Was a great day to ride yesterday.  I couldn't wait to take the bike out after removing the fairing lowers for the summer.  I did my pre-ride, got on my gear, started her up.  I threw my leg over the seat and realized something was a little fishy.  The gauges were way to far away from me.  Guess it was early because it took me a couple of seconds to figure it out.

The welds on the upper, center fairing mount had failed where it bolted to the steering head.  My first thought was how am I gonna fix this?  Then how am I gonna ride it there.  Fortunately I remembered that a friend has a small welder that would work perfect.

After taking everything apart we found the welds where the bracket ataches to the steering head were solid.  On the other hand the welds holding the spacer in the bracket were garbage, very cold without any penetration.

So, two things.....have any of you had the same problem, and are you sure you're not going to in the future.
I had obvious rust dust around the problem area.  I chalked it up to a loose bold.  Check your fairing mount!!  If mine had failed on the road I could have been trouble.

Was a great day to ride yesterday.  I couldn't wait to take the bike out after removing the fairing lowers for the summer.  I did my pre-ride, got on my gear, started her up.  I threw my leg over the seat and realized something was a little fishy.  The gauges were way to far away from me.  Guess it was early because it took me a couple of seconds to figure it out.

The welds on the upper, center fairing mount had failed where it bolted to the steering head.  My first thought was how am I gonna fix this?  Then how am I gonna ride it there.  Fortunately I remembered that a friend has a small welder that would work perfect.

After taking everything apart we found the welds where the bracket ataches to the steering head were solid.  On the other hand the welds holding the spacer in the bracket were garbage, very cold without any penetration.

So, two things.....have any of you had the same problem, and are you sure you're not going to in the future.
I had obvious rust dust around the problem area.  I chalked it up to a loose bold.  Check your fairing mount!!  If mine had failed on the road I could have been trouble.

It is apparently a fairly common failure.  Checking that the bolt is tight enough helps prevent it, but from what I've read is no guarantee.

Lucky you had a friend who welds (assuming he is good at it), and that you found it before it broke the plastic fairing.  I had a welder come to me for $70 after I disassembled everything.  I used a Dremel to prep the area and tapped everything back into place.  He TIG welded it and used some scrap rod on the bottom (where the bolt is in the grey picture) to add some strengthening.  The original is a poor design - it should have been solid.  It has been a year so far and there has been no noticeable change.  I think once it gets loose once, the damage is done (fracture), and it is just a matter of time.  The attached pictures are not of my bike, but this is exactly what the three I have seen do.  I can't remember where I "borrowed" these from.

I have to check out my dad's bike i'm restoring tonight - thanks for reminding me!

Mine failed with a tight bolt. The welds were fine, not enough rust to blame that, it is just a weak part and the metal tore out. Some very rough roads at speed. It did last 78,000, but when it failed, it did a number on the fairings.

This is a pretty common problem, though most people report the bolt loose. Then the threads saw though the metal. Guy by the name of Steve Pronto was offering a solid steel block to weld on in place of the stock mount, IIRC he wanted $75 for it. Others have posted pics of welding various metal bits over the stock mount to reinforce it. I have heard that some prefer to use yellow rope.

EDIT: FRH87 posted while I was typing, the third pic is what my '88 looks like. My '01 hasn't broke yet but I'll get some metal welded on there anyway.

Its easier to fix before it breaks. I just beefed it up with metal and a mig welder while the faring was off.

My bolt was tight, and it is an extremely poor design.  It looks like the welds were just there to hold the sleeve in there long enough for assembly.  For the record I probably helped things along running without the lowers.  That puts all the weight on that one joint.  If I ever upgrade the forks I will probably remodel the whole thing.  Maybe double the height of the mount to allow for two bolts and weld an additional tab to the bottom of the fairing stay.  Also shoulder bolts would be a better way to spread out the load.