Fairing bracket welding

[r77toy]

Had a 0 mph parking tip-over, broke the right mirror, scuffed the mirror housing, broke system case mount. I replaced mirror, touched up the paint, go for a ride, the fairing seems to be vibrating, the fairing mount tab is broken on the front of the frame! Is there a simple fix for this? What alloy rod can be used to weld on the frame? I have access to a TIG welder. TIA

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Is there a simple fix? NO.

 

Is there a complicated and expensive fix, probably. You really should strip the components from the frame and take it to someplace that has a big enough oven or big enough torch to pre-heat the CASTING so as to minimize the chance of cracking.

 

An alternative would be to rework the fairing stay with some form of wrap around bracket on the end, allowing you to drill and tap 4 small screws into the steering head casting ala some of the universal fairing mounts.

[Ken H.]

What model of bike are we talking about?

[notacop]

Had the same experience with a 2000 RTP. Of course I took off the crash bars to add lightness. The mirror popped off and pushed in the mounting bracketry in the process of failure. I had duct tape with me to make a fix until I got home and could dismantle the mess and pull the mounts back into their proper place.

Welding would require complete dismantleing of the whole mess to avoid plastic fires and igniting your wiring.

Thank the fine engineers for thoughtful design. Seems we can't do anything on these bikes that don't confound the shade tree machanic.

[smiller]

I have a friend who dumped an 1100RT and broke the fairing frame attachment tab on the steering head. A local welder was able to make a very satisfactory repair (although you do need to have the part in your hand.) I'm kind of surprised that a 0 mph tipover could break that mounting tab, though, it's pretty stout...

[BlueBeam]

I must be lucky. At a stop sign I dropped my RT, broke mirror, broke signal lense, broke cylinder guard, scratched the #%&*@* out of the mirror housing. The worst of all was that I bent the fairing frame 3/8" to the right. I was going nuts trying to figure out what to do. It looks like the inside of the space shuttle behind that fairing! I finally put a big adjustable wrench on it and bent it back. I was scared to death that I would break the frame. I think that the people who design things should be forced to repair them when something bad happens!

[T__]

Had a 0 mph parking tip-over, broke the right mirror, scuffed the mirror housing, broke system case mount. I replaced mirror, touched up the paint, go for a ride, the fairing seems to be vibrating, the fairing mount tab is broken on the front of the frame! Is there a simple fix for this? What alloy rod can be used to weld on the frame? I have access to a TIG welder. TIA

 

TIA, as mentioned above we need to know the make/model/year of bike in question..

 

Assuming it is the 1100RT you have inquired about in the past that sure isn’t going to be an easy repair.. At the very least you have a lot of parts to remove as you will have to have perfect access to that area & as mentioned above get everything out of the way that heat could ruin (TIG welding aluminum produces a great amounts of transferred & radiated heat)..

 

How you make the repair will depend on your past experience in welding aluminum (I’m assuming not very much experience as you are asking how to repair & what filler rod t o use).. It will also depend of where that tab is broken off at (that is probably the biggest issue at this point).. If the tab is broken away from the frame head you can probably weld it back on with little preheat (a couple of passes with the TIG set to AC “maximum clean” then a full pass on both sides of the tab (be sure to chamfer both the broken piece & the stub part remaining on the bike frame so the weld has something to fuse with)..

 

Now if the tab is broken off right at the steering head casting it will take a copious amount of pre heat to get it hot enough to even begin to weld.. You will have to disassemble the steering stem bearings & all parts that are anywhere’s close to that weld area (did I say lots & lots of pre heat).. You will still need to chamfer the tab sides back at the steering head attaching point then rig up a way to hold the tab in place while welding.. ALL the paint, old grease & oil, any oil in the casting porosity, etc will have to be removed, then the area lightly pre heated to allow any remaining oil or other impurities to evaporate off.. Once cool again brush the area (& the tab) with a small stainless steel brush & I like to use some CRC contact cleaner & scotch pad to make the weld area squeaky clean & above all oil free.. (if it isn’t REAL clean it just won’t weld worth a hoot)

 

Now you will have to really preheat the area (not so much the tab) but the head casting, it probably wouldn’t hurt to hit it with the stainless steel brush again (have I mentioned REAL clean).. Once preheated maybe make a pass down both sides on AC max clean (no filler rod) .. Once it starts to get shiny it you can then turn the frequency from max clean back to about mid scale or even closer to full EN (assuming a Syncro wave type machine)..

