OZ ATV :: The Australian ATV Forum

[Unleaded-only]

Hey all,

I have had my ds450 x mx for 2 yrs now, its an 09, I dont race it and prob the biggest jump its done is a 35ft tabletop, i mainly ride trails and singleton mx track when i can.
There ready to race no weld fan dangle state of the art Altec frame has split in 2 at the front on each side of the radiator, its the main front support brace that connects to bottom of the frame and runs up to the bar support bulk head and shares the load of the front shock and upper a-arm impacts, its the only frame section holding the steering column in place.
I am bumed out about this but i mainly wanted to get this out for safety as its pretty bad and potentially life threatening if u were landing a big jump or hit a tree cos the front end come off. so check ur frame and brace it before it breaks.... IN TWO!!

i made a brace up outa 3mm steel plate that runs trough all main bolts, anyone with a jigsaw, drill & grinder can do this it just takes a bit of time to do. and i had the cracked fram re welded, ill try to put pics of brace up.

I tried to get answers outa can am, but they didn't want a bar of it, witch in my opinion is so wrong.... nothing not even a sorry we f*$#ed up, just It will be 1600 bucks for a new frame section and we have them in stock.

The warning sighns are excesive boddy roll or front end felling verry sloppy, bike pulling verry agresivly when u turn the bars .... Oh yeahr
and THE 2 BIG SPLITS IN THE FRAME!!

I hope this prevents some acidants waitting to happern
Cheers Ryan

This is what can am says u can do straight outa the box???


IMG_0467 by bigrpizzle, on Flickr
And this is what happens when u give it half that punishment

It didnt just snap at once cos u can see where its black on some sides of cracks, so its not a clean break its been fatiguing for a while
IMG_0840 by bigrpizzle, on Flickr

IMG_0841 by bigrpizzle, on Flickr

cracked frame by bigrpizzle, on Flickr

IMG_0838 by bigrpizzle, on Flickr

IMG_0850 by bigrpizzle, on Flickr


This is the brace template and i folded the bottom tags around to bolt them

IMG_0843 by bigrpizzle, on Flickr
You dont have to make a brace like this but do something to transfer the load through stronger parts of the frame,i dont have much cash so i done what i could with what i had, once the plastics are on u cant even tell the brace is there, and so far no more cracks, i also beefed up some other brackets that hold a-arms on, if any one needs any help pm me.
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"Kwad up" is a mad song.

Last edited by Unleaded-only on Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:51 pm; edited 12 times in total

[feralkid]

Wait untill Huskygoat gets here, we will never hear the end of this.
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[mxr450]

how bout that first pic i have never seen a axle bend like that

[skidplate]

Scary stuff.
The axle vibrations must have caused this

[Mrs_Gaitar]

Looks familiar, have a set just like that here !
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[Huskygoat]

Great Quads ah

Husky
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Last edited by Huskygoat on Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:49 pm; edited 1 time in total

[feralkid]

Haha took you a while to find this Husky.
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"If in doubt go flat out"
"Nothing worth having is easy to get"

[bullet]

Hi Unleaded-only,
Maybe Husky has a point about some of the dealers not having a huge amount of experience with the DS 450's
This is not a very common or big problem with the DS's so very few dealers would have seen it.

The Can-Am X Team have seen it at least half a dozen times but i would still not call it common.
It is a rare breakage that pops it's head up usually only amongst our top Pro level racers (or guys that run that hard all the time).
It usually only occurs in the case of a very massive crash (like nose dirving tripple jumps at full race speed).
The good thing is that you don't write off a frame or bend an expensive steering stem.

The individual parts are not 'standard' parts but are available through the dealership network, and they only cost about $95 each retail.
Daniel James has 2 in stock right now at South East Marine (0 8762 2344.

A good thing about the Can-Am frames, is that parts are cheap and you can repair them at home yourself if you ever need too.
Personally, mine or MrsB's bikes have never needed any frame repairs in years of racing at the National level.

I don't know if the 2010 model upward DS450's have revised this part at all.
BRP are usually very good at refining their products with each year model.
They still look like the same part, but perhaps the material wall thicknesses are increased or something.
I don't know if anyone else makes a stronger replacement part for this section either.
It may not be common enough for anyone to address at this point.
Another good thing, is that if anyone ever does make a stronger section... it will bolt straight in.

The BRP part number you are chasing is 705 201 061 'front frame spar'.

BCS Performance would also carry these (i think)

If you ever run into this sort of thing, feel free to hassle Mick@47, He is the X Team Manager and he'll be happy to point you in the right direction.

QuadSquad have replaced a few of these for X Team riders too, so give Adam a call and he can help yopu (03) 8790 1920

I hope some of that helps
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Can-Am X Team
Bullet #Y12. MrsB #Y18.

[47industries]

Yep, it is a bit of a weak point in the frame, but fortunately like Bullet said, it is relatively inexpensive to replace and it is not a major issue during a race. What I mean by this is, the bike won't fall in half mid race. We have noticed it in race one of an event before and finished the meet with no issues. I know, I know, but I work for Can-am! Well I can only tell you what we have experienced, and we have had these issues before.
Mick@47
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[Dickie]

I have seen this happen from time to time on the DS450 HQ website ( www.ds450hq.com/forums ). There is plenty of information on there about it.

As it has already been said, its not a big deal, and inexpensive to fix. As an extra precaution you can look at getting the frame reinforcement kit offered by BCS Performance.

http://triton.heritagewebdesign.com/~manc22/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38_50&products_id=158&zenid=115106c596269959ceb0dda117e57763

[bullet]

I don't think the BCS Frame Reinforcing Kit actually strengthens where his front spars are broken.
The bits in the kit only bring the earlier model bikes (2008) up to the later model frame standard parts.
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Can-Am X Team
Bullet #Y12. MrsB #Y18.

