Is this offset part on the frame normal or bent?

[sportsguy]

Disassembled the Tenere for the pending rebuild this evening. Parts are ordered, well, most of them. The pic below shows the broken parts - I'll reorder the headlight protector later as ALT Rider has a clear acrylic version coming out shortly - and I'd rather that than wire again.

The "two" in the upper right are supposed to be one solid unit.

Now, my question...

On the frame, the headstock, there is a bracket the head light "frame" assembly mounts to. It has a long bolt that comes down from the top.

What I want to now is whether that "bracket" is offset slightly to the left from the factory. Mine is and shows zero signs of any damage. No cracked paint, no stress marks, nada. And it is SOLID. I'm pretty sure the plastic took the energy and gave up the ghost dissipating it, but wanted to double check on that bracket's position relative to dead straight ahead. Does anyone know if this bracket is offset from the factory?


Oh, and left and right are from a POV looking AT the front of the bike.

 

[snakebitten]

Seems like I read a similar thread on ADV. It was a brother in OZ, and with similar damage. Maybe more severe, even.

And what reminded me WAS that visual "offset". So I think you are good.

 

[EricV]

You're fine, it's supposed to be offset like that. If you look at the plastic stay that bolts up there, you can actually see how it moves left from center where it mates to the frame.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Seems like I read a similar thread on ADV. It was a brother in OZ, and with similar damage. Maybe more severe, even.

And what reminded me WAS that visual "offset". So I think you are good.

+1
You are fine. After that exchange with the Aussie I went and looked close. Sure enough, it is offset.
Who woulda thunk?

 

[trikepilot]

Offset indeed... I had some similar damage but from a different incident years ago.

I was out trail riding and we got onto this rails-to-trails that was fast - like 30-40mph. The old rail bed had been used by 4-wheelers and side-by-sides a ton so there were two tracks to ride in with a hump of loose gravel between that was terrifying to cross at speed. So you chose a track and stayed in it. The 4-wheelers had trimmed brush and trees back but only enough to keep it off of them where they sat - which is right in the middle of the trail. Of course us on bikes, we had to stay right or left and thus got raked by tree branches. Well... I was cruising along at a good clip and a sturdy finger size branch that had been cut by the ATV'ers but still hung out into the right track found its way into the precise gap between the headlight and the bottom of the windshield. The weak link was the Tenere and not the branch. It basically ripped the entire front end of the bike off. We ziptied and taped it all back together and put the windshield on my rear rack and I was able to get it home.

Upon dissassembly, I found that main support that you broke into two pieces in like 4-5 pieces. I was relieved to find that it was not expensive but it was reported to be unavailable in the US at the time. So I placed my order and waited. I got restless though and went to work on the broken support. I bought some plastic weld epoxy and attacked it like and orthopedic surgeon. I drilled holes and wired it together adding small steel plates and epoxy here and there to make it serviceable. I got it to a point that it would work and installed it. I figured that I could ride it for however long it took to get the new part in. And then like the next week, I got the email that the part shipped. I have ever since held onto that MacGuyver'ed support to remind me of my KLR roots.

 

[sportsguy]

Offset indeed... I had some similar damage but from a different incident years ago.

I was out trail riding and we got onto this rails-to-trails that was fast - like 30-40mph. The old rail bed had been used by 4-wheelers and side-by-sides a ton so there were two tracks to ride in with a hump of loose gravel between that was terrifying to cross at speed. So you chose a track and stayed in it. The 4-wheelers had trimmed brush and trees back but only enough to keep it off of them where they sat - which is right in the middle of the trail. Of course us on bikes, we had to stay right or left and thus got raked by tree branches. Well... I was cruising along at a good clip and a sturdy finger size branch that had been cut by the ATV'ers but still hung out into the right track found its way into the precise gap between the headlight and the bottom of the windshield. The weak link was the Tenere and not the branch. It basically ripped the entire front end of the bike off. We ziptied and taped it all back together and put the windshield on my rear rack and I was able to get it home.

Upon dissassembly, I found that main support that you broke into two pieces in like 4-5 pieces. I was relieved to find that it was not expensive but it was reported to be unavailable in the US at the time. So I placed my order and waited. I got restless though and went to work on the broken support. I bought some plastic weld epoxy and attacked it like and orthopedic surgeon. I drilled holes and wired it together adding small steel plates and epoxy here and there to make it serviceable. I got it to a point that it would work and installed it. I figured that I could ride it for however long it took to get the new part in. And then like the next week, I got the email that the part shipped. I have ever since held onto that MacGuyver'ed support to remind me of my KLR roots.

I love that story! Well, not the breaking of things part, but the McGyver part... You've inspired me to McGyver my problem today, in fact! While I ordered the new parts last night and they'll be here in a week or two (so they say), no reason I can't solve this problem right now!

To that end, I'm going to use "plastic" to solve things, too.

In the form of my KTM...and go for a ride today...

...and thanks for clarifying this one gang. I was pretty sure it was OK and that way from the factory, but it's so counter-intuitive to see things intentionally manufactured off center at times, you just start to wonder.

I managed to find a free shipping coupon for the site I bought through, which saved me $75. Still hit the till at $650 in parts...sigh. Fender, headlight bracket and headlight assembly...ouch. I was super frustrated trying to disassemble the headlight assembly, which prompted me to step back and check the site for the parts. Lo and behold, it's sold as a unit. Seems like a waste of the internal bits, but either I or someone else have some spares if needed in the future...which doesn't solve for how bloody hard it is to get the headlight assembly apart!

 

[trikepilot]

Update...

So the plastic support spar that we have been discussing is what holds the headlight, the gauge cluster, and the windscreen. I had replaced mine awhile ago due to the tree-induced damage as detailed above. However, over the last year - I have noticed that the windscreen and gauge cluster were quite wobbly on the left side. I even remember stopping on a ride with SpklBuk to mess around with it and he told me it was "normal." But it just never seemed right but it never got worse - so I ignored it. But over time I began contemplating a support brace down to the holes on the fairing for the winglets. But before going that route, I thought I'd tear into Fancy's front end and see what might be going on underneath. A snow day that kept me from work was the perfect excuse.

So I tore the front end apart and found that the left front vertical leg of the spar support had a crack through and through. Bummer!!! I had no wreck since the replacement - how did this happen? I can only figure that there was some inherent weakness in the plastic when I got it from Yamaha and the way I ride the bike on lots of rough offroad terrain simply made it worse. I was not excited about the idea of ordering another spar and waiting for its arrival. Plus my grad-school induced poverty and my innate MacGuyvering skills from my KLR days led me to search for an alternate fix.

With some JB Weld clear plastic epoxy, steel mending plates, assorting screws, and time on my hands - I got to work. Below are the pix of what I ended up with. As soon as we get some rain to remove the mountains of salt they dumped on the roads here last week - I will go out and give it a trial run.

 

[Don in Lodi]

You actually went out of your way to find four different screws to do that repair, right? ::008::

 

[Arcticman]

This spar part that has the bracket for the windshield is more than a windshield bracket I broke. I bought a new on and would like some instructions on removing and replacing this part. Please email me at Alaskan@reagan.com or phone 907-947-7979 or post it here.
Thanks.