| Author | Message | ||
     Focusman |
I just discovered y'all a couple of days ago and am glad to see all the love for Buell's out there. I have a 2000 M2 that I've been enjoying since new. Currently has about 10,000 on the clock. Unfortunately, the tail section is developing large cracks around where the under seat mounting section makes the 90 degree bend from horizontal to vertical. The cracks are the result of the large amplitude vibration the tailsection likes to. What have you guys done to repair/reinforce this area? I need to do some repairs here before the tail section tears itself off. Is there an effective long term solution? Cheers. | ||
| Schwiiing |
I removed the tail section and applied two layers of carbon fiber on the underside of the tail (fibers running lengthwise to the bike - crosswise to the cracks) sealed in by an epoxy resin. The pieces of carbon fiber were about 8" long to help spread the vibration load out to areas that didn't pivot on the end of the sub-frame. I applied each layer of carbon fiber separately sealing each w/ the epoxy resin and letting dry for a day prior to the second layer. The idea was to allow the two layers of fiber to transfer the vibration impact independent of each other as much as possible. The entire patch remained thin enough so that the tube frame is still able to fit inside the tail section channel without interference. It's been almost two years since I applied the patch and the cracks haven't grown at all. Supplies are readily available at Tap Plastics. Oh, yeah. Welcome to the insanity. Good luck w/ the repair. | ||
| Mick |
No probs with mine , do you have the rubber grommets with the nuts in them that the bolts screw into.? my mates dose'nt and his has cracks, same year same miles. | ||
| Koz5150 |
Mine cracked also. I used some metal angle iron and jb weld to fix it all up. I also bought 3 backup sections on eBay for the future. I killed one at a track day though. | ||
| Focusman |
Rubber grommets? Did they switch to an isolated mounting scheme at some point? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
You mean wellnuts? | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Mine's also cracking pretty bad. I ought to put some epoxy on it all before next weeks long journey! Thanks for the reminder! | ||
| Mwellm |
I used some flexible marine epoxy with carbon fiber sheets to fix mine up before it went too far....very easy, effective and cool looking with the seat off; for what that is worth. | ||
| Bigblock |
mine cracked a few years ago, and I have done nothing. It has almost 40,000 miles now, and it hasn't seemed to grow in 20,000m miles atleast. BUT, I am not suggesting you do nothing, atleast keep an eye on it... | ||
| Djkaplan |
"mine cracked a few years ago, and I have done nothing. It has almost 40,000 miles now, and it hasn't seemed to grow in 20,000m miles atleast." Yeah... mine too. I expected the tailpiece to disintegrate when the cracks started, but they never got worse. I had just gotten the bike painted (for the second time!) when I first noticed the cracks, but the most horrible part is this...  ... I can never throw the tailpiece away! | ||
| Buellgekk |
A small tip: If you have a crack, drill a tiny hole at the end of the crack so it can't crack further. | ||
| Mick |
Rubber grommets? Did they switch to an isolated mounting scheme at some point? The nuts sit in a rubber housing (for a better word) and these isolate the tail from the frame. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I bought some "Plastic Weld" Epoxy yesterday and covered all the cracks in it. Upon cleaning up the tail piece and looking for them, I found many small cracks. All of which are now covered in a thin layer of epoxy. It's not pretty... but beauty under the seat is not a high priority for me. | ||
| Focusman |
Yes, I do have the rubber 'isolators' under the 4 screws that hold the tail section on. I don't see those guys doing a whole lot. My rear end of the seat is doing a heck of alot more damping than those. I'm going to look into laying some carbon fiber over the cracks to reinforce it and hopefully stop it from getting any worse. Thanks for all the suggestions. |
