 3/8-24” acorn nut. While I was able to tighten it, I didn’t want to apply too much torque to the nut so I used some locktite to ensure that the nut was secure. So far it has held and my guess is that it will continue to hold for the life of the bike. It was easier than cutting welding, that’s for sure.
Jeff

[first timer]

just take it to a machine shop. save a lot of time that way

[80GS750]

hey man where are you located at? some one on here may help you for free... if your near omaha ne i will help you out. send me a pm if your close and we can get her fixed.

[Sunburn]

Thanks for all the input and help! I'll post the results later.



Thanks for the offer of help! I'm in So Cal tho..