 

I would suggest using the Vulcan T-51 aluminum filler rod as that is good for most aluminum stock & works pretty good on most cast aluminum.. Depending on your welder & percent of EN used probably use the 1/8” filler rod.. Be darn sure to remove the oxide from the filler rod before using it (I like to use contact cleaner & a paper napkin as that evaporates off & leaves a very clean surface).. (again oxide & dirt is you enemy here)

 

I am a certified welder (been for many years now) & I can tell you from experience that you have a difficult repair there.. Not too bad once you strip it all down but still a difficult situation..

 

If you are not a fluent aluminum welder with a good modern TIG welder,, this ISN’T the type of job you want to try to learn on.. (real easy to screw it up)..

 

OK, now possibly for the good news.. While washing my 1150RT tonight I reached up under that front bracket & upper steering head.. It looks like it is hollow up under the sides so it might be possible to drill the sides of the steering head outer casting & make a bolt on bracket to attach the fairing support to.. If you do that be sure to chamfer the holes slightly to defeat any possible cracks starting at the drilled holes..

 

Good luck as it looks like a pretty fair project..

 

Twisty

[r77toy]

It's a 97 R1100 RT sorry 'bout that.

[r77toy]

Looking at frames on flea bay, what models cross reference?

[Ken H.]

None. The R1150RT front faring frame is unique to the R1150RT. Any US model year '02 to '04 however.

[T__]

None. The R1150RT front faring frame is unique to the R1150RT. Any US model year '02 to '04 however.

 

Ken, he has a 97 R1100 RT..

[Ken H.]

None. The R1150RT front faring frame is unique to the R1150RT. Any US model year '02 to '04 however.

Ken, he has a 97 R1100 RT..

Oops, I stand corrected - The R1100RT front faring frame is unique to the R1100RT. Any US model year '96 to '01 however will work.

[Eckhard Grohe]

I believe we are talking about the casting here that is bolted to the engine. This is called the "front frame" and costs $475.

My take on this is that if you weld it, it will probably distort thereby possibly misaligning the front end of the bike. Additionally you will have to machine that tab so that tubular frame is well aligned. You would need the original drawings or a sample part to be able to do that.

 

There is also the " did they do a good job" factor. It is best to go riding without nagging doubts about the integrity of your bike.

 

I dropped my bike a couple of years ago and tweaked the "fairing bracket", the tubular part. I tried to bend it back and just gave up on it and bought a new one. I couldn't tell what was tweaked on my old one but the fairing didn't fit right. Perhaps if I had it dimensionally checked there might have been a difference. I do know the fairing fits better but not perfectly. Perhaps I should have changed the front frame too or maybe it was the fact the fairing panels were on hooks over the winter and they changed shape too.

 

There is a lot of work disassembling and re-assembling your bike there and if it were my job to do I would buy the new parts and change them. I wouldn't want 2 or 3 cycles of assembling and disassembling the front end to save a few hundred bucks. Chicago BMW and Hammersley discount parts 15 - 20% so i would spring for the new stuff or go to the Beemer Bone Yard and get some used parts and try that route. But remember just because it looks right doesn't mean it is and will make the fit like new. I am not trying to say anything bad about used parts but unless they came from an un-accidented bike I could be never be sure of their dimensional accuracy for this type of component. Big heavy parts pose less of a concern.

[Jameseo]

Is the attached photo the mounting tab that you're refering to? If so, just get a good aluminum weld on it and you'll be fine. I have 30k miles and no signs of cracking. Also, be sure to peel off the VIN sticker or you'll burn it.

I'll attach a couple more shots of the weld in another post...

[Jameseo]

2nd pic attached

[Jameseo]

3rd pic attached - the backside (upside down)

[r77toy]

Yup, that's the one. BeemerBoneyard shows an 03 1150R frame, they say it fits all R,RT,GS models, 850, 1100, and 1150, is this correct?

[Ken H.]

Yup, that's the one. BeemerBoneyard shows an 03 1150R frame, they say it fits all R,RT,GS models, 850, 1100, and 1150, is this correct?

I need to stay out of this thread all together. I thought we were talking about the front fairing sub-frame. Never mind, ignore everything I ever said.

[Eckhard Grohe]

Go to the parts fiche at MAXBMW and have a look at the different models. That is the surest way way for you to be sure.

[r77toy]

It looks like the RT, GS, ADV and R 1100 and 1150 all share the same frame, the RS models have a different part number. Of course the frame I'm looking at is an 1100RS. What kind of hoops am I going to jump thru at Cal. DMV to register a frame that doesn't match my engine?

[Eckhard Grohe]

Can't answer that question for you but since you have the old one I imagine it should ease the problem quite a bit.