1999 CR125 Ready to be hacked

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » July 2nd, 2008, 8:20 am

I'm not really familiar with welding equipment,I need a tig welder right?are they the ones that fuse the actual peices of metal or do they use rods?Theres one that uses rods at the hamlet garage downtown but since I've been here anything I've had welded there look like crap so I'm guessin the weld quality is probably crap,There is quite a few construction companys in town right now and I'm pretty sure one of should have better welding machines than the one at the garage,maybe I could talk one of them into doing it?

dannygraves · Post by **dannygraves** » July 2nd, 2008, 8:22 am

yeah, that stick crap aint gonna cut it. You want TIG, can make MIG work, but I wouldn't bust out and old school stick arc welder, plus I don't think those can do aluminum.

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » July 2nd, 2008, 10:55 am

This is toymaker's convert from the other site.I think I could do something like this in town here,I know there is pipe benders here,Is there any downfalls to using round instead of square tubing?

Also I talked to the foreman from the garage in town he said they have aluminum welding rods for the welding machine they have down there & they have a wire feed welder coming in on the barge this september but they didn't order aluminum wire for the new one

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » July 2nd, 2008, 12:23 pm

I found a tig welder & a certified welder

theres a company building a new gymnasium for the elementary school here. I helped out one of the site supervisors a few times,saw him earlier he said no problem,hes even got a portable he said we could use to tack everything up before bringing it down to thier job site and they got about another year to go so I won't have to rush to get it done,I feel good about this now,shit first air is so dam slow shipping bigger items though

ShanMan · Post by **ShanMan** » July 2nd, 2008, 12:32 pm

I really don't want to burst any bubble here, but I would strongly urge not trying to replicate that round tube deal. Honestly...it's sketchy stuff. Hell, unless there was more work coming I am anaware of, he didn't even use the lower engine mounts, which is a really bad idea.

Unless you are a better than average welder, I strongly recommend letting a pro do the welding. All the strength and the straightness of the frame's result geometry depends on the knowledge of the welder to understand how the materials moves during the process. If not done correctly, or in the right sequence, welding will pull the frame out of alignment.

Just my thoughts...

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » July 2nd, 2008, 1:18 pm

ShanMan wrote:I really don't want to burst any bubble here, but I would strongly urge not trying to replicate that round tube deal. Honestly...it's sketchy stuff. Hell, unless there was more work coming I am anaware of, he didn't even use the lower engine mounts, which is a really bad idea.

Unless you are a better than average welder, I strongly recommend letting a pro do the welding. All the strength and the straightness of the frame's result geometry depends on the knowledge of the welder to understand how the materials moves during the process. If not done correctly, or in the right sequence, welding will pull the frame out of alignment.

Just my thoughts...

Thats exactly why I asked questions first

so square is the way to go then,how hard is it to bend the square tubing without making a mess of it ? I totally intend to have a experienced welder do the work,I don't know squat about welding

ShanMan · Post by **ShanMan** » July 2nd, 2008, 3:38 pm

square tubing MUST be bent with the correctly tooled mandrel bender or the tube will collapse. (same goes for round tubing actually) Ideally, you will get a bend pattern off of a gen. one 250 frame and then give that and some of the correct tubing (maybe Bob has a little left?) to a shop that can bend them up for you. Remember to leave both ends longer than you need so you can trim the cradles back to the ideal length/shape and have nice, squared up edges for welding.

I think the other guys will concur, but you should make the lower cuts diagonal so that you have the largest possible surface area at the joint. Further, it's probably a great idea to use a solid insert and then have the insert welded in with rosette style plug welds to both the existing frame tube and your new cradle. If you look at Bob's frame...where his new tubes tie into the existing stuff, you will see a great example of what I am trying to describe.

Godspeed brother.

ou812 · Post by **ou812** » July 2nd, 2008, 6:31 pm

Words of wisdom right there

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » July 14th, 2008, 8:49 am

I took the easy way out and bought a 99 250 frame yesterday,got it for $51.00US + shipping

,I can't believe how fffing slow First Air is sending that 125 up here,its been almost a month now I think

,nothing I can do but wait I guess

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » August 8th, 2008, 8:07 pm

I finally got my 125 a few days ago and all the parts I need for it plus my 250 frame came in yesterday.since I never tried a 125 I thought I would put it together and see what they feel like,so when I go to hook up the powervalve linkage arm I see a little crack in it,I put the tiniest bit of pressure on it and it snapped so now I gotta wait for one of those,I ordered it today,at least I found it first or it could of been a expensive test ride I took,anyways I'm gonna list it for sale when I go to work on sunday and see what happens so far I spent $750.00 on engine parts for it so I'm not sure how much I'm gonna ask for it yet, The frame/body is in pretty good shape,better then it looked in the picture

,these aluminum frames really are sexy eh

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » August 28th, 2008, 5:58 am

