15 Crf450 cracked frame...repairable?

aedwards07
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aedwards07
Edited Date/Time 5/11/2021 8:55am
So as I was installing a new radiator today and looked down and saw 2 cracks on the frame. Is this something weldable? I plan on calling Honda but from what I heard Honda could care less when it comes to issues like this.

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Beast666
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Beast666 11/8/2015 4:50pm
11/8/2015 4:50pm
Looks like a bad weld as it does not look like the beads are penetrating the down tube. I would talk with a certified aircraft TIG welder and see what they have to say, Might have to grind the bead down and reweld.
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harescrambled 11/8/2015 4:54pm
11/8/2015 4:54pm
aedwards07 wrote:
So as I was installing a new radiator today and looked down and saw 2 cracks on the frame. Is this something weldable? I plan on...
So as I was installing a new radiator today and looked down and saw 2 cracks on the frame. Is this something weldable? I plan on calling Honda but from what I heard Honda could care less when it comes to issues like this.

Talk to your dealer first, then American Honda customer service, then a vacation certified welder
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sleeve1
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sleeve1 11/8/2015 5:11pm
11/8/2015 5:11pm
i would contact Honda first and you find no resolution with them i would find a qualified welder to do the repair.
i am a welder and i have repaired something similar on a suzuki. it can be fixed.
Crush
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Crush 11/8/2015 5:24pm
11/8/2015 5:24pm
Wtf is with all these cracked frames?

What on earth are you guys jumping?
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colintrax
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colintrax 11/8/2015 5:25pm
11/8/2015 5:25pm
Crush wrote:
Wtf is with all these cracked frames?

What on earth are you guys jumping?
That's what I wanna know. Haven't broke a frame since I was a kid
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newmann
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newmann 11/8/2015 5:39pm
11/8/2015 5:39pm
Looks like that weld was pulled from the parts bin and stuck on the frame. Weld inspector at Honda on the day your frame was built...



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MMCDan
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MMCDan 11/8/2015 6:03pm
11/8/2015 6:03pm
Agreed. Fifth gear on my 2015 CRF450R failed at less than 10 hours and Honda wouldn't return my calls. I was told that this is a known design issue but Honda won't cover repairs.

Charper732
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Charper732 11/8/2015 6:47pm
11/8/2015 6:47pm Edited Date/Time 11/8/2015 6:47pm
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80 and you can claim for damages up to $15,000. I have done this a few times to large companies. 99% of the time they will send you a check to make it go away. Just look up the registered agent for the company(honda) in your state. Your local government website will have a form for small claims court.
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Crush
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Crush 11/8/2015 6:49pm
11/8/2015 6:49pm
Charper732 wrote:
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80...
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80 and you can claim for damages up to $15,000. I have done this a few times to large companies. 99% of the time they will send you a check to make it go away. Just look up the registered agent for the company(honda) in your state. Your local government website will have a form for small claims court.
Thrifty!
keith101
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keith101 11/8/2015 6:54pm
11/8/2015 6:54pm
Charper732 wrote:
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80...
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80 and you can claim for damages up to $15,000. I have done this a few times to large companies. 99% of the time they will send you a check to make it go away. Just look up the registered agent for the company(honda) in your state. Your local government website will have a form for small claims court.
Dirt Cycles don't come with warranties so they don't and probably won't do anything. Warrantied products are much different.
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Charper732
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Charper732 11/8/2015 7:02pm
11/8/2015 7:02pm
Charper732 wrote:
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80...
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80 and you can claim for damages up to $15,000. I have done this a few times to large companies. 99% of the time they will send you a check to make it go away. Just look up the registered agent for the company(honda) in your state. Your local government website will have a form for small claims court.
keith101 wrote:
Dirt Cycles don't come with warranties so they don't and probably won't do anything. Warrantied products are much different.
You don't need a warranty to sue. Even if his case ever did even go to court(which I would bet my last dollar it wouldn't) all he would need to do is get a certified welder to make a statement saying the factory weld did not penetrate the downtube...which looking at these pictures, I would say is an accurate statement.

