Exhaust Bracket Near Rear Tyre and Q re Subframe Tubing

[Jules]

So I just spent an hour or so stripping down the bodywork and lighting on the back of the bike. I need to fix the damage when the PO dropped the bike, and also want to change the indicators.

I did notice a couple of odd things when I was taking the bodywork off. Firstly the subframe is covered in surface rust, which I will need to rectify. However, I did notice that there's a bracket attached to the exhaust silencer that is very close to the tyre. See photos:





Is that supposed to be like that? The exhaust looks like it is mounted correctly, but I'm new to this!

The other thing I noticed, is that the sub frame changes diameter of the tubing as it loops around the back of the bike. Is that normal too? Or has it been worked on?



Sorry for all the paranoia.  :yow

[The Mighty Gryphon]

I'm going to guess that the bracket in question is part of the rubber stop for the centerstand. 

The tubing is correct.  They went smaller because it needed to fit under the rear seat cowl, and a lot of strength isn't required back there anyway.  I'm guessing the rust is pretty common.  20+ years with never being able to be cleaned is going to lead to some rusting.  As they say, "out of sight, out of mind".  I just did a k100 that was solid rust all the way back under the cowl.  Probably should pop it every 20 years or so and clean things up under there.

I sanded mine thoroughly, soaked it with vinegar on paper towels for a day or two and after a good rinse hit it with rust converting primer followed by red oxide primer followed by 3-4 good coats of engine enamel.  Took about a week, but I don't plan on going in there again while I own the bike. 

[Jules]

Ah cool, that all makes sense. Being new to bikes in general, I wasn't sure if there was anything fishy going on. Thanks :)