Magnesium cases = crap

[Morcs]

Took a spill on the DRZ this morning (wont say how :P) but it was 20m from my house which was lucky. Lets just say my number plate and rear fender are scraped, and I ground my tail light lens off completely :doh:

Bike landed on the left side, cushioned by me, and the gear lever bending a tiny bit punched a 50c sized hole straight through my left engine casing - I had a look, and its like an eggshell! :no: why on earth make an exposed engine casing that weak!

naturally it left oil all over the road. I didnt have anything to clean or put on it, so I called the council and they said yep its all arranged to be cleaned up, in a time frame of 7 days - WTF?!

But casing aside, these bikes crash well, not a scratch on anything else.

A new casing costs 320+gst (ouch) so will get it welded. A new gear shifter is on order from the UK, Casing armor for both sides on order from the states, and a new tail light from cycletreads. Sorted.

Now just to make sure no-one on my street saw the incident...

Ill post up photos tonight.

[Swoop]

why on earth make an exposed engine casing that weak!
You bought a suzuki and had to ask that question???

[scott411]

it is a fairly comman site in motocross to punch a brake lever or gear shift lever though cases, it does not matter if they are magnesium or alloy, all brands will do it,

[more_fasterer]

You bought a suzuki and had to ask that question???

x2.

You got a place lined up for the welding Morcs?

[TOTO]

yea man, get a honda :stupid:

[The Stranger]

Took a spill on the DRZ this morning (wont say how :P) but it was 20m from my house which was lucky. Lets just say my number plate and rear fender are scraped, and I ground my tail light lens off completely :doh:



When good wheelies go bad.

[Morcs]

x2.

You got a place lined up for the welding Morcs?

Yeah Mike at Phoenix engineering behind treads. Though i went to see the welding guys across the road from my work and they said they couldnt do it cos magnesium is a bitch.


When good wheelies go bad.

2nd time this year.

[The Stranger]

2nd time this year.


The answer is obvious then isn't it?










More practice!

You coming out tonight?

[more_fasterer]

Yeah Mike at Phoenix engineering behind treads. Though i went to see the welding guys across the road from my work and they said they couldnt do it cos magnesium is a bitch.


That dude is the fucking man when it comes to TIG welding :Punk:

[jrandom]

You bought a suzuki and had to ask that question???

My Suzuki's alternator cover survived a 120kph spin (as in, the bike was resting on it and spinning around and around) down Taupo racetrack.

Extent of damage when I picked the bike up 80m away from the crash point: the cover plate now said 'SUZU'.

Then again, GSX1400s might use slightly heavier-duty parts than DRZ400s.

:pinch:


they said they couldnt do it cos magnesium is a bitch.

I was about to make that point after reading your first post.

Throw away the stock part, get yourself a billet job with replaceable sliders.

:niceone:

[Deano]

naturally it left oil all over the road. I didnt have anything to clean or put on it, so I called the council and they said yep its all arranged to be cleaned up, in a time frame of 7 days - WTF?!


Ring the Regional Council and ask for pollution response team to investigate - as a concerned motorist of course. You could try the Police as well if its a safety hazard.

Say that you rang the Local Council about it and their response.

Once the oil is on the road it becomes local Council's problem, especially when no culprit is identified:shifty:

[Morcs]

The answer is obvious then isn't it?

More practice!

You coming out tonight?
Nah, ive got to drop the oil and get the casing off, and remove all broken bits and tidy it up a bit. And ive got a badly stumped toe.


That dude is the fucking man when it comes to TIG welding :Punk:
he is indeed.



Throw away the stock part, get yourself a billet job with replaceable sliders.

:niceone:
No money ow. Im gonna get it welded, then armor over the top.


Ring the Regional Council and ask for pollution response team to investigate - as a concerned motorist of course. You could try the Police as well if its a safety hazard.

Say that you rang the Local Council about it and their response.

Once the oil is on the road it becomes local Council's problem, especially when no culprit is identified:shifty:
Problem is, if I get the police involved, there might be a a few drops and if they followed it might end up my house...

the boy racers who come down my street and do donuts at the end of the cul de sac might like it though.

[AlBundy]

Have you filed the gear lever?

On Thumpertalk, they said the sharp edges help to punch the hole... So recommend rounding the lever off around the front...

At least, that was my understanding of it...

[Owl]

Problem is, if I get the police involved, there might be a a few drops and if they followed it might end up my house...

the boy racers who come down my street and do donuts at the end of the cul de sac might like it though.

You could always clean it up yourself, or are you waiting for some other poor sucker to drop their bike!

[Pumba]

Man I really am sorry you dropped your bike, fantastic that you did it in true Morcs style, and reading this thread as made me laugh more than anything else that has happened today :lol:

[quallman1234]

Same thing happened to our DRZ. Minus the wheelie bin.

[homer]

makes the $250 for the bash plate all worth while , glad i got one before going to far on the 650

[Katman]

When good wheelies go bad.



2nd time this year.

Yeah, real mentor material.

:oi-grr:

[AlBundy]

Yeah, real mentor material.

:oi-grr:

Yeah, he'll be able to tell people WHAT NOT TO DO....

FROM EXPERIENCE!!!

BWAHAHAHA....

[Motu]

But the point is,he's not telling.

[The Stranger]

Yeah, real mentor material.

:oi-grr:

:yawn: :yawn: :yawn:

[Morcs]

pictures....

[carver]

i put a hole in my DR 650 when someone didn't put it on the stand properly!

same thing, gearshift lever through the crank

[scracha]

Magnesium...it's very light and you're not actually meant to drop your bike. Get crashbars until you learn to ride :jerry:

That's a fuggin sweet looking bike you've got there tho'

[Ocean1]

DRZs do have a bit of history with that.

Full bash guard might be a bit ott unless you're planning some off road work, you can get a stainless shield which you glue straight on the case though, works well.

[vifferman]

Meh.

Years ago (32), I had a fooking big piece of logging truck road (i.e., a rock) allegedly (never saw it) break the side case of my MT250 during a 100-and-summat (I did an extra loop when I missed a trail marker) ride at Atiamuri. Luckily, I didn't know this when riding through the river (twice) so somehow the water didn't get into the ignition.
Anyway, despite the fact this was back in the Bronze Age, I had no problem getting the Magnesium welded by Igor with his flame stick thing. <_<

[Wired1]

I've had the same problem with an XT550 with magnesium cases. I found a welder who could weld it, he just said if it doesn't work I couldn't blame him - fair enough. It worked fine and didn't distort the cases. I also had problems with some of the case screws being a bit soggy as the magnesium is softer than alloy, used a fair amount of thread locker to sort that.
I still would rather have magnesium than alloy, I've got bits on my TT that are magnesium and have compared them to alloy equivalents on the XT's and there is a significant weight saving.