Te 630 Sub-frame Mod

Will do but it might take me a while.

Finally got it back together works great. I got about a 1/4" between the pipe and brace.

I still think the original way of welding is better. It is simplier and lighter. It should be strong enough to hold heavy load and no one has reported any breakage yet. Here are the photos of my modification:

That's how the factory should have done it, dumb-a$$'s. I still like to see some more webbing forward of there, but at least this addresses the very weakest point.

I know we keep saying it, but keep an eye on those lower mounting bolts if you're carrying any weight. They come loose and they get bent. Any crashes at all and the whole thing should be inspected. It's easy to tweak it, bend and break stuff. Also, the passenger footpeg bracket lower mounts are part of the sub mount, and if you lay the bike over on them they will bend the mounting bolt. Don't ask me how I know.

Maximum thanks to CJ for the sub frame mod idea. Have done it on my TE630 and several trips later including one fairly loaded up with camping gear and they are still going strong. Here's to you CJ.

I just noticed that Seat Concepts are selling laser cut aluminium sub frame reinforcement brackets for the TE 630 similar to CJ's design on their web site under husky racks-$25. Not sure if the mounting method is the same...

These are cheaper than the aluminium cost me to make mine.

Has anyone fit Wolfman pannier racks to a 630 with the sub frame reinforcement in place? Does it all still fit neatly? I just ordered a set.

The wolfman racks should fit fine. They also attach to the passenger peg bracket so that helps distribute the weight.
Thanks for the heads up...going to look there now.

Seat concepts has a very similar design although not exact. I'm sure they took my idea and made it their own. Oh well, they're not gonna get rich off it. Not pleased though, and someone else is selling something else also similar.

I give my design away and these guys try to make a buck off it. No class in that, eh?

The Cycle Racks brace kit is one and the same as the Nomadic Racks. They even use the identical photos on their websites. They are both in San Diego area so probably related to another in some way.

But in all fairness they didn't steal your design CJ. They came up with a solution that didn't require the Husky brackets saving some money. If I had to buy aluminum, cut it myself, have it powdercoated, buy hardware and make spacers, I easily would have spent more than the cost of this $25 kit. So I saved money and they make a few bucks profit. That is perfect business win-win in my book.

I don't believe they are as strong as your brackets either though as attachment points are higher up on the frame. I bought a set but will use them in addition to reinforcing my subframe with welded gusset plates. I want double protection as dont want to revisit another broken subframe on my bike ever.

_

I just installed the frame supports I got from a shop online. They went on without much hassle. had to chop up the mudguard/flap thing though. I hope they do the trick. They basically use existing holes to help triangulate the load. 25 bucks over removing the subframe and taking it to a weld shop...

another one done
just got to get the thing reliable to use

I broke my sub-frame whilst still under warranty and got a replacement from Husky. I had the new one welded up about a year ago(similar to pics above) before I ever fitted it to the bike.

I got home last Sunday to find the rear shaking about like a crazy thing. Thought I has trashed the new sub-frame. Turns out both of the lower bolts had snapped, the upper bolt was the only thing holding the sub frame on. Seems like welding is a good way to go. I had less weight on the back of my bike last Sunday than a full 1 gallon rotopax. (TCI Borrego rack, top box, couple of tubes, couple of tire irons....ahhh maybe the same weight as a full rotopax). Anyway I was riding fast over some rough(ish) stuff, but no full on jumping.

I've since removed the top box, I just don't want to ride with any weight at all back there in future (if I can avoid it). YMMV.

S1

My guess is your bolts came loose first and then snapped. Bolts have only a fraction of their sheer strength unless properly torqued. Seems I have read more than once where someone has discovered these bolts loose. Loc-tite and torque 'em.

Thanks for the advice SB. I'll loctite them tonight. You could easily be right, they could well have worked loose and then snapped.
S1

Okay, just got back yesterday from our annual GC ride, 700 dirt miles over some of the roughest terrain. I worried about it from time to time, check it and checked the rear sprocket bolts frequently - no issues. I had a Kolpin pax with 1.5gal, roll top bag about 14lbs, and a gallon of water - about 8lbs. So about 33lbs total and no issues. Two of the bikes with us broke their pannier racks the roads were so rough - a 990 with happy trails racks and a GS with Vario panniers. Both completely broke off the bikes.

I'll post a pic later of my gear hauling setup. We camped off the bikes for 5 days, Grand Canyon North Rim.

My 630 turned over 5K miles over the trip. Most of those miles have been with at least some cargo on the TCI Borrego rack. Absolutely zero issues with this bike.

gps track log?

Only 14lb luggage for 5 days camping off bike? You pack efficient. Hell, I carry 14lbs of tools...

.

I think the 990 and GS were hauling the camping gear or "motel" camping?
Seriously CJB, that's great to hear your mods are holding up. I'll be testing my welded 610 mods soon.

The DIRTBAGZ had about another 25-30lbs in them, plus tent bag, plus backpack. I try to keep the backpack small, just 2L of water and some food, a few doodads.. Was definitely loaded.

The second and third day we had truck support so I didn't have the tent or roll-top bag on board. The GS that broke his pannier mount went and got his truck and trailer and met us at camp. Riding without half the gear was great. We did a couple of hundred miles that way. Will post a RR link when it gets going.

Bike ran flawlessly all the way to 9500' this trip. Spit some coolant out the overflow bottle, that was about it. Got about 45mpg.

BTW, the bag on top is a medium sized Wolfman Rolie - it holds a 6L MSR dromedary bag for water when needed. The first 3 nights we had to haul our own water in. Had another 1L in one pannier, and another 1L jug in an insulated holder that velcro'd onto one of the straps.

Wolfman Enduro tank bag holds a surprising amount of goodies, sun glasses, reading glasses, shield cleaner, sunscreen, pocket knife, pad and paper, ear plugs, led camp light, ipod, cell phone, etc.

Thanks for the report and pic, CJ. Thanks, too, for the headzup on the lower bolts and for providing us the frame support mod. I did it over the winter. Drew Smith, our suspension guy, cut the aluminum for me. He thought it was an excellent fix, and mentioned that welding aluminium frames can tricky and that the heat can weaken the metal.

Will get to test the support out at the Adv RMAR SJ500 and rendezvous out of Silverton, CO in late July. Will probably be packed similar to your pic, and don't look forward to slipping my leg over the saddle. Usually ride with the dirtbagz and just high kick the leg over the back.

Yer welcome. It's been working like a charm on mine. I was worried this last trip because there were some sections that were so rough, but no issues at all.
All that weight sure affects handling though. Even just emptying out the kolpin pax lets the bike rail the corners.

I mount horsey style - step on left peg and swing the leg over. Kickstand is holding up, but it's still kind of a POS getting it up and down, and the bike is kind of tetery with a load on it - has to be balanced just right. So far no drop overs.