I have a 97 750 that has a salvaged title. I want to take the bike to have a pre salvage inspection done so it can be street legal. The frame has 2 good sized dents in it. One on each side. What is the best way to repare these dents? I heard of tack welding a piece on and pulling them out. I cant just fill it in with body putty because one dent is right over the access hole for removing the carb.
For the dent at the access hole, you could try a slide hammer with a L-shaped attachment. The other dent, they make slide hammers that you weld a stud on to dent and slide hammer it then grind off the stud. Not sure if they make aluminum ones thou.
With dents as BIG as you are describing, are you sure your frame is not bent?
I have frame specs in another post and a clean titled frame if need be as well.
this would be my concern too. I would suggest getting an engineer to measure the frame first and make sure she is all straight before you do anything else.
I would be concerned about using a frame that has had dents repaired in it, but thats just me - seems like there are a lot of pretty good dudes on this forum and I reckon you might have less hassle using them to network and locate another frame at a 'mates rates' kinda price
yea this bike was actually my track bike last year. Im pretty sure the frame is strait cause i put a different engine in it with no problems lining up all the mounts at all. The dents arnt that big. I acutally took the good frame that was polished off this 97 bike and used it on my 98 that has good fairings and chrome wheels. So my 98 is my good street bike. Now this 97 has the dented 98 frame. It has potential to be a good street bike if i could fix the frame. I will look into some tools to pound these dents out as much as i can, or maybe find someone in the St.Louis area who can get them out for me.
actually when i bought the bike it did have a chrome frame cover. Just dont think that would pass the rebuilt inspection. Honestly i just want this thing to pass so i can fix it up and sell it to buy a salvaged k6 1000 for the track.
I've repaired a couple of frames that had the dents you speak of. If the dents are accessible from the inside then you can tap them out with a hammer and a drift with a blunt end. Don't use something sharp like a screwdriver. If they're larger you may have to cut the inner out to gain access then have it welded back in after the repairs are finished. You'll need some panelbeating (bodyman I think is the US term) skills to dress the outer and file finish it if you're not painting it. Another tip with Aluminium, don't use a body file too much as the material is soft and will disappear fast. 80-120 grit sandpaper on a sanding board does the trick. I was a panelbeater for 13 years.
thanks. This is good info. Sounds like you know what your talking about. I realy just want this bike to pass the inspection so I will probably just paint it when done.
i will be getting a work xro6 frame that has large dent in,frame is true damper bracket is pushed in and when i say pushed in ,you will see when i go to pick it up.
Just Saw-zall the dented areas out. But sure to also cut and equal sized opening on the back side of the frame spar to equalize the air flow. This is increase airflow to the engine and make the bike more "aero".