Just an update. I found a certified welder through a recommendation from Al at (American Sportbike).
After talking to the owner, I loaded up my bike and headed down to San Clemente. After he saw what was broken, he told me right off the bat. This was going to be a challenge to get it done correctly. And he quoted me what it would cost to be done. He saw the concern on my face, as it was way more than people had mentioned.
But to be honest, I called local shops and they didn't know if it could be done or they just said it couldn't be done. Most didn't want to touch it because of it be aluminum.
But the owner had me stay, and watch the whole process from start to finish. He explained his steps and why he was doing what he was doing (to explain the cost, process, and materials). I brought a friend along to help me discern if I was being taken for a ride. My friend has a better idea of the welding process as they had some welding experience in the past. And after watching the repair process the welder went through, my friend told me the welder had put more work into fixing my bike correctly and the price I paid was half of the time he spent repairing it.
Each step mentioned above in the post that a proper welder would do was done. He took me through the cleaning process to prepare the metal for welding/bonding. The build up and welding process of making the sure the piece had it's structural integrity. I believed he used 5052 aluminum welding rods and explained the temperatures needed to make sure everything was proper. He made rigs of my swingarm axle rod to hold into place while he welded. He had me buy a new pinch, to be a place holder as he welded. After that, all the build up was sanded down flush and smooth. Then sand blasted the finished work. And then some touch up texture and paint to finish the job. I wish I had taken photos after he sand blasted it, it was smooth and shiny. No imperfections. The paint hides this, its not a perfect paint job, but that was not my concern. But he wanted to put some clear coat and a few layers of paint to help prevent residue build up.
I know from the photo, it looks like you can see imperfections on the face side, but I assure you that there are none. The paint build up makes it look like there is.
Honestly, you can't even tell it was ever broken. And some of the things I'm paraphrasing, so don't blast me about a certain term or process I got wrong.
But this fourm is great as the members got me going in the right direction and helped me out in making sure I got the correct person for the job. Had a list of questions for the welder, and he appreciated that.
I'm still waiting on a part for my fuel pump, so everything is just hand tighten in place. Once I get the part I will take a photo of the backside, and inner part (if i can get a proper image).
Cheers!
