How Screwed Am I? Really...
 

Hey All,

1998 Hawk, 37k on the clock. Bought it about 2k ago, invested over 1500 in it so far....new rubber, APE CCts, stainless lines, new pads, rear seat cowl, full lower belly pan, flush mounts...you get the picture. Heard a strange rattling on the way home tonight, no change in the bike behavior. Got home, was putting in new left bar controls that I just got, and noticed THIS! the upper fairing stay mount has broken off the frame. The weld failed. I knew the bike had been down before I bought it, but it was minor cosmetic damage. Apparently, the damage was more extensive, and the weld finally failed.

Anybody seen this before? This can be welded? Is the frame cast aluminum? How safe is this to ride in the meantime? Opinions on repair? Thanks fellas.

After previously owning a series of carbed 1000cc bikes - '89 Fj1200, '89 ZX-10, '91 gsxr1000, this is by far my favorite and would hate to part her out. Thanks!

The good news is it's not really structural... Just holds up the fairing...

Disassemble, have it Tig welded, then powdercoat the frame... Then you'll never think about it again.

James

Thanks James . Worried about warping of head stock during weldng....and failure of lower bracket in the interim. Eff it, I'll put a hose clamp to take stress off lower.

Keep in mind it's been welded before. If it's been welded before it can be welded again. Just make sure to take it to someone that actually knows how to weld.

Seeing it's non Structural even a tack weld would suffice as long as the bike doesn't go down again. It's just a fairing stay bracket . Nothing to loose sleep over nor to part the hawk out for.

You can always try JB Weld, if welding has you concerned about warping

Actually a fairly common failure in my experience on a crashed superhawk-seen it numerous times. Being it's probably a clean break and you have the broken piece, it should be a very easy and quick repair for someone who has a clue how to tig weld. Did that on a '99 a few years back that I bought after it was dropped. Never had any issues with it. It's a fairly small piece/weld. Anyone out there with more welding experience than me think it's going to warp or damage anything?

Get a good welder to TIG that as The Deatons said. It will be good as new. The powder coating is optional.

I agree. Its a big chunk of alloy so it wouldnt bother me.

Get it welded, move on and enjoy the bike! That's what I would do.

As you will find out, there is always something to do to these bikes.

Very weldable done right no issues at all