[Lee R]

Fixed it this evening...

Turned the pathetic little OEM bracket into a gusset for a more manly bracket by cutting out the spacers.
View attachment 79937

New gusset just fit over a piece of 3/8" steel...
View attachment 79938

Made a blank... Angle grinder time.
View attachment 79939

Test fit..
View attachment 79940


More grinding, then tacked in place.
View attachment 79941
View attachment 79942

Yes, I am aware that the welds are not pretty... deep penetration and good wetting, though.
View attachment 79943

Krylon kures all ills...
View attachment 79944

POD didn't fall off when I bolted it on...
View attachment 79946

Instrument POD reinstalled on new bracket.
View attachment 79945

Made most of the welds in short bursts, with cooling time/fan in between. Left the steering head bearings alone; got warm, but not hot. I could touch the bearing race area without a glove after each weld.

And I just bolted a Denali light bar and lights to that exact bracket. Fingers crossed it doesn’t snap off in labrador this summer. I also have a black 21 ATAS.

 

[Beowulf]

Did you disconnect any/all electronic components before welding on the frame?

Nope, only the Instrument Pod, out of necessity. Took my chances on grounding. Grounded pretty close to where I was welding.

 

[HackJockey]

Late to the conversation, but...

The broken off fairing support bracket on my 2021 Adv Sport ES described in my post here:

Link

Really pissed me off.

It requires a special tool to fix (TiG Welder), and the fabrication of a new solid steel support brace to weld inside the crappy 2mm thick POS sheet metal bracket that Honda deemed "good enough" to support a 28 lb. Instrument Cluster/Fairing Pod.

Bike had less than 9,000 miles on it, probably 7,000 of those on highway trips back and fourth from PNW to AZ, rest on "interesting" dirt roads, not off road.

Failure happened less than 30 miles from my house, so the bike is apart in my garage, while I brush up on my TiG welding skills, prior to lighting up the bike's steering head.

If this had of happened on a major adv ride, I likely could have ratchet strapped stuff together to keep going, but I for sure would have been cursing uncle Sochiro for the rest of the ride home.

The bike has been converted to a sidecar rig with a leading link front end. No way Honda would touch it for warranty in that case. I did not bother to ask, since they are pretty clear on that point in their manual, and it is a few months out of warranty, anyway.

There is no honor in this design, only shame.

I think my next bike will likely be a BMW GSA, with all their expensive idiosyncrasies. I have had two Africa Twins, now, loved them for the most part, but having to redesign a fairing mount and weld it up to the steering head, after relatively light use is completely unacceptable.

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Nice hack. I was considering mounting a sidecar on my African Twin. Can I see photos of your subframe, please?

 

[InedibleRider]

It's not just the simple preload changes and damping adjustments for pavement to off-road. It's dynamically making adjustments all the time based on usage.

Just like the DCT, many of us don't understand the "usefulness of all that complexity" either.

I agree. The ES is a fantastic system. It is really confidence inspiring and for my use, was pretty handy. My mistake was in assuming it would be more standardized in relation to basic maintenance. Live and learn.

 

[Beowulf]

Nice hack. I was considering mounting a sidecar on my African Twin. Can I see photos of your subframe, please?

Here it is... DMC fabbed it up. It kinda sucks, but is not irredeemable. I need to add another brace on the front upper mount and an additional attachment point on the front right corner of the sub-frame to get rid of a little flex that I do not want in it.

Don't have a good pic, but the right rear subframe attaches to the bolt that goes through to hold the lower portion of the aluminum seat rail in place, by the rear brake MC. Had to do a little re-engineering on that, as DMC's design failed almost immediately.

Hack frame, without the tub, after I welded up the hack frame fractures and redesigned the hack shock mount system:

Hack frame before redesign, tub off: Shock was in a horrible angle from a geometry perspective. Relocated the bottom mount back to the axle, fixed it.

Update 10/2024...

Broke off the bracket from the lower rear mount on the subframe rail. Rail (piece of crap tube) broke completely.

Once home (long story with trail repairs, starts HERE).

When I got home, I crammed a tube inside the tube, then a solid rod inside that tube and welded the whole mess up (final repair description/pics HERE. It hasn't broke, since, on some pretty rough trails.

 

[Notthemama]

Just a thought but have you tried contacting some of your local suspension specialists I know it's not great when you pay for warranty but at some point people are going to out of warranty. We have a bunch of amazing suspension folk this side of the pond and I'm pretty sure they could come up with a solution. Shame to let such an amazing bike go without a fight. But understand your frustration with your dealer.

 

[Beowulf]

Fixed it this evening...

Turned the pathetic little OEM bracket into a gusset for a more manly bracket by cutting out the spacers.
View attachment 79937

New gusset just fit over a piece of 3/8" steel...
View attachment 79938

Made a blank... Angle grinder time.
View attachment 79939

Test fit..
View attachment 79940


More grinding, then tacked in place.
View attachment 79941
View attachment 79942

Yes, I am aware that the welds are not pretty... deep penetration and good wetting, though.
View attachment 79943

Krylon kures all ills...
View attachment 79944

POD didn't fall off when I bolted it on...
View attachment 79946

Instrument POD reinstalled on new bracket.
View attachment 79945

Made most of the welds in short bursts, with cooling time/fan in between. Left the steering head bearings alone; got warm, but not hot. I could touch the bearing race area without a glove after each weld.

Update: 10/16/24:

Just an FYI... this front inst. cluster bracket fix has now passed 21,000 mostly hard miles without any issues.

Broke enough other stuff on the hack frame and subframe (fixed by me, of course), but the bracket fix with the 10mm steel support is holding fine over very rough terrain at stupid speeds.

No movement, loosening or cracking.

Can't believe I got along without a TIG welder in the shop for so long!