[Quad Squad]

bullet wrote:

I don't think the BCS Frame Reinforcing Kit actually strengthens where his front spars are broken. The bits in the kit only bring the earlier model bikes (2008) up to the later model frame standard parts.

This is correct! it brings them to 2009 XMX spec

The 2010 front plate is an improved design and will fit all models. P/N:705202172


Also, any DS owner should regularly check the tension of all bolts associated with the frame. Any broken frame that hasnt been crashed has probably got at least 1 loose bolt somewhere, most likely an engine mount.
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[Unleaded-only]

Thanks heaps for ur help guys, Yeahr i got the bcs a-arm load transfer brackets asap, so that with the brace i made up should be alot stronger, but I will definitely look at getting those new aftmkt rails when i get the spare cash...thanks for that info bullet.
And Yes my dealer does sell lawn mowers, ha ha

in saying all this i do still love my can am, just a bit bumed, but the power of the motor is awesome and with the seat lowered and right shox it handles beautifully, i just wanna let people know coming from a non racer what can happen and this is not the only problem ive had with the bike, but now the reality has set in that as husky said all bikes have there own set of probs, but i will still keep it

Cheers Ryan
_________________
Everybody dies....But not everybody lives.
"Kwad up" is a mad song.

[Huskygoat]

In the interest of safety ...scrutineering at our club meets is going to take longer on these machines... if they going fall apart like that . How can you put some young fella out on a race track????? I m not going to lose my house over them.

husky
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Truth and Honor and Trust ... never under estimate Them.

[47industries]

Good on ya Ryan, and by the way, did you get my PM the other day?
What shocks are you running mate? Most people tend to go for Fox Floats, but I am interested to hear if anyone is running another brand of aftermarket shocks on a DS450.
Mick@47
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The way to this man's heart is through his esky

[Unleaded-only]

47industries wrote:

Good on ya Ryan, and by the way, did you get my PM the other day? What shocks are you running mate? Most people tend to go for Fox Floats, but I am interested to hear if anyone is running another brand of aftermarket shocks on a DS450. Mick@47

sorry just got pm now, ill give u a call thanks, i have stock mx front now but i used to run floats, great shock but too much body roll for can am a-arms for me, but dam they soak up the big hits, i have a Motowoz Rear wich is awsome i love it and i have a set of motowoz fronts about a week away so i will post pics and give coments on them when i get em if ur interested.
Cheers Ryan
_________________
Everybody dies....But not everybody lives.
"Kwad up" is a mad song.

[Unleaded-only]

Here is a pic of the motowoz front shocks


Motowoz front shocks 2011 by bigrpizzle, on Flickr
_________________
Everybody dies....But not everybody lives.
"Kwad up" is a mad song.

[Unleaded-only]

Pics of frame finished n bike back together. maybe can am should take knote, and i hope they rectify the prob on the new bikes.
Cheers Ryan
_________________
Everybody dies....But not everybody lives.
"Kwad up" is a mad song.

Last edited by Unleaded-only on Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:49 pm; edited 1 time in total

[bullet]

Looks pretty neat.
Did you just weld up the broken front spars behind your reinforcing plate?
And did you tack weld them to the plate itself?

And it looks like you got some Kwaka germs on your front springs too
_________________
Can-Am X Team
Bullet #Y12. MrsB #Y18.

[Unleaded-only]

Cheers Bullet, yeahr i got the same germs where i put mu hands to, i did let a dude who owned a quacker ride my bike once....hmmm didnt even think about it spreading at the time. ha ha

yeahr welded the crack behind the brace (ill get some pics of it), painted it n put it back on, put the a-arm reinforcements on front n rear, upper to lower, there is no welds holding the brace on though just bolts, 11 ten mill bolts all up.
Cheers Ryan
_________________
Everybody dies....But not everybody lives.
"Kwad up" is a mad song.

[TasATV]

I've been watching this thread and it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

I don't know what other people think but I must be getting old. I could never feel fully confident on that machine again given the fact that it's only a couple of years old.

The repair job may be fully satisfactory but there would always be that lingering doubt that it could happen again in the same spot or on another part of the frame.

Lets hope it doesn't.
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Oxford heated hand grips.

[Unleaded-only]

yep there sure is that fear, and i check every time before i ride, but i dont have the cash to get a new bike, and can am wont help so ill hang onto it for now.....maybe i should just slow down a bit ha ha.
I will get some new rails, The rails that Daniel James has bullet, are the stronger or thicker or just the same??
cheers Ryan
_________________
Everybody dies....But not everybody lives.
"Kwad up" is a mad song.

[bullet]

The spars that Daniel has would be from the BRP U.S. Race Department.
They look the same as the standard ones, and i'm sure they would be the same.
It is possible that BRP would increase the wall thickness of that section, but i don't know if they have.

TasATV, The top shock mounts are the area that takes all of the force / weight.
This mounting point is supported from 4 different angles on both sides.
Our top Pro guys that crack this one support in big crashes, still finish 20 minute Motos doing all the jumps as they do.
You would feel something has gone a-stray but of the few people who have seen it happen so far, they have all still raced home.
_________________
Can-Am X Team
Bullet #Y12. MrsB #Y18.

[Unleaded-only]

thanks bullet, i will give my bike a good thrashin at singleton mx track on the 30th and if no probs with frame i will feel much better, i just took it to motard at eastern creek n frame was fine.
Cheers Ryan
_________________
Everybody dies....But not everybody lives.
"Kwad up" is a mad song.