I've seen several threads where the frams rust out on these XR's.
I noticed that there were no drain holes in the bottom of the frames on these machines, so I drilled some small 1/8" drain holes in the bottom frame tubes.  As soon as the drill broke through, water poured out!

When drains on automotive panels get clogged, the panel is prone to rust out.  These bikes don't even have drain holes to start with!

Doesn't take but a couple of minutes!

Good Luck!

n2omike, on 09 May 2012 - 04:37 PM, said:

Actually they do. Don,t know why yours didn,t have any.

Oh good question.. I need to look for mine and make sure they are clean/clear.. Obviously the front tube holds oil, so people should watch where they drill or they may cause more problems then it helps...

Pictures??

RyJen, on 10 May 2012 - 06:13 AM, said:

Factory drain holes ...........

Cheers,

The cross tube has drain holes, but the two side tubes do not.  They are the ones that are rusted out in the below picture from another thread.  After I drilled 1/8" holes through the ones on my XR250R, water ran out.  I recently purchased an XR400, and it's going to get the same treatment.  Look at the picture attached to the previous post, and you'll see...  no drain holes.  There's a reason the frame in the picture below rusted out...  no drain holes there.  Stuff like this generally rusts from the inside out...  and you can tell that is the case below.  No visible corrosion surrounding the holes on the outside of the tubing.  They corroded from the inside.

Edited by n2omike, 10 May 2012 - 04:12 PM.

n2omike, on 10 May 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

Exactly right.  This is one of the few design flaws in the XR4.  Mild steel in the frame and no drain holes... not good at all.

So what size hole and where did you drill?

Wont that hole also rust out?

Snake2715, on 14 May 2012 - 06:28 PM, said:

I just drilled a small 1/8" holes at the lowest point on each side of the frame.  This allows water that's stuck in the frame tubes to drain out.  The holes won't rust out the frame...  They keep it from rusting, as it helps keep the inside of the frame tubes dry.  The holes can be made slightly larger if wanted, but 1/8" is working so far for me.  I just check every so often to make sure they aren't clogged.

Good Luck!

Edited by n2omike, 15 May 2012 - 05:19 AM.

I'm sure I seen this mentioned somewhere before, why not drill a few small holes and fill the frame with expanding foam? Where it doesn't hold oil of course..lol.

this stuff works great, though on bicycles it's a lot easier to get close to full coverage on the inside.

http://www.google.co...ved=0CGwQ8wIwAA

XR8ed400, on 15 May 2012 - 04:20 PM, said:

I would NOT recommend expanding foam.  With that stuff in there, any water that did get into the tubes...  would be hard to dry out...  and would stay there, facilitating corrosion.

I'm pretty sure expanding foam is never the correct answer to any problem.

Awww..cammon. It's right up there with duct tape and haywire for problem solving!

I'd think that just keeping the factory weep holes in the cross arm (previously posted photo) "clear"  would allow water to drain out.  I think some of the problems that do exist are from people that like to ride through mud bogs and neglect a good clean up afterwards. The weep holes never stood a chance as they were plugged from the get go.

Personally, I think that people in general believe that dirt bikes don't require thorough maintenance and proper, regular cleanings. In reality they require more maintenance and cleaning due to the harsh environments they operate in.

I can't tell you the number of times I've asked guys why they don't clean up their bike and the answer is always "because its a dirt bike".

This photo is my old 2001 XR400 that was rode HARD ......... but never put away wet. She was sold in perfect mechanical condition only because I found a NOS 2002 XR400.

Just one guys opinion though.

Cheers,

Edited by Brewster Two, 16 May 2012 - 08:53 PM.

Brewster Two, on 16 May 2012 - 08:40 PM, said:

You live in ARIZONA.  Not a whole lot of need for drain holes there!  LOL!
I go through water crossings that come up onto the engine about every time I ride, and there's tons of mud as well.  (especially in the spring)

If the factory drain holes in the cross piece could drain the side tubes, water wouldn't have run out when I drilled my holes.  I don't think the hollow spaces inside the frame tubes are connected.

My bike gets cleaned/maintained regularly.

Drilling a couple of small drain holes in the bottom of the side tubes isn't going to hurt a thing, and will allow water accumulated there to drain out.  No possible negative consequences for putting them there...  especially if you live in an environment with a LOT more mud and water than ARIZONA.  LOL

Drill away baby, LOL.

Come ride in AZ some time, trust me, I can submerge my bike (or yours) in WATER on any given day

Cheers,

Edited by Brewster Two, 17 May 2012 - 05:18 PM.

I'm curious as to how water gets in the fram to begin with. I guess its from going through creeks and streams where the lower part of the frame gets submerged? If so, this shouldn't be an issue for me as I don't have water hazzards in the trails I normally ride.

RyJen, on 18 May 2012 - 05:39 AM, said:

Or washing it...

oh..good. I don't wash my bike either.