I bought my old 86 back from my Buddy last night

& the 87 cases that I bought came in as well so now I got a complete running engine + 87 cases with a 96 crank,tranny and shift assembly.Can't wait to tear the 86 apart this weekend,do the bushings just tap out of the cases easily or will I be needing a press?also I'm having a hard time finding a sawsall to remove the mounts on the donor frame,can someone point me in the right direction as to what kind of grinding disc I can use to grind them off,theres some at the Northern store here but they just say metal and don't list the types it is good for,Thanks-kkv

Exnav · Post by **Exnav** » August 28th, 2008, 6:02 am

Do not use a disc. Hack saw would be better than that if you have no access to a sawzall. The discs that people commonly use contaminate the aluminum for welding and you end up causing yourself extra clean up. Get a good hacksaw and get after it. It's not hard.

Travis · Post by **Travis** » August 28th, 2008, 6:03 am

Most posts I have saw say not to use a Grinder because peices of the disc get into the ally and make for bad welds. I am unsure but I can say a grinder disc will gum up with alluminum quick. So it is probably best to find a sawzall.

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » August 28th, 2008, 6:14 am

I thought about that,I have a hack saw but I would like to be able to smooth out the surfaces of the downtubes after removing the mounts,before getting the new mounts welded on,from all the pictures I've saw on here people obviously use something to smooth them out or prep them for welding right?

Post by **AlisoBob** » August 28th, 2008, 6:28 am

Travis wrote:Most posts I have saw say not to use a Grinder because peices of the disc get into the ally and make for bad welds.

Yup.

If you do use a grinder, you must use a file to clean up the areas before welding.

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » August 28th, 2008, 7:01 am

I plan on sending he frame to Yellowknife to be welded so if I do end up using a grinder I'll make sure they know to clean it up really good before welding

dannygraves · Post by **dannygraves** » August 28th, 2008, 7:41 am

I use 40 and 60 grit flap discs. they still contaminate, but pretty much just add more ALOX to the surface. I use a bare (not brass coated) wire wheel to clean up the surfaces.

these flap discs remove a lot of meterial and FAST and last forever. the 40 grit wheel in the pic has done 3 conversions for me

including my gen-1. on mt gen-1 I sawzalled off the fromt mounts, then used the flapdisc to grind down the welds until the remaining mounts came off like a peice of foil. Them I wire wheeled the crap out of it and my welder TIGed the new mounts on... done deal!

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » August 28th, 2008, 7:51 am

cool I can get those flap discs,probably just use a hack saw for the mounts then hit it with the flap disc,Thanks

dannygraves · Post by **dannygraves** » August 28th, 2008, 7:53 am

just make sure to clean everything up before you weld either with a wire wheel, wire brush or a file.

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » September 1st, 2008, 10:49 am

pulled the engine from the 86 on saturday,stuck it in the 250 frame to have a look,gonna cut the mounts off tonight after work.thats really all I can do until I get the bushings bored out so I can get it mocked up to weld the front mounts which I am gonna pay Shanman for today

as you can see I pulled the topend off and guess what?it looks exactly the same as it did over a year ago when I pulled it off,The durability of these engines is incredible,I put quite a few hours on it as well as my buddy who owned it for the past 2 months

Wheelie-Gene · Post by **Wheelie-Gene** » September 1st, 2008, 6:56 pm

Durable? As a Sherman tank.
I gutted the cases on a junk core engine I bought for moc-up. I was amazed....for the god-awful, nasty, shitty oil that was in it, all the gears and forks (and clutches) looked like it was a low-hour engine.

When I pulled down the engine that I'm rebuilding, it was the same way. Crappy, old, nasty oil with no wear on the gears, basket, or the aluminum clutches. Only issue is the cylinder was a scratched up (no big deal, std. bore).

Looks sweet.
Keep up the updates.

dannygraves · Post by **dannygraves** » September 1st, 2008, 9:07 pm

very cool!

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » September 7th, 2008, 5:29 am

cut the front mounts off yesterday,I used a 7" cutting wheel then hit them with a 4" grinder then with a wire wheel on a die grinder,just waiting on mounts from shanman now & I gotta bore my case bushings.How exactly do you tap them out of the cases?I tapped away on saturday but they won't budge,how hard should I have to hit them?

Wheelie-Gene · Post by **Wheelie-Gene** » September 7th, 2008, 11:00 am

I used a sharp chisel to get them out of the cases. The bushings are pressed in, but not a terribly tight fit. They are hardened steel and I couldn't drill them out.
I've seen threads on which Honda spacers work with what gen bikes. I didn't have time to screw around and wait on shipping and chance getting the wrong spacers. I made 1 piece aluminum bushings so I wouldn't have to use shims (washers). The biggest problem I had was locating a 17mm drill bit.

kkvslayer · Post by **kkvslayer** » September 7th, 2008, 12:19 pm

I was kinda scared of damaging the cases,maybe I just gotta tap a little harder

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1999 CR125 Ready to be hacked