900rr custom tail question

EDIT: just want to say, I AM NOT A WELDER!!!!! but have done alot of reading and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I've welded a couple of things for my bike, but nothing structural.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!



You can watch alot of videos, but welding is an perhaps more so an art than it is a science. It takes practice and a lot of it.
If you really want to DIY:
Stick to carbon steel at first. Stainless is difficult and aluminum is VERY difficult.

Make sure you have the proper safety gear!!!!!!!!!! Harbor Freight has a good auto darkening helmet for about $50 or $60
Gloves, long sleeve shirt, and jeans are a must!

Go MIG/GMAW(these terms are explained in the links below)
Skip the flux core welder. Go for a gas welder. this will have a higher cost, but the results will be much better.
whatever you're welding, the Miller website has a suggested gas/voltage/wire gauge/wire feed settings.
http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/calculators/mig_solid_amperage_calculator.php
a good 110V machine will do what you need.
Stick to a NAME brand welder. there are about 5 or 6 reliable brands with parts/service support. That bargain welder might not be a bargain when it malfunctions and you can't find parts or someone willing to repair it.

a bunch of youtube vids.
There's a ton of info here.

http://www.customfighters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27005


Before doing anything that you're going to be trusting with your life, plenty of practice and do some destruction tests to see how well your welds hold.

Learn about triangulation of structures and look at some pics of other homebrew subframes.

there are welding forums galore and there is a "heavy metal" forum here if you have any questions.

I have to agree with the others. I have been employed as a welder but mostly I used a machine that did the welding for me. I did little manual welding but I did get the hang of it. Still I only weld steel. Aluminum is not easy. It offers no warning before your nice clean weld burns straight out the back of your part. It gets expensive to weld aluminum that way. In fact I only know a few people that do weld aluminum. Also molten aluminum doesn't bounce off human skin as steel does. It sticks, and when you go to brush if off it takes skin with it. If you attempt this for your first time I would say use steel. Use a thick gauge material too cause you will burn through thinner stuff. I have a 110v welder myself and I don't like it. It's no good for thin material. It likes to have a nice hot surface to weld and will burn right through anything thin no matter how hard I try to stop it. I think a first time welder could do it with a lot of caution taken but it would be a whole lot easier to pay someone to do it. Go to a muffler shop and ask someone there. They'll have someone who welds for sure. They could at least tell you where to go. That way you could use aluminum for a lighter subframe and a professional finish.