Here is the picture of the crack in the frame. I have found identical cracks in three examples of 87 and 88 hurricanes.

 

interesting, i may have to go outside and check my frame, you guys got me all worried.

 

Don't worry it can be repaired. I stripped one bike down to the frame so it could be ground out and welded properly... it is a lot of work but can be done.

 

i take it the crack is that vertical fuzzy brown line on the frame?

it looks as though the frame is under some kind of stress causing the frame to be wedged apart. engine vibration is dampened by the frame and suspension. and would not be so destructive as to put a crack in a frame. doesn't even look like a torsional stress caused crack. i have over 90k on my bike and nothing like that has shown up. creepy...

 

One of them came to my attention when a newbie rider was trying to trade it off at a local bike shop. It was in overall rough condition so the bike shop gave it a good inspection and found the crack. They informed the owner it was worthless to them due to frame damage. The next move was to call me and ask if I was looking for a parts bike... I was the only one they could think of that still rides a hurricane around here. I bought it for $300.00. I attributed the condition of the frame to poor life that bike had.
Thesecond bike came to my attention when one of my friends who was learning how to ride bought an 88. I have been maintaining it for him and noticed the crack during routine maintenance when we had the plastic off.
The third copy with the crack I found in a consignment shop... I offered to buy it pending an inspection of the frame... it turned out to be cracked too. The plastic was in such good shape that I couldn't pass up the bike and bought it anyway. This bike was babied.
I posted my theory on the reason they are cracking in the other thread...

 

Yeah, I read the other thread. Just seems to be like that might be a place that could potential inherit a lot of stress when coming down off of a wheelie. That would be my hypothesis.

 

That is why I put the question out there. My original bike has been ridden hard but not abused... no crack.

 

wheelie or trying to wheelie would be a good theory. upon the frontend coming down, the forks will compress taking a heavier than normal compression load. the remaining load will be transmitted to the frame, but since the steering head area is heavily reinforced, the next place stress can travel is down the frame spars. so the next weakest part of the frame is the engine plates where it goes from vertical to semi-horizontal. this is a very simplistic explanation but leaves other questions unanswered.

 

Whatever is causing the cracks may never be entirely explained... However, it is still a good idea to inspect this area of your bikes frame to see if it is present on your own bike. I have seen it too many times to call it coincidental... this may be my favorite bikes fatal flaw... or an opportunity to pick up cheap parts bikes from people who are unwilling to go through the amount of work it takes to correct it. In any case, no reputable dealer will knowinglysell you a bike witha cracked frame. Theconsignment shop where I purchased my last copy pulled it from the showroom immediately when the crack was discovered. There is just too much liability.
My advise is simply to inspect your own bike. The crack will be obvious.

 

check the vins of the 3 bikes to see if they were build close together. mine with 19,000 miles is clean