I'm Guessing That'll Buff Right Out...

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James Burleigh

James Burleigh

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Couple days ago I had to go up over a parking lot curb to evade a maniac cager trying to run me over, and suffered a wee little scratch to my left faring:

IMG_0009a.jpg


That broad white line you see is the top edge of the separated plastic. But I'm figuring, "No biggie": A flathead screwdriver to pry the two pieces apart, apply some Elmer's glue, slap it back together, then hit it with a little Midnight Blue model airplane paint and...Bob's your uncle: Good as new!

Does that sound like a good plan?
rolleyes.gif


 
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Some two part plastic epoxy, and yeah, good as new.

Then put a sticker over it, screw the model paint :)

 
Bummer...curbing it was better than letting the cager hit you. Hope the repairs work out!

 
I'm kind of partial to ABS cement to repair this stuff. It's black and you have to be careful to apply it carefully to the broken edges, then put them together and clean the residue from the finish, but it does a great job of welding the parts together. If all else fails, ask Puppychow who brought his FJR back from the dead.

Do check your exhaust for damage. Bummer you had to evade the cage.

 
JB, what the Hell are you doing when you're riding that makes people want to kill you? Sounds like a rough crowd there in NorCal... :))

 
OK, here is how to repair that.

Remove the panel. Sand the BACK side thoroughly at least three inches around the crack with coarse grit. Cut at least three fiberglass patches 3" larger than the crack(woven cloth), each about 1/2" smaller than the other when fitted. (or one piece of mat) Lay in your Epoxy making sure you get it into the faces inside the crack, then wipe any excess off and place a piece of masking tape over it to prevent the epoxy from oozing through. Continue, by spreading more epoxy in the inside and bedding in the fiberglass patches. make sure the fiberglass in saturated. This should result in a repair that is hard to see, smooth and durable.

 
James Burleigh said:
Okay, maybe the cause was a little more prosaic than I let on....
fool.gif

Not sure where I got the idea for going up over a curb....
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Click to expand...
Yeah, I was gonna say that crack probably had more to do with the impact that left that mark on the bottom of the "F" than a curb.

The thing about our bikes. JB, is that they are now so old it doesn't really matter anymore that they have beauty marks like these. The damage won't really affect the resale value (because they don't have any
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)

 
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I was going to ask which came first, the cracked faring or the question about curb jumping.

The back side fiberglass is by far the best fix to return the fairing to better than new rigidity. Unfortunately that still leaves you on the hook to beautify the outside in some way. Best is sanding, Bondo filler (with care) and new paint or stickers.

 
The proper way to fix the crack is to weld it with some ABS filler rod. You can use your soldering iron to fuse the pieces together and then apply the filler to level it out. a little sanding, primer and paint and it will be fine. I can send you some filler rods on request....

 
The fiberglass method is good, but the plastic epoxy idea is at least equally as good and strong without all the matting and cure times. Either way, is a good repair on the inside.

Edit - Or Garauld's welding suggestion is very good too.

 
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