Bike snaps in half & sets on fire!

robkinuk
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robkinuk
Edited Date/Time 1/27/2012 12:02pm

IMG]http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii59/robkinuk/DSC_0016.jpg[/IMG]


I was commentating at last weekends National Two Stroke championship round at Doncaster England. In the 500cc class this rider on a 500cc Honda jumped the massive table top. Upon landing the bike snapped in half, ripping out the fuel pipe and the bike burst into flames!Shocked
I've never seen that in 30 years of attending motocross races.
They tried chucking sand onto flames then one brave specatator grabbed the front half of bike and dragged it into a nearby pond.
The rider escaped without injury but the bike was worse for wear!
Photos by Bryan Atkinson.
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burnside
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burnside 4/27/2010 2:41am
4/27/2010 2:41am
Jesus.. Glad it wasn't a KTM or we'd never hear the end of it!
Chili
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Chili 4/27/2010 2:56am
4/27/2010 2:56am
Rob do you know this is a Service bike as fact? Just hate to see their name in this thread if this is someone elses conversion.
TeamPropainTurbo38t 4/27/2010 3:08am
4/27/2010 3:08am
This just goes to show why you should never weld on aluminum frames very few people are capable of doing it correctly. Reheattreating is required and these people are reengineeri g Hondas design..... so everett happens to be a service honda or someone else....Dave

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robkinuk
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robkinuk 4/27/2010 3:16am
4/27/2010 3:16am
Chili wrote:
Rob do you know this is a Service bike as fact? Just hate to see their name in this thread if this is someone elses conversion.
I have edited posting to remove Service, as not sure it was one of their bikes or a homegrown conversion.
robkinuk
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robkinuk 4/27/2010 3:19am
4/27/2010 3:19am
The rider was very lucky he didn't get soaked in fuel when the fuel line or tank ruptured.
Not sure how modern day motocross clothing reacts to a petrol fire!
burnside
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burnside 4/27/2010 3:27am
4/27/2010 3:27am
robkinuk wrote:
The rider was very lucky he didn't get soaked in fuel when the fuel line or tank ruptured. Not sure how modern day motocross clothing reacts...
The rider was very lucky he didn't get soaked in fuel when the fuel line or tank ruptured.
Not sure how modern day motocross clothing reacts to a petrol fire!
Probably similar to shell suits! haha.
motowhore
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motowhore 4/27/2010 4:12am
4/27/2010 4:12am
Service would'nt have anything to do with the weld anyways. They just stuff motors into existing frames.
JB 19
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JB 19 4/27/2010 5:36am
4/27/2010 5:36am
TeamPropainTurbo38t wrote:
This just goes to show why you should never weld on aluminum frames very few people are capable of doing it correctly. Reheattreating is required and...
This just goes to show why you should never weld on aluminum frames very few people are capable of doing it correctly. Reheattreating is required and these people are reengineeri g Hondas design..... so everett happens to be a service honda or someone else....Dave
+1 Talking about heat treating aluminum to most people is like talking to a wall.
FGR01
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FGR01 4/27/2010 6:18am
4/27/2010 6:18am
Damn 2-strokes !!!!!
track guy
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track guy 4/27/2010 6:28am
4/27/2010 6:28am
burnside wrote:
Jesus.. Glad it wasn't a KTM or we'd never hear the end of it!
that is funny .
Mxxer
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Mxxer 4/27/2010 6:31am
4/27/2010 6:31am
I blame J-Law.

Why not?
Cygnus
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Cygnus 4/27/2010 6:33am
4/27/2010 6:33am
motowhore wrote:
Service would'nt have anything to do with the weld anyways. They just stuff motors into existing frames.
Bullshit! They build a whole custom engine cradle for their bikes. Where in the hell was the fire extinguisher.
WhipMeister
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WhipMeister 4/27/2010 6:45am
4/27/2010 6:45am
Better not let Feld see this....They may get some ideas.
robkinuk
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robkinuk 4/27/2010 6:55am
4/27/2010 6:55am
motowhore wrote:
Service would'nt have anything to do with the weld anyways. They just stuff motors into existing frames.
Cygnus wrote:
Bullshit! They build a whole custom engine cradle for their bikes. Where in the hell was the fire extinguisher.
Fire extinguisher guy ran about 150 yds to get there, by which time flames were out in the pond!

