[manimal]

after nearly 2 weeks of weeping and gnashing of teeth over the accidental cutting of my downtube from a bike rack incident; i finally have some closure. the crash replacement deal wasn't looking too good and i was told by a few specialized folks that the location of the cut was not likely to have much stress on it and that it should be ok to ride.
so anyway, i was telling a buddy of mine about this predicament and he recommended welding it. i know absolutely nothing about welding so i went to Bill Davis Racing, (NASCAR race co.) in my town to ask some pro-welders about it. i took the bike with me and let them look at it and they agreed that it was definitely fixable. they also eased my fears and told me that the heat wouldn't weaken the edges of the tube because the aluminum is so thin that it doesn't require much heat to make it weld.

so long story short, i had my frame welded by some of the best in the biz and the head welder (master degree in physics/engineering) said that it should be stronger than it was before and if it broke there he'd pitch in on a new frame.

and all this for free! this is the same company that designed the new sticker kit for out patrol cars so i kinda have the hookup

now i'm no NASCAR fan but it was pretty neat seeing my baby on a table getting worked on right next to a line of race cars in various states of repair. crazy props to Bill Davis Racing for hooking it up

before

after

go ahead and flame away with all the "you're crazy to ride a cracked frame...blah, blah, blah." i'll be sure to post pics of me racing it on through next season

 

[manimal]

oh yeah, i'm gonna grind the bead flat and clean the area up a bit then maybe put a sticker over it or something since they had to grind through the powdercoat.
any suggestions on what to put over it?

 

[Zark]

Please tell me it was heat treated after welding...

 

[in the trees]

oh yeah, i'm gonna grind the bead flat and clean the area up a bit then maybe put a sticker over it or something since they had to grind through the powdercoat.
any suggestions on what to put over it?

NASCAR stickers! Why not?

toby

 

[manimal]

Please tell me it was heat treated after welding...

i dunno...they mentioned something about the frame being heat treated and that the weld......ah...crap....i can't remember what they said they did to it. but they knew the frame was heat treated when they started.

 

[AlmostHeaven]

go ahead and flame away with all the "you're crazy to ride a cracked frame...blah, blah, blah." i'll be sure to post pics of me racing it on through next season

if the crack was in an area more prone to large pressure amounts,etc. it would be worthy of a flame, but instead i'll have to substitute with this:


PIG! :bomb:

but seriously, you have gotta one of the coolest cops out there just for the fact that you own a DH bike.

 

[manimal]

if the crack was in an area more prone to large pressure amounts,etc. it would be worthy of a flame, but instead i'll have to substitute with this:


PIG! :bomb:

but seriously, you have gotta one of the coolest cops out there just for the fact that you own a DH bike.

hey, i have a hardtail too

 

[coma13]

hey, i have a hardtail too

vandalism!!!!

 

[Slugman]

If I'm not mistaken (and I know ZERO about the suspension mechanics), all the forces in that section shoud be in compression, not tension - so the weld should be fine. The discoloration does make me a little concerned, but I don't have enough experience welding to e-speculate.

NASCAR stickers! Why not?

toby

Mandatory... it would be insulting to them otherwise.

 

[noskcaj]

Yea, why are cops allowed to ride like that, yet we get harrassed by 300 lb pigs for doing the same But then again, you are the first cop i have ever heard of that can ride a bike fairly well. But anyways, nice to see someone fix something rather than trashing it and buying new.

 

[noname]

hey, i have a hardtail too

YOU DELINQUENT!
That patrol car looks tits with a DH bike on the back.

 

[manimal]

If I'm not mistaken (and I know ZERO about the suspension mechanics), all the forces in that section shoud be in compression, not tension - so the weld should be fine. The discoloration does make me a little concerned, but I don't have enough experience welding to e-speculate.

they told me that was just the powdercoat burning off and it didn't get hot enough on the edge to weaken the tubing. he gave me some cleaner/acid stuff that should take those off. i took that picture about 5 minutes before i had to be at work so i haven't had time to do any cleanup on it yet. i'll repost when it's all done and purdy

 

[manimal]

YOU DELINQUENT!
That patrol car looks tits with a DH bike on the back.

ha..and the best part....???? i'm getting paid for that :love:

unfortunately, i don't ride the demo on duty for obvious reasons
but i'm probably the only cop anywhere riding a P2

updated pic w/ police stickers

 

[noname]

You do your patrol on a P2? That rocks!
remind me to behave myself when I'm in your town.

 

[manimal]

You do your patrol on a P2? That rocks!
remind me to behave myself when I'm in your town.

hellsyeah suckaz!! i'll come out of nowhere on you!

i don't ride ALL the time, just when calls are slow, usually on 3rd shift (around 2-5am). pretty much like an urban session where i keep an eye on things and stop to talk to all the crackheads

 

[VegiBikerDude]

no harrasin de ganja puffas, dey be rasta men

 

[manimal]

no harrasin de ganja puffas, dey be rasta men

nah, they too easy bra. no cool runnins when your high as a kite

 

[DRB]

Please tell me it was heat treated after welding...

