'96 r1100rt 'Tupperware'

[Bruce (Bedford)]

Hi chaps

Does anyone know what type of plastic my fairings are? PVC, ABS etc???

There are a couple of biffs & bashes that need repairing and I'm thinking of gluing a bit of rear reinforcement here & there so need to know what glue will work.

If no one has been there I'll start experimenting.

 

[Boffin]

The material used is ABS. Plastex is a popular repair system for cracks or missing bits.

 

Andy

[Bruce (Bedford)]

Thanks Andy

[Selden]

Plastex is highly rated, but a word of warning: buy it when you need it, not in anticipation of possible need. I did the latter, and when I went to use it, discovered that most of the solvent had evaporated, even though the container was sealed. I might have been able to substitute methyl ethyl ketone, but didn't feel experimental.

 

Probably not as effective as Plastex, but pretty good, is Devcon high strengh plastic welder, which I have found to work very well with ABS, especially when used in combination with fiberglass cloth. Thus stuff stinks much more than most epoxy, and is rated for 3500 psi, with 4-minute working time (which can be extended by keeping it in the refrigerator). When possible, I lay a piece of vinyl (such as part of a ziplock bag) over the patch and clamp, or if the surface is convex, stretch the plastic over the patch with masking tape. The vinyl peels right off, leaving a smooth surface, with edges that usually feather well into the surrounding area. If appearance is not an issue, use fiberglass cloth on both sides of the patch.

 

[kmac]

Remember that all of these ABS products need to be used directly on the abs of the tupperware...NOT on the paint. All paint needs to be sanded off of the fairing pieces before any epoxy can be applied.

Once the cracks are repaired for strength, the shape can be repaired with a bondo type of product, then primmed and painted.

Bondo gets a bad rap, but it is fantastic stuff if it is not applied to thick. It bonds excellently to the plastc of bike fairings.

Use the epoxy products to fix the cracks, but use bondo to reshape the part and you will have a nice paintable piece.

PS use a high fill, or high build primer, not some cheap home depot primer. The high fill will fill the sanding scratches in the bondo and small scratches in the old paint and abs, making a much more sandable and smooth surface to paint. Remember, paint is only as good as the prep work...prime, block sand, reprime re sand....

[Bruce (Bedford)]

Knowing that the fairing was ABS (thanks) I used two strips of similar material as backing/reinforcement and pvs/mupvc/abs solvent glue used for connecting plastic plumbing fittings. Cleaned the