What to do about the gauges mounting bracket

Finally finished painting the new tank and got it on the bike today. To celebrate I went out for a long ride. Burned through the tank of gas and pulled into a station to fill back up again -- and the whole cluster falls over! Well ain't that just dandy? Luckily one of the things I packed in my tool kit was a length of bailing wire, so I was able to keep everything in place for the trip back home. However...

When I got the bike, the original mounting bracket was broken in exactly the same place, so I picked up another one off ebay. This one was in perfect condition, no sign of any stress cracks even after I sandblasted it. I just rolled over 1000 miles and another bracket is already destroyed. Are they really that poorly made? I can't imagine anyone buying one of these new being very happy about having to replace a stupid bracket after their first month of ownership, so did Kawasaki ever address the problem and design a replacement part that actually worked? Or does anyone currently manufacture a bracket that won't fail?

Since the original was made of aluminum I'm guessing what's needed here is a good steel part. Worst case, I suppose I can get a chunk of 1/8" steel plate and cut out a whole new part, but I'm hoping other folks have found a solution to the problem or perhaps have a template for a better design that I could use.

My guess is that the aluminum is just old & has become embrittled, so buying a replacement part won't solve the problem as
any available would have been made back in the day. I think the process is called hydrogen embrittlement & occurs spontaneously
over time from exposure to water/moisture/humidity & other electro-chemical reactions. The muffler stays on some 80s 1000/1100s
also has the same problem of cracking.

Just throwing it out there. There are places that CNC laser cut custom steel parts, but it's probably expensive to get one part done. One place showed some examples & a dozen of a couple of different parts were about $15-20 per part, but if you only got one the pricing was over $100.

I'd like to see a pic.
Steve

Yes, a photo may help. You may have already considered this stuff, but depending upon where it's broken, maybe you can get it welded or maybe add some angle iron. or buy a good replacement & beef it up where it tends to break. ???

Here's one that appears to have been welded or something. EB meter bracket Spectre 1100

For reference, the pictures from the ebay auction that Martin posted are showing the break in exactly the same place mine snapped. It's basically where the metal bends at 90 degrees for the mounting posts to the tree.

I hadn't thought about the metal becoming brittle over time, but the way it has snapped off in both cases does remind me of the kind of break you see in work-hardened material. I wonder what would happen if I picked up another one that appears in good condition, threw it in the forge to bring it up to temp (have to be careful. aluminum melts at 1200F), and then quenched it (aluminum becomes soft when quenched, unlike steel which hardens)? That could draw out any hardening that might have occurred from previous use. It's also possible that the machining process itself caused a hardening while bending that area and time has amplified the brittleness.

Re-welding the part is also an option, and I happen to have a MIG that can work with aluminum, but I have no experience welding aluminum and have hear it is rather difficult. I am by no means a great welder, so my typical method is to over-build an area, then go back and grind it down flat again. Well I've been wanting to learn how to work with aluminum anyway, might have to give it a try.

I've had 2 break the same way , the 2nd one I took to a welding shop that did aluminium and had them weld it up for me.

I can't remember what the cost was offhand but I didn't think it was than much.

Aluminium is very easy to work with.You can shape it and finish it with regular woodworking tools. I made a clock bracket for my bike,different model to yours though. I first cut a template from cardboard and used that to make another template from MDF. I then roughly cut a plate of 8mm aluminium and then finished it by clamping it to the MDF and running the router around the edges. It worked out very well. I then anodised it but thats a different story.
Instead of trying to bend it you might consider cutting a plate and then using spacers to lift/lower it to the level you need. No metal fatigue worries and with a thick enough plate,youll be laughing.
Heres a link to the page where Im working on the bracket;
www.kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/594313...ject-build?start=340
If you want to anodise then look further.
Good luck with yours

When I made the steel bumper for my truck I used poster board to create a pattern from the stock plastic bumper, then transferred that to some 3/16" steel plate. I modified it by creating slopes at the sides to provide clearance to the tires and ended up with a great off-road bumper that looks stock (actual rounded corners instead of the geometric flat plates that most are made from) but has functional tow rings and a 2" hitch. So yeah, I'm no stranger to creating templates to work from.

Funny thing is it feels like this smaller part would be a lot more complex to try and create, even though it is obviously much less overall labor.

Yeah I'm thinking I'll grab a 1# spool of aluminum wire from Harbor Freight and try welding on some scrap pieces. If it works out, then it shouldn't be much trouble to add some extra fillets to these bends for added strength. And the bracket is fairly well hidden anyway, so it doesn't really have to be pretty.

I'd try to make one out of steel.
Steve

A simple and permanent solution.

Just to add to an older thread, my bracket broke like others have mentioned.  I took the high-tech newfangled route and made up a 3D printed replacement.  1/4" plus of ABS with very generous radii.  Should work, if not I'll redesign with some additional gussets or something.  One advantage to this method is customization - I added a shelf for my radar detector remote display.

I had the same problem with two brackets, one new and then i made one out of steel, no problems anymore.