Question please

[ybr125]

Hi,

New on here so hello all

Wondering if someone can help please?

I have a ybr125 2009 and when I came back to it tonight I noticed a crack in the top tube of the swing arm. I gingerly drove it home and called into a motorcycle shop.

The guy had a look and advised that this can be braced and welded? Apparently by inserting a tube inside the arm and welding? Of course Ive had welding done on cars but wanted to know if this was safe on a swing arm? And I presume also not an MOT fail point next time.

Or do I need new? ( which is factory only and expensive )

Thanks.

[wr6133]

Used on eBay starting at £20

[ybr125]

wish I knew where you were seeing them for that price

theres one for £45

I was after an answer to the question though really

cheers.

[Evil Hans]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F202331645342

Yes they can be welded. I'd really need to trust the guy that was doing it though.
____________________
Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[WmY]

Hm, it's a steel swinging arm, and there's a shock absorber on both sides, isn't there? What'll they charge to weld it? If it's a lot cheaper than a new swinging arm, I'd go for it, if there's only a tenner in it, no. After all, the sections are welded together anyway.... It also depends how good at tube welding your man is.

How long do you reckon it's been cracked for

Edit: Wow, Evil Hans, bargain! (if not cracked...).

[ybr125]

This is not a guy I've used before but popped into on the off chance as he's at the top of my road. My normal shop wanted 325 but that was with a brand new arm.

This guy wanted 150 to weld and can do it over the next few days.

Was having a nosey round his workshop whilst I was there and he seems to be setup well, proper bike ramps, all the tools etc and a few other bikes there he was talking to a customer about who appeared to own them. Also has a recovery van with logo and a website. Seems to have been at that location at least 3 years.

He does sub contract the welding though.

If it was on a car and I was told I needed welding I wouldn't think twice to be honest but I don't know much about swing arms and the stresses. This is on a 125cc that isn't abused mind or rarely. Reckon the cracks been there maybe 2weeks to a month. You can see the crack flex when you sit on the bike. Other shop said it likely cracked due to a seized arm bolt.

[arry]

[ybr125]

They are always cheap when they are sold out lol

[Rogerborg]

It sound like the only answer you're going to accept is "Yes, they can be welded and you should pay £150 to a random subcontractor to do it."

£150 + VAT, perchance?

Your current swing arm is 9 years old. There's no need to replace it with a new one. I'd bag the arm + wheel on eBay for £90 delivered, after first checking that I could get the swing arm bolt out of the existing one.

If you can't then it might turn into a pig of a job, and welding it in situ may be the best answer.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[ybr125]

Apologies if it sounded like I only wanted a yes answer.

In fairness Im actually in 2 minds and spent a lot of time last night trying to get a judgement from the web. So far as to check my local dealer had the part in stock £226.

I called the guy this morning but he has already started getting it welded so out of my hands now.

Will check the quality of the work as best I can when I get it back.

[HappyDays]

[Teflon-Mike]

technically welding is bringing two bits of metal to moloten temperature and fusing whilst they are molten to create a single homogeneous artifact with no discontiniuity through the metal accross the joint, so it aught 'in theory' be as strong as if it had been made as one bit.

If sleeved.... suggests not welding but brazing... using a splint of metal inside the tube, and gluing it there with molten metal of a different kind... which isnt so strong, and personally I'm not that fond of...

However practically, it ALL comes down to who does the job, and how well.

doing a swing arm in-situ.. I would be rather sanguine they could weld up a crack, without getting the arm hot enough to melt the bushes it swings on... if they did manage it.. and using MIG these days is much more precice, but still... I would be worried that with necessary heat the bushes would be shot, without the joint wouldn't be properly made.

either way, I would want to take the swain arm off, and expect to replace bushes.... as if they were the cause of fail to start with, not tackling them you'll only be back where you are now in a couple of weeks.....

At that point, state of bushes and hassle removing old and fitting new, and likely state of the swing arm... as in how thin metal has rusted would have me deliberating and in that job, cost and time to weld would be but small part of the all-in deal.

Most expedient and cost effective, would likely be a 2nd hand swinger, 'complete' from a breaker, with bushes and pivot pin; bolt off, maybe assisted by hack-saw, bolt-on, job-jobbed, I'd expect to be able to do it in a lazy afternoon on my patio with no more tools than a halfords socket set and pound-shop hack-saw.

A new pivot pin and the shock-absorber grommets may be a wise investment whilst you have bits in pieces, but otherwise, I'd not be in too much of a hurry to try 'salvage' a busted swing-arm on a bike that common and new... maybe a different story on something old and rare like say a 1962 Greeves or DOT, but not on a YBR where bits is on the shelf new or used, even though I could.

As suggested, prices of used swing-arms are not that exhorbitant, and even with new pin and grommets you are likely to get a better job for less money than even unknown cheapo welding subby.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[ybr125]

Went up there earlier and it’s all off the bike and the guy was welding it.

I got a feeling it cracked when I was at an odd bit of road and drove my bike off the centre stand so that it probxbly ended taking up my full weight.

[WmY]

[ybr125]

Yes dissemble, weld, reassemble.

[WmY]

You could get some tools, you don't need many (don't misuse them like this chap):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GWgYHMHd3uE

[Evil Hans]

£150 (+vat?) welded or £216.80 all-in for a new one?

I'm famously tight, but I think even I would have gone for a new one.

Your call though.

[Rogerborg]

Either you'd already told him to go ahead and do the work, in which case why did you ask?

Or you hadn't, in which case you should be naming and shaming and never, ever going there again.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[ybr125]

I said for him to do the work when I dropped the bike off then started to wuestion my decision. In the morning I made the call about a diff swing arm but following prior conversation he had already started

[arry]

[WmY]

[Rogerborg]