This would indicate this was a faulty part from its inception, not something that happened from customer use.
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motosicko
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motosicko 11/8/2015 7:10pm
11/8/2015 7:10pm Edited Date/Time 11/8/2015 7:20pm
I'm assuming since you were replacing a radiator that the bike was involved in some sort of crash. I wouldn't let Honda in on that if you plan on raising a gripe with them. Chances are you're on your own to get it repaired unless you have very little time on the bike.
I did once get warranty on a CR80 that ate up the clutch in under 5 hrs. due to a clutch pressure plate that had some evident mis-casting flaws. So its not unheard of to get some help.
burn1986
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burn1986 11/8/2015 7:25pm
11/8/2015 7:25pm
You cannot contact Honda. Maybe a letter, that's it.
731chopper
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731chopper 11/8/2015 7:30pm
11/8/2015 7:30pm
Charper732 wrote:
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80...
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80 and you can claim for damages up to $15,000. I have done this a few times to large companies. 99% of the time they will send you a check to make it go away. Just look up the registered agent for the company(honda) in your state. Your local government website will have a form for small claims court.


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Jrewing
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Jrewing 11/8/2015 11:34pm
11/8/2015 11:34pm
MMCDan wrote:
Agreed. Fifth gear on my 2015 CRF450R failed at less than 10 hours and Honda wouldn't return my calls. I was told that this is a...
Agreed. Fifth gear on my 2015 CRF450R failed at less than 10 hours and Honda wouldn't return my calls. I was told that this is a known design issue but Honda won't cover repairs.

No concern on my 15- I don't ever use that gear!
HenryA
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HenryA 11/8/2015 11:45pm
11/8/2015 11:45pm
MMCDan wrote:
Agreed. Fifth gear on my 2015 CRF450R failed at less than 10 hours and Honda wouldn't return my calls. I was told that this is a...
Agreed. Fifth gear on my 2015 CRF450R failed at less than 10 hours and Honda wouldn't return my calls. I was told that this is a known design issue but Honda won't cover repairs.

Now that would really piss me off.
k cycle
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k cycle 11/9/2015 3:47am
11/9/2015 3:47am
I had a 95 CR 250 and the swingarm cracked at the weld. We took a grinder removed the crack and some of the aluminum around it, then took it to a local welder, he put a good weld on it and the swingarm never cracked again.
I would find a good welder to fix it. But that's me. Smile
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Josh422
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Josh422 11/9/2015 7:36am
11/9/2015 7:36am
burn1986 wrote:
You cannot contact Honda. Maybe a letter, that's it.
I can vouch for this...

Instead of trying to find out how to cold call Honda and searching online, call your local Honda dealer and get them involved. At the very least you can get the phone number of the regional rep- but most likely he/she will want you to have your bike brought into the dealership. I've seen plenty shot down as far as warranty work goes. If you have a well thought out plan on how to explain and present your case, you have a decent shot of getting this fixed. I certainly wouldn't try to fix it myself without going this route first.

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hellion
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hellion 11/9/2015 8:52am
11/9/2015 8:52am
It's funny that in the 80's there was always a guy at the races with a truck set up to weld or braze any of the things that would regularly break. Nowadays things rarely break, so we get all in a tizzy when they do. I'd sooner get it welded and be back riding than I would wait for Honda to answer my call, or a possible day in court. If you want customer service, and the ability to contact someone who cares about your problem, but a KTM. I've had several early first year models that have had issues. Each time the problem was taken care of. Once, I was overnight aired a complete 450SXF engine. Imagine the cost of that.......but they see the good will in doing something like that paying off down the road.
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gpracer36
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gpracer36 11/9/2015 9:23am
11/9/2015 9:23am
it is easy to repair. Grind out the cracks, pre-heat the frame with oxy /accet bottle. Weld it up. Its just metal. Ive welded almost everything you could imagine. Not a bid deal. Also, blaming Honda on a weld cracking is like blaming Dunlop for a flat. It happens. Try going thru a-arms and frames on a Trophy truck after each race. You will find all sorts of stuff to repair. Not a big deal.
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pummel
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pummel 11/9/2015 11:05am
11/9/2015 11:05am
k cycle wrote:
I had a 95 CR 250 and the swingarm cracked at the weld. We took a grinder removed the crack and some of the aluminum around...
I had a 95 CR 250 and the swingarm cracked at the weld. We took a grinder removed the crack and some of the aluminum around it, then took it to a local welder, he put a good weld on it and the swingarm never cracked again.
I would find a good welder to fix it. But that's me. Smile
I had the exact same issue on the exact bike and Honda sent me a new swingarm-
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40Plus_922mx
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40Plus_922mx 11/9/2015 11:20am
11/9/2015 11:20am
The welds between the arrows are junk. They are doing nothing but laying on the metal. And the cracks are in the bad weld. This is not from casing jumps or flat landing off a freestyle ramp. This is a factory defect. Since it is a 2015 model it would be in Honda's best interest to give you a new frame. You just have to bring your photo to the right people. Keep us posted.
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MMCDan
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MMCDan 11/9/2015 11:40am
11/9/2015 11:40am
HenryA wrote:
Now that would really piss me off.
You know it, nothing like dropping $1,000 USD on repairs to a 2 week old bike. To add insult to injury the replacement gear was of the same design as the one that failed so there's a chance it can/will happen again.