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panic revver 4/27/2010 6:57am
4/27/2010 6:57am
motowhore wrote:
Service would'nt have anything to do with the weld anyways. They just stuff motors into existing frames.
Wrong. If that were possible why would anyone refab the cradle?
kopfjaeger
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kopfjaeger 4/27/2010 7:09am
4/27/2010 7:09am
May be wrong but, I dont think anyone cuts or welds the spars????? Lucky he is still walking
sixdayguy
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sixdayguy 4/27/2010 7:49am
4/27/2010 7:49am
Looks like it broke were the front downtube splits above the exhaust port. Which is were some welding/fabricating is done if I am not mistaken. The brake there would have then led to the spars braking. I have quite a bit of welding/fabricating experience, ever since the aluminum frames came out I have wondered how people were going to do repairs on them, as there needs to be some type of post weld process done in most cases. Something not needed with steel bikes.
Butters
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Butters 4/27/2010 8:23am
4/27/2010 8:23am
brakkeman_ wrote:
Pretty sure someone will blame 4strokes for this.
You're damn right! If all the manufacturers still developed two strokes accidents like this would be less likely to occur.
ehr400
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ehr400 4/27/2010 8:36am
4/27/2010 8:36am
sixdayguy wrote:
Looks like it broke were the front downtube splits above the exhaust port. Which is were some welding/fabricating is done if I am not mistaken. The...
Looks like it broke were the front downtube splits above the exhaust port. Which is were some welding/fabricating is done if I am not mistaken. The brake there would have then led to the spars braking. I have quite a bit of welding/fabricating experience, ever since the aluminum frames came out I have wondered how people were going to do repairs on them, as there needs to be some type of post weld process done in most cases. Something not needed with steel bikes.
I agree. I sent the frame I did for my friend to the heat treatment facility to be re-aged properly. People dont realize that when you weld on ALuminum that the weld zone is weaker then the base metal, opposite of steel.
Hank_Thrill
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Hank_Thrill 4/27/2010 8:40am
4/27/2010 8:40am Edited Date/Time 4/17/2016 10:26pm
Since the rider was safe, I find this thread and pictures incredibly entertaining! Imagine what that rider is thinking in the first picture! I wonder how the rider didn't get hurt on such a big jump? It must have not slammed him too hard. That's a weird spot for a frame to break.


HONDAS SUCK! jk, Funny KTM comment!
Tiki
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Tiki 4/27/2010 8:49am
4/27/2010 8:49am
TeamPropainTurbo38t wrote:
This just goes to show why you should never weld on aluminum frames very few people are capable of doing it correctly. Reheattreating is required and...
This just goes to show why you should never weld on aluminum frames very few people are capable of doing it correctly. Reheattreating is required and these people are reengineeri g Hondas design..... so everett happens to be a service honda or someone else....Dave
JB 19 wrote:
+1 Talking about heat treating aluminum to most people is like talking to a wall.
I know nothing of welding and less of welding aluminum. I take it is a very specific thing? It is not just bringing the two pieces together?
pie8man
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pie8man 4/27/2010 9:09am
4/27/2010 9:09am Edited Date/Time 4/17/2016 10:26pm
Welding any metal scatters/ realigns the molecules during and after the heat cycle. Aluminum alloys are very sensitive to heat and more specifically to how quickly it is heated and cooled. I assume they tig weld it, when they are done there are portions of the welded area that have lost the ability to be load cycled without bending and breaking. Believe it or not there are some aluminum alloys, mostly sheets and small tubing that are engineered (basically not hardened) so soft that you can form them by hand or with simple tools. Most commonly these are sheets and small tubing so they can be easily formed. After forming they are re treated to obtain a specifically engineered consistent alloy again.


Here is some mind numbing but decent information. http://www.keytometals.com/Article39.htm
Pat327
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Pat327 4/27/2010 9:21am
4/27/2010 9:21am
kopfjaeger wrote:
May be wrong but, I dont think anyone cuts or welds the spars????? Lucky he is still walking
You're right. Nobody cuts the spars, but you do have to cut the Y section and at least part of the engine cradle on the '04-'09 CRF250 chassis. Some people elect to cut the entire engine cradle off and make a new one. Homebuilt conversions can be a bit on the dodgy side sometimes and I would think that the most likely place for them to fail is at the Y section. Once that happens, the bike just breaks in half as the spars flex well past their limit and snap.
yota
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yota 4/27/2010 9:23am
4/27/2010 9:23am
when my conversion was done the entire frame was heat treated back to spec and cooled with a salt spray mist. Looked like it was left on the bottom of the ocean for a while.

most home conversions get no heat treating after welding.



after

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