Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
Dude, That cannot be repaired, It may hold for a while, but will most likely fail pretty quick.
Broken steering bracket, can this be repaired? How do I fix this?
- Thread starter streetroc
- Start date
Yeah I'm afraid you might be right. My pole still has the original graphics on it though. How hard would it be to drill out those rivets and replace the bracket? I noticed some hairline cracks on the pole when I took it off so I might have to get inside of it to do a little reinforcement anyway
Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
easy as hell.
you will just need some epoxy or marine tex to glue the end back on, the rivets are really only there to hold in place until adhesive sets.
you will just need some epoxy or marine tex to glue the end back on, the rivets are really only there to hold in place until adhesive sets.
What's the best way to remove the bracket from the pole? I didn't realize that there was a he civ underneath the rivets. Does it need to be heated up?
Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
Drill out rivets. Take rubber mallet and hit on sides alternating sides. Or take side grinder and cut off the metal. Dont go deep
- Location
- Saskatchewan
You're lucky you didnt loose control of the ski when this happened. When poles break sometimes cables get yanked and it gets stuck at wide open throttle Dont risk your ski doing a bubble gum fix instead of a spending $150, that pole WILL break again.
That's a good point, I hadn't considered that. I worry that even a replacement pole might eventually fail too. Is there a way to make a secondary kill switch? Maybe run the power supply to the ignition up through the pole so that if the pole breaks it will break the wire and kill the engine?
I'm working on getting a replacement pole right now. However in the meantime I was able to get that bracket repaired. A friend of mine is a welder for a major airline and he specializes in aluminum. He took it into the airline's repair shop and was able to weld it back together using their equipment. He said that it wasn't easy but it's as strong as it was before. I've done a little bit of welding but I'm no expert. It looks good to me though. Welded from both sides with good penetration all the way around. And he said that he heated it up first so that it wouldn't be brittle when it was done. What do y'all think about this?
I noticed some cracks in the fiberglass when I got the bracket off the pole. It looks like I can reinforce it pretty easily though. Is there a way to get that styrofoam out of it without just hacking away at it with a knife?
Also, what kind of rivets/adhesive do I need to put this back together?
Also, what kind of rivets/adhesive do I need to put this back together?
- Location
- the jetski grave yard
not the prettiest weld I've ever seen especially for a pro welder but it looks good enough to me.
I've never broke the head part before but bases , yea. the head rivets came loose on one pole so I shortened it at the top. it was a major pain to get it back to rigid at the top. always shorten at the bottom if you can. unless you are doing rolls and really cranking and torqueing on the pole, it should hold up. mine held up and I kept beating the crap out of it.
I've never broke the head part before but bases , yea. the head rivets came loose on one pole so I shortened it at the top. it was a major pain to get it back to rigid at the top. always shorten at the bottom if you can. unless you are doing rolls and really cranking and torqueing on the pole, it should hold up. mine held up and I kept beating the crap out of it.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
It may hold up or it may just snap again leaving you stranded. Not worth potentially stretching your throttle cable and watching you ski go wot into some rocks/boat. Personally my summers is to short for those sort of repairs, replace it once and be done with VS trying to fix fatigued parts. I've learnt to spend the money once and cry once. Hopefully it lasts for you
I'm very concerned about that as well. Even with a replacement pole I worry that it might still be an issue. Have you ever heard of a way to make a secondary kill switch to prevent this? I'm thinking that if I can access the power supply to the ignition module I can lengthen that wire and run it up to the handlebars and back. That way if the pole were to break it would rip out the wire and kill the engine.
How do I get to the power supply to the ignition module? I looked behind the engine but I didn't see anything except that electrical box. Would I have to get in there to access it?
- Location
- Saskatchewan
You are overthinking this. Clean used round nose pole for $200 and done. No extra work
With the time you spent disassembling your pole and having it welded you could of already had a different good pole on and be done. When this breaks you'll be starting over.
With the time you spent disassembling your pole and having it welded you could of already had a different good pole on and be done. When this breaks you'll be starting over.
I know that would be easier. You're right, it doesn't make a lot of sense to go through all of this effort to repair this pole. However my ski is 100% factory original and I want to keep it that way. My pole still has the original graphics on it. It even has the original factory warning label on the underside. I've been looking around but I haven't been able to find another stock FX1 pole like that. I'm even going as far as to match the original forest green color factory enamel that it was painted with. If this were any other ski I wouldn't care but I really want to keep this one exactly the way it was when Yamaha built it.
This whole incident has really taught me how unique and rare a stock FX1 is. After all they only made 1500 of them and that was a quarter of a century ago. After I get this back together I'm going to be a lot more careful with it.
LS86
LKN
- Location
- Sherrills Ford, NC
I can have the pole packaged and shipped out Wednesday if you still need it...
Thanks man I appreciate that. Might take you up on it but not quite sure yet. In the meantime I've almost got this pole back together and it's looking pretty good.
I'm almost ready to put that steering bracket back on the pole. Is there a specific kind of epoxy or marine tex that I should use? Also, what are the best kind of rivets to use for this?
Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
If you have not ordered any marine-tex then your best bet will be to find an academy sports and pick up a tube of fast cure 5200 to bond it with. Alum rivets are fine, just will need to get once long enough to penetrate. Pre drill the holes first. sand the end of the pole. Squirt the 5200 down into the bracket, then apply some to the pole itself. Install bracket, Then stick rivets in place. install rivets alternating from side to side.
Cool thanks man. There is an academy sports right next to my house so I will swing by there and grab some 5200 fast cure. I'll also look around for some aluminum rivets. That's a good point about pre-drilling the holes too, I wouldn't have thought of that.
If all goes well I might just have it back together in time for the free ride this weekend!
If all goes well I might just have it back together in time for the free ride this weekend!