It's someone else's concern now as I traded the bike for a 2016 KX450F.
mx510
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mx510 11/9/2015 12:24pm
11/9/2015 12:24pm
Charper732 wrote:
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80...
Not to turn this into a huge flame contest, but it's easy as hell to file a suit in small claims court. It'll cost you ~$80 and you can claim for damages up to $15,000. I have done this a few times to large companies. 99% of the time they will send you a check to make it go away. Just look up the registered agent for the company(honda) in your state. Your local government website will have a form for small claims court.
Yeah just sue them, after all it's the American way right? Ugh, just gross.
Take the thing to a welder and see if my can be fixed, if it can fix it. Sueing should be last on your list.
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Rowlands
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Rowlands 11/9/2015 12:30pm
11/9/2015 12:30pm
That is 100% fixable

The weld between the arrows as above needs grinding right back, then a good prep putting in the joint, pre heat the area and blast a nice hot TIG weld over the top, if done correctly you won't notice that it's been repaired.

The reason they crack ? Welded in a jig ( I assume so they have no where to flex, causes stresses which are then released when you ride causing a crack, that weld is far to cold and hasn't penetrated at all. We all make mistakes.

Try get on to Honda for a new frame though

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newmann
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newmann 11/9/2015 12:37pm
11/9/2015 12:37pm
Funny how everyone in this thread just says to weld it up but in a AF500 thread everyone says OH MY GOD YOU CAN'T WELD ON THAT!!!Laughing
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mxtech1
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mxtech1 11/9/2015 2:24pm
11/9/2015 2:24pm
newmann wrote:
Funny how everyone in this thread just says to weld it up but in a AF500 thread everyone says OH MY GOD YOU CAN'T WELD ON...
Funny how everyone in this thread just says to weld it up but in a AF500 thread everyone says OH MY GOD YOU CAN'T WELD ON THAT!!!Laughing
HAA!

You read my mind!

Where's all the comments about having to have the whole frame heat treated after the weld?
GuyB
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GuyB 11/9/2015 5:26pm
11/9/2015 5:26pm
Charper732 wrote:
You don't need a warranty to sue. Even if his case ever did even go to court(which I would bet my last dollar it wouldn't) all...
You don't need a warranty to sue. Even if his case ever did even go to court(which I would bet my last dollar it wouldn't) all he would need to do is get a certified welder to make a statement saying the factory weld did not penetrate the downtube...which looking at these pictures, I would say is an accurate statement.

This would indicate this was a faulty part from its inception, not something that happened from customer use.
How do you feel about single to table jumps, and baby arms?

Just asking.

How about letting him trying to resolve it with a dealer and Honda first?
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rutsmash
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rutsmash 11/9/2015 5:55pm
11/9/2015 5:55pm Edited Date/Time 11/9/2015 5:56pm
I had a similar problem with 2014 YZ450F about a month ago - crack in weld on right side about a foot long down the weld on the downtube. Called Yamaha and they would not fix since after the 30 day warranty. Took it to a welder with experience in aluminum and he fixed it for 80 bucks doing the many of the things mentioned here. He said the weld was no good from factory as well.
Steve125
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Steve125 11/9/2015 6:05pm
11/9/2015 6:05pm
k cycle wrote:
I had a 95 CR 250 and the swingarm cracked at the weld. We took a grinder removed the crack and some of the aluminum around...
I had a 95 CR 250 and the swingarm cracked at the weld. We took a grinder removed the crack and some of the aluminum around it, then took it to a local welder, he put a good weld on it and the swingarm never cracked again.
I would find a good welder to fix it. But that's me. Smile
pummel wrote:
I had the exact same issue on the exact bike and Honda sent me a new swingarm-
Similar thing with my CR..
My 92 had a TSB, or possibly a recall can't remember, for the same problem. Honda sent a new one to my dealer and they installed it.

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