RM 250 '10 cracked frame

lecoen
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lecoen
Edited Date/Time 3/27/2016 12:13pm
So at the track today I noticed 3 cracks in my frame. 2 at the engine mount and 1 at the subframe mount. All the cracks are on the left side. The previous owner powder coated the frame so I am wondering if this has something to do with it.

Do you guys suggest to stop ridding immediately or is it safe to do some more moto's?

Also is it OK to weld the frame or will I have to search for a new one?









Thanks for helping!
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colintrax
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colintrax 3/19/2016 11:16am
3/19/2016 11:16am
Stop riding, you can get it welded
kripple428
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kripple428 3/19/2016 2:19pm
3/19/2016 2:19pm
I agree with colintrax. I don't think the powder coating would affect it. but those cracks look pretty deep could get pretty sketchy if it broke in half on a landing. Any decent machine shop should be able to weld it up for you. you'll probably want to strip it down to a bare frame though
lecoen
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lecoen 3/20/2016 12:45am
3/20/2016 12:45am
Thanks for the reply's. Going to tear down the bike today, check for some more cracks and get it to a welder.
jason486
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jason486 3/20/2016 2:43am
3/20/2016 2:43am
I had an 01 rm250 a few years back and one of the motor mounts on the front of the frame was cracked

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project racer 3/20/2016 5:58am
3/20/2016 5:58am
Make sure to take all of the electrical components off the bike before welding. Stator, CDI box,etc. Just to be safe.
lecoen
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lecoen 3/20/2016 7:42am
3/20/2016 7:42am
It's worse then I thought. Both engine mounts on the left side have 2 cracks. So that comes up to 5 cracks total. The upper engine mount is loose because of it. And the one above the subframe mount is pretty deep too.

Both engine mounts have cracks:


Upper engine mount:



Lower engine mount:


Crack above subframe mount:


I will take it to the welder on Tuesday, w'ell see what he has to say about it.
fulltime wrench 3/20/2016 10:50am
3/20/2016 10:50am
IMO the head stay isnt loose because the frame cracked. It is probable the frame cracked because the head stay was loose.
lecoen
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lecoen 3/20/2016 12:09pm
3/20/2016 12:09pm
After I bought it, about 2 hours in, the gearbox was completely trashed and all gears, the clutch basket and pressure plate have been replaced. When I pulled the engine out for these repairs I noticed the engine mount bolts where loose. So as you say this has probably been the source of the cracks.

I hope after this is fixed I will have some better luck with this bike. Sold my RMZ250 to get back into some 2 stroke fun, hasn't been so much fun yet...
colintrax
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colintrax 3/20/2016 3:17pm
3/20/2016 3:17pm
Go over your engine. With all those cracks I wouldn't be suprised if the engine got one or two.
Bruce372
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Bruce372 3/20/2016 8:31pm
3/20/2016 8:31pm
There isa lot of cracks on that frame to be welded...I would look for a used frame of ebay.
lecoen
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lecoen 3/20/2016 11:16pm
3/20/2016 11:16pm
colintrax wrote:
Go over your engine. With all those cracks I wouldn't be suprised if the engine got one or two.
I checked the engine thoroughly, fortunately I didn't find any cracks.
lecoen
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lecoen 3/20/2016 11:21pm
3/20/2016 11:21pm
Bruce372 wrote:
There isa lot of cracks on that frame to be welded...I would look for a used frame of ebay.
Been doing that, until now I cannot find any. I'll keep looking and get it TIG weld in the meantime.
lecoen
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lecoen 3/20/2016 11:36pm
3/20/2016 11:36pm
fulltime wrench wrote:
IMO the head stay isnt loose because the frame cracked. It is probable the frame cracked because the head stay was loose.
So can we assume the reason why it cracked is because of loose engine mount bols?

Do you have other suggestions why it could have happend?
fulltime wrench 3/21/2016 2:46am
3/21/2016 2:46am
lecoen wrote:
So can we assume the reason why it cracked is because of loose engine mount bols?

Do you have other suggestions why it could have happend?
Unless you are a very heavy person or jumping big booters to flat, that is probably the reason the frame has cracked.

The engine is a stressed member of the chassis. That means it experiences practically the same loads as the frame.
The engine castings as an assembly is very stiff. It is what keeps the frame from bowing up like a banana when you land hard from a jump.

If I was to repair this frame I would have the engine and swingarm bolted in place and torqued to the proper value prior to welding. Doing so will ensure the frame is not under any unusual stress when the engine is bolted back down for the final time.
lecoen
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lecoen 3/21/2016 3:16am
3/21/2016 3:16am Edited Date/Time 3/21/2016 3:21am
fulltime wrench wrote:
Unless you are a very heavy person or jumping big booters to flat, that is probably the reason the frame has cracked. The engine is a...
Unless you are a very heavy person or jumping big booters to flat, that is probably the reason the frame has cracked.

The engine is a stressed member of the chassis. That means it experiences practically the same loads as the frame.
The engine castings as an assembly is very stiff. It is what keeps the frame from bowing up like a banana when you land hard from a jump.

If I was to repair this frame I would have the engine and swingarm bolted in place and torqued to the proper value prior to welding. Doing so will ensure the frame is not under any unusual stress when the engine is bolted back down for the final time.
I weight 72kg and I am for sure not hucking huge jumps to flat. So that leaves the loose engine mount bolts.

As for puting the engine and swingarm in. The welder wants the bare frame. If I cut some aluminum pipes to the exact length of the engine width where the mounting bolts are, same for the swingarm and mount it with the appropriate torque, will that do the trick you think? Of course the weight will be less in the frame but yeah..
Kawasaki-rider 3/21/2016 4:41am
3/21/2016 4:41am Edited Date/Time 3/21/2016 4:42am
Personally I wouldnt drive with that frame even after welding, every weld (especially tigwelds gets rock solid) is a hard spot/ more prone (?) To new cracks..

If and I mean IF I was going to weld it, I would use the MMA/stick welding metod, that is a "softer" type weld.
mattman631
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mattman631 3/21/2016 7:17am
3/21/2016 7:17am
Kawasaki-rider wrote:
Personally I wouldnt drive with that frame even after welding, every weld (especially tigwelds gets rock solid) is a hard spot/ more prone (?) To new...
Personally I wouldnt drive with that frame even after welding, every weld (especially tigwelds gets rock solid) is a hard spot/ more prone (?) To new cracks..

If and I mean IF I was going to weld it, I would use the MMA/stick welding metod, that is a "softer" type weld.
I am by no means a welding expert, but I do know on my sprint car, it had a cromoly chassis and anytime I needed welding done it was done with a Tig and never had any cracking issues associated with the weld. I would think the sprint car would flex even more (especially with me driving..lol) than these dirt bikes but I could be wrong.

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lecoen
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lecoen 3/21/2016 8:13am
3/21/2016 8:13am
mattman631 wrote:
I am by no means a welding expert, but I do know on my sprint car, it had a cromoly chassis and anytime I needed welding...
I am by no means a welding expert, but I do know on my sprint car, it had a cromoly chassis and anytime I needed welding done it was done with a Tig and never had any cracking issues associated with the weld. I would think the sprint car would flex even more (especially with me driving..lol) than these dirt bikes but I could be wrong.
I hope you are correct. It seem to be my only option as there are no frames to be found anywhere on this side of the pond of 2004 and up.

Of course there is always the possibility of buying from Suzuki for more then a grand. Unfortunately this is not an option for me.
Kawasaki-rider 3/21/2016 8:43am
3/21/2016 8:43am
mattman631 wrote:
I am by no means a welding expert, but I do know on my sprint car, it had a cromoly chassis and anytime I needed welding...
I am by no means a welding expert, but I do know on my sprint car, it had a cromoly chassis and anytime I needed welding done it was done with a Tig and never had any cracking issues associated with the weld. I would think the sprint car would flex even more (especially with me driving..lol) than these dirt bikes but I could be wrong.
Are the Suzuki chassis Cro-Mo?

Then I would use Tig, yes Smile
mattman631
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mattman631 3/21/2016 10:34am
3/21/2016 10:34am
Kawasaki-rider wrote:
Are the Suzuki chassis Cro-Mo?

Then I would use Tig, yes Smile
Well, honestly I just assumed they were CroMo...If they are not then my mistake lol.
colintrax
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colintrax 3/21/2016 4:43pm
3/21/2016 4:43pm
Kawasaki-rider wrote:
Personally I wouldnt drive with that frame even after welding, every weld (especially tigwelds gets rock solid) is a hard spot/ more prone (?) To new...
Personally I wouldnt drive with that frame even after welding, every weld (especially tigwelds gets rock solid) is a hard spot/ more prone (?) To new cracks..

If and I mean IF I was going to weld it, I would use the MMA/stick welding metod, that is a "softer" type weld.
TIG only. Don't listen to this guy
cwtoyota
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cwtoyota 3/21/2016 5:27pm
3/21/2016 5:27pm
Kawasaki-rider wrote:
Personally I wouldnt drive with that frame even after welding, every weld (especially tigwelds gets rock solid) is a hard spot/ more prone (?) To new...
Personally I wouldnt drive with that frame even after welding, every weld (especially tigwelds gets rock solid) is a hard spot/ more prone (?) To new cracks..

If and I mean IF I was going to weld it, I would use the MMA/stick welding metod, that is a "softer" type weld.
colintrax wrote:
TIG only. Don't listen to this guy
I agree that TIG is probably the best method. Personally I would hold out for a good-used frame, or just use this opportunity to swap your engine into a modern RMZ-250 frame or CRF-250R frame. Those blown up 250Fs are common and not expensive.

If you do weld it, research the alloys used in the frame. I repaired a Yamaha aluminum frame last summer and made sure to use the correct alloy filler rod. I did the repair with a quality TIG machine in my own shop and it has held up excellent. In your situation, that's a lot of cracking, more than likely you'll be chasing new cracks in the future.
YZ125H1
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YZ125H1 3/25/2016 4:55am
3/25/2016 4:55am
With all the cracks I honestly would not trust it even if the welds will hold. I'm almost finished rebuilding my RM250 and I ran into a pretty serious issue. The rearshock body had scoring inside and all the coating was wore off. Luckily there was a mint 04 rear shock replacement online for $200 I quickly swiped. Ebay is your friend unless you want to pay out the ass for brand new OEM Suzuki parts. You may have to wait sometimes for a mint part to show up. Wish Suzuki would bring back the RM250 I really love the bike as a first time Suzuki owner.
lecoen
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lecoen 3/25/2016 5:42am
3/25/2016 5:42am
Does anybody know what are the differences in the frame of '01 and from '04 and up?
lecoen
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lecoen 3/27/2016 12:13pm
3/27/2016 12:13pm
Got it welded and I am respraying it. I'll just check for cracks regularly and hope it will hold up.

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