SIDE CASING REPAIR
I did a bit of a special 250, Reed Valved, 5 Speed motor years ago just before we got our new drive bolts!
Yes guess what? The early version bolt bloody snapped! 6 out of 500 from memory – not a bad failure rate but it happened! We checked the spec and material and don’t know why the older standard bolts snapped – one of those things, I guess!
Now we improved the bolt in every way to make them bullet proof and years later not one bolt has snapped!
As I should, I offered to strip the engine and replace what was needed. But the customer is a dealer in his own rights and just couldn’t get time to come to drop it off and said he would send in the parts for inspection. So it turned up and the side cover is in the usual mess!
When I did the engine there was a hair lined crack in the same area – which I had repaired before polishing. Where the damage was the welding rod is stronger than the casing and a bead both sides held it together otherwise there would have been a big hole which I’ve seen before.
Some question – is welding strong enough? I reply, it’s stronger than the alloy around it. So with a bit of cleaning, welding, grinding and final polishing in house it was as good as new.
Apart from the usual pin holes where the alloy is crap around the weld. And all done the same day.
Mark Broadhurst any questions email mark@mbscooters.co.uk
