miss weld on main down tube

[tristan18au]

i have a 2003 Kx250 and noticed on the main down tube (of the frame) where it joins to the engine cradle there is a missed weld bout 3cm long on the right cradle tube where it joins to the down tube. thje other welds are all ok and i have been jumpping this bike quite hard and there are no flakes of paint coming off so far.
will this have to be fixed one day or will i just leave it?

 

[jboomer]

Are you sure it's a missed weld? Welders sometimes leave gaps (instead of a ten inch long weld, they'll do a 3 one incher's, etc..)...I'm not a welder so can't explain why (probably to allow some flexion or something). Go to the local Kawacka dealer and check out another '03, maybe all of them have this gap.

 

[jmics19067]

Good question.


the part that gets me is that it is only missing on one side. Quite possible that the automated machinery that makes the frames happened to run out of welding wire on your bike. The only reason "I" can think of why it wouldn't be there if it was supposed to be. Me guessing that quality control looked at it and figured that it should be good enough :eek: If the the right side is an exact mirror image of the left side in stresses it wouldn't hurt to have both sides the same. Unfortunately the only definate answer you can get would be from the engineer who designed the frames on whether it is actually necessary or not.

stitch welding is common when a complete weld is not needed to accomplish the task intended saving time and money . Some areas maybe omitted because it could cause a stress riser where a crack would start because of a weld.

The way I ride I would only just keep an eye on it every after ride clean up. I am sure the bike's frame could handle a lot more then I can dish out. If you are a BIG leaper who bottoms out hard definately look into it more.