Welding parts on the bike

[Convict1997]

I am building a saddlebag support frame. So far, I've been able to do all the welding off the bike. I've come to the point where I need to attach the two sides together. The only way I see to do this is with the two sides mounted on the bike. I'm using a flux core wire welder. The plan is to tack the pieces in place and then finish weld it off the bike. Can I safely do this without frying any of the electronics?

 

[showkey]

Conventional wisdom and practice is disconnect the battery, connect the welding ground cable close to the weld area and you should be fine.

 

[mtiberio]

or use gas

 

[Techrat]

This may be a silly question, but with all the after-market saddlebag frames available for the NX700, why would you build one from scratch?

 

[Convict1997]

My welder is a cheapo harbor freight flux core wire deal. No gas.

 

[Convict1997]

This may be a silly question, but with all the after-market saddlebag frames available for the NX700, why would you build one from scratch?

Um.....because I can. I have the tools and the ability. Why not make it for $20 when it would cost me over $100 to buy it? Most of the time, it works out. Sometimes it doesn't. For me, part of the thrill of owning the bike is building what others have to buy. If I could figure out how to get my pictures to post on here, I'd show you some of the things I've made in the past. Windscreen for my Nighthawk. Aluminum floor boards for my shadow. Several different types of saddlebag mounts for various bikes. Nothing beats the feeling of being asked where you got something and being able to say you made it yourself.

 

[davidc83]

Um.....because I can. I have the tools and the ability. Why not make it for $20 when it would cost me over $100 to buy it? Most of the time, it works out. Sometimes it doesn't. For me, part of the thrill of owning the bike is building what others have to buy. If I could figure out how to get my pictures to post on here, I'd show you some of the things I've made in the past. Windscreen for my Nighthawk. Aluminum floor boards for my shadow. Several different types of saddlebag mounts for various bikes. Nothing beats the feeling of being asked where you got something and being able to say you made it yourself.

To post pictures. it may be easier to have your pictures saved on your computer/computing device. Log into the forum, on the quick reply ribbon, the 3rd icon from the right, is the 'insert Image' icon (hold your mouse pointer over the icons, the names will appear). Click the 'insert image' icon and browse to the saved pictures on your computing device.

 

[Convict1997]

I've tried loading from the picture hosting site I've always used in the past (tinypic.com) but for some reason the image tag they supply no longer works. When trying to load directly from my iPad, I get a message indicating the they file extension is wrong. Dunno man. I'm beginning to reach that age where technology is slowly walking away from me. I used to keep up with this stuff but now I would rather spend my time seeing how close I can get the waist of my pants to my arm pits, complaining about the music being too damn loud, and yelling at kids to "GET OFF MY LAWN!"

 

[rjarrell]

Um.....because I can. I have the tools and the ability. Why not make it for $20 when it would cost me over $100 to buy it? Most of the time, it works out. Sometimes it doesn't. For me, part of the thrill of owning the bike is building what others have to buy. If I could figure out how to get my pictures to post on here, I'd show you some of the things I've made in the past. Windscreen for my Nighthawk. Aluminum floor boards for my shadow. Several different types of saddlebag mounts for various bikes. Nothing beats the feeling of being asked where you got something and being able to say you made it yourself.

I'm with you on this. I have as much fun tinkering on my bikes as riding them. Used to own BMW airheads and part of the camaraderie
was getting together to fix and maintain our bikes.

 

[rippin209]

I've tried loading from the picture hosting site I've always used in the past (tinypic.com) but for some reason the image tag they supply no longer works. When trying to load directly from my iPad, I get a message indicating the they file extension is wrong. Dunno man. I'm beginning to reach that age where technology is slowly walking away from me. I used to keep up with this stuff but now I would rather spend my time seeing how close I can get the waist of my pants to my arm pits, complaining about the music being too damn loud, and yelling at kids to "GET OFF MY LAWN!"

If you have a modern cell phone, it's easy using Tapatalk, I've heard it's easy loading pics onto the web site using your phone as well but I haven't tried that