I am doing major repairs to my RT fairing after a little trek down a country lane that turned into a goat track to visit a friend last week.
Top mounting points (which had been repaired before by previous owner) gave out and an old crack above the R/H blinker appeared (the prev owner had simply repaired the mount with resin and then bogged the crack). I've cleaned the mounting points right back to the orig f/glass and f/glassed them back into position and repared the crack from the inside with f/glass.

On inspection I have found both top and bottom front metal brackets off the bike front end have cracks 3 to 4 inches long where the left and right sides come together. They've been there for a while as the metal in the cracks is rusted.
Before welding...
- I've remove all wiring from that area and ground the cracks out.
- Tank is off and fuel lines are well covered.
- ECU and ICU are unplugged
- I've covered any wiring and other areas to protect from sparkes from my arc welder.

Question: I don't think the high voltage from the arc welder will do any damage to the electrics as current takes the shortest and easiest path back to earth but I'm no expert and I've not welded on a bike or car before.
Please ... no "maybes" or "just in case" suggestions.
- Will welding on my K frame do any damage?
- Are ther any precautiuons I need to take other than what I've outlined above?

Cheers

Remove the earth lead on the battery and unplug the alternator. Frying the diodes in an alternator is the most common problem.

wouldn't be hard to undo the 4 bolts holding the tree on ....and weld "off bike "   eliminates ANY risk

but  a noted mod could be to add a piece or two of steel to the bracket on the upper arms
have seen many cracked trees in that same region , most likely from the side brackets letting the fairing flex too much

I have made some solid 3mmx 25mm midsection frame bracket-mounts and the difference is amazing

good luck

RicK G wrote:Remove the earth lead on the battery and unplug the alternator. Frying the diodes in an alternator is the most common problem.

Cheers
Thanks for that

charlie99 wrote:wouldn't be hard to undo the 4 bolts holding the tree on ....and weld "off bike "   eliminates ANY risk

but  a noted mod could be to add a piece or two of steel to the bracket on the upper arms
have seen many cracked trees in that same region , most likely from the side brackets letting the fairing flex too much

I have made some solid 3mmx 25mm midsection frame bracket-mounts and the difference is amazing

good luck

To be honest, I think it would fall apart if I took it off. I have it set up now so everthing is aligned and square. A bit of reinforcing prob wouldn't go astray but it'll all be coming off early next year anyway. Having now had a look from the inside I can see this fairing as been beat up quite a bit. Repairs over repairs and the f/glassing appears to be going chalky. Also the plastic compartments practically disintegrated on removal. Me thinks it's nearing its end.

I'm looking forward to seeing if this repair makes any difference to how the fairing performs in the wind as it has always vibrated and creaked a little since I bought her back in Apr and no wonder with a broken bracket.

Cheers