660 Raptor Vibration
 

Yeah, you can use your mig welder on it. I repaired the welds for the rear frame mounting brackets. I wound up throwing away the rear frame, ripped out mounting flanges for the exhaust, tubes cracked all the way through, rear grab bar bolts torn out, it was a mess.

Be careful on your settings, I blew through twice by the time I fixed all the cracks.

660 Raptor Vibration
 

Thanks Turtler. I will start out with everything on low. The tubes look pretty thin.

Every raptor and even YFZs loose the rear grab bar bolts. End up using thru bolts and nuts.

660 Raptor Vibration
 

I contacted the yamaha service center and asked them for a material description and wall thickesses of selected frame members. They came back and said the information was proprietary and that I should just buy a new frame. So much for customer service.

They sure have their nerve, I am sick of yamaha's sh... attitude about their design flaws.

660 Raptor Vibration
 

I hear ya. Till now, the only thing I haven't touched on this Raptor has been the frame. This bike is littered with design flaws. After everything I have done to it, it's still way better than anything you can buy new. So, I am stuck.

660 Raptor Vibration
 

Don't mention it....just helpin' out. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] I guess there's something about that corner of the frame that just weakens with hard riding. I just stripped my Raptor down to the frame, and had a friend weld in some gussets at all the stress points.....been going strong so far...(knock on wood)..[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

660 Raptor Vibration
 

I found another crack in the frame. Upper motormount, right side, just aft of the motor mount support weld. It was helical crack all the way around with a .100" gap. There was 1/4 of material left. This was the bad one.

Welding up this crack really mitigated the vibration. Although, I can still feel some. I did not have my crank balanced when I replaced the rod and piston. Maybe I should have.

I think gussets is a good idea. This is really a whimpy frame. There are areas where the paint is gone at high stress areas. I bet these are areas for future cracks.