Please help my son bent the frame (front half) of his Suzuki 160 how do i get it sraight again he hit a tree with the one side do i hit it on the other side (by running it into a tree again this seems stupid!!) please any help would be great
e-mail me at uterep@altavista.com
thanks nigel

 

The first thing you want to do is to find a respectful Auto Body Facility WITH a Frame Shop.

Ask the manager about straighting out the frame for you,he will inspect it,measure it and than make the neccesary pulls to straighten it.That is,as long as you did'nt wreck it beyond straightening.

Do not go you your local ATV shop or dealership,they dont usally get into that type of work and will not be as accurate as the Auto frame shop,good luck,
Bill

 

When I needed my 250r frame welded, I called all the auto body places near me. Either there was a long wait or they “did not do those types of frames.”

I called the local custom motorcycle place. They deal mostly with custom Harley’s and such. While the guys there looked sketchy, I talked to them for a while. Asked them a few tainted questions, and the responses I got made up my mind. They did a terrific job, in a short time and at a decent price. The welder wanted to do more, but the owner wanted to keep the price near what he quoted me.

Another problem with auto body places is the type of work. They are used to car frames. They are bigger and set up different. While a bike shop (NOT dealer) will be used to the smaller frames of bikes and quads. Check the Harley type places or custom-built bikes shops.

One question I asked: I had the brackets for the overflow tank still on the frame. Since I did not have the overflow, I wanted him to take the brackets off. So I told him to “just cut it off and I can smooth it out.” The owner’s response…”No way. If you want it off, I will make it look nice as well.”

These are the things I look for when having some one do the work. I want them to take pride in what they do. Another example. When I was looking for a place to attach my seat cover, I stopped at an auto body upholstery shop. The original foam was all hacked up and looked like crap. I asked the guy if he would do it with the current foam. He said, “I will do with this foam, but it will look terrible. I will not charge you because I do not want my name on it.” Needless to say, I brought new foam and went back to the shop the next day. He did a great job and I was happy to pay him the