I'm just gonna guess that the head welder at a NASCAR shop is going to pretty much know what he can and cannot get away when it comes to this stuff.

These aren't welding school dropouts we are talking about.

 

[S.K.C.]

Manimal - your P2 w/ the Police stickers on it is Bad Ass!

I remember reading about you starting patrols on it a few months ago in the Lounge area.

...and the wall-ride pic is killer. I wish the police in my town were cool like that.

Oh yeah - nice work on that weld - those NASCAR guys really know their stuff. I seriously doubt you'll have any problems with it.

 

[Brian Peterson]

A bike cop doing a wall ride.... Cool stuff there....

Brian

 

[Bicyclist]

I'm sure that your bike'll be dandy but that is the scariest looking thing I've ever seen. I would NOT be able to ride that bike.

 

[_bp]

The weld looks good, but just be cautious about turning right.

 

[vitox]

its not heat treated, if it was, the paint would have vaporized.

manimal:
im not posting this to piss on your parade, i think its great you found a great welder, and even more one that cares about you being happy, but its quite likely the welding could have very adverse effects on the frames strength, this depends a lot on the alloy used in the frame and the filler material used when welding, does anyone know what alloy specialized uses for these frames? im assuming its 7000 series but dont know.

 

[Bicyclist]

They call it "A1" aluminum on the Demos.

 

[frznnomad]

nice fix manimal. so i dont think i have heard the story of how a huge gash got put in the top of you down tube.

 

[vitox]

They call it "A1" aluminum on the Demos.

yea but that doesnt help much when it comes to finding out the correct way to weld.

 

[manimal]

nice fix manimal. so i dont think i have heard the story of how a huge gash got put in the top of you down tube.

I was JRA and........
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158567

 

[Peete]

The weld looks good, but just be cautious about turning right.

 

[Peete]

Brandon, you have GOT to show up at a race in your police car.

That would be so rad.

 

[jonnynails]

Tubby, if you are worried about it, I would talk to Tim Herr up at Dark Mountain if he goes. Timmy welds for a Nascar team up in Moorseville and builds the chassis. He knows all about welding and has built and welded his own bikes too. I'll probably see him this weekend and I'll mention it to him.

Nice pic on the wall ride - your P2 "police" bike is sweet. I bet people sh!t there pants when they see you coming on that bike. I could just see a crook jumping off a wall thinking oh yeah I lost this guy.........little does he know.

 

[partsbara]

glad it worked out for ya manimal

 

[boone]

Glad to hear that worked out!
I am no master welder but did the shop say it was ok to grind the beads flat on that weld?
Usually that is not a good idea. Tends to weaken the weld I think?!
Someone will correct me if I am wrong right?


Nice fix
Booner

 

[manimal]

glad it worked out for ya manimal

thanks, i suppose the upcoming race will be the major test for it though. i'll try to beat on it and see how it handles. it made it through a day at a freeride park in GA before it was welded. all this talk of heat and science stuff is just right over my head......i'm just hoping the NASCAR dude knows his stuff like everyone said he does. he said his nephew races DH in socal...last name of henderson. jr. x or semi-pro i think.

Peete - i would if i could man, would save me a lot of gas
i'll be sure to launch the hell out of that a-frame jump at dark mountain to try and stress the weld as much as possible. so maybe you'll get to see me eat it if it doesn't hold

 

[manimal]

Glad to hear that worked out!
I am no master welder but did the shop say it was ok to grind the beads flat on that weld?
Usually that is not a good idea. Tends to weaken the weld I think?!
Someone will correct me if I am wrong right?


Nice fix
Booner

they told me it wouldn't hurt it as long as i kept from filing too deep. it's not a big deal, i may leave it anyway so it has the frankenstien look to it

 

[kahner89]

haha when your chasing me on your hardtail and i am on my hardtail i will look back and say no need to weld bitch!!! actually i would probably just pull over and talk about bikes...

 

[kahner89]

thats cool about the welding though, i have thought about it before if i needed to, but i was always afraid of destroying my bike. but i always love to torch things, but my bike is too important to weld by myself

 

[motomike]

I love how people on here are second-guessing the welder from BDR who did your frame. That's glorious. :love:

 

[mastercycleman]

theres some wierd cops around here, one of my friends was driving, and
got pulled over to be told to take the Contraption off the car(bike Rack)
and obviously a bike rack
though you seem like a super cool guy

 

[ragin-sagin]

Look at this way Manimal: sure the weld imparts some extra stress on there by not doing an post weld heat treat, BUT its gonna be stronger than with it zippered open like it was.

Assuming the weld had good penetration (done by a good welder, I am sure it does), removing the cap wouldn't hurt a thing...I just wouldn't grind it completely flush. Thats my 2 cents.

 

[Monkeybidnezz]

Sweet patrol bikes...=P