floppy bike!

my daily E reg townmate, felt like its wheel bearing were gone, so i replaced them. still the bike was leaning slightly to the right and still felt like wheel bearing were knackered.

So a month ago, i managed to bend its con rod, not a problem i thought, so i stuck a spare engine i have into it.

and i found the biggest horror of my motorbike life, the main frame tube above the engine has nearly completely rotted through!

if you ride the machine without its fairing on, you can see the frame flexing around the engine mount bolts on the engine!

I have personally not seen this, the machine is relatively sound condition. could it be say salt build up thats gone up the tube off the road?

oldskoolpulsar wrote:my daily E reg townmate, felt like its wheel bearing were gone, so i replaced them. still the bike was leaning slightly to the right and still felt like wheel bearing were knackered.

So a month ago, i managed to bend its con rod, not a problem i thought, so i stuck a spare engine i have into it.

and i found the biggest horror of my motorbike life, the main frame tube above the engine has nearly completely rotted through!

if you ride the machine without its fairing on, you can see the frame flexing around the engine mount bolts on the engine!

I have personally not seen this, the machine is relatively sound condition. could it be say salt build up thats gone up the tube off the road?

Not seen the tube rusted above the engine but they are well known to rust through where they connect to the tin bodywork at rear of engine unit near swinging arm. One of the problems I am afraid with Townmate's. Just got used as commuters & never washed down, & as you say a build up of road salt soon eats the metal. The end of the tube is open so salt could go up it & rust tube from inside.

when i break the bike down for bits for my A reg frame. I will post a picture of the horror.

so would you say its impossible to repair?

its just i had this bike for so long and become so attached to it.

oldskoolpulsar wrote:so would you say its impossible to repair?

its just i had this bike for so long and become so attached to it.

Nothings impossible, how good are your welding skills!!

the engine to the machine, has a bent conrod, i might put its engine back in it, and see how much i can get for the machine on ebay.

might be worth £300 to someone i hope maybe!

okay i feel embarrassed about this, but i have been riding around for the past 3 weeks, Without the spacer in the rear wheel! the one that pushes into the hub!

without that the rear wheel will feel like the bearings are gone, or the bike is falling apart at the seams!

also completely damaged the hub bearings and wheel bearings. Had to swap my spare rear hub and use the spare wheel i got.

so big warning to everyone,

Do not forget to put these things back in!

okay that only made a minimal difference, there is actual play in the tube now, so bike is not being used! everytime i go over a bump it knocks off the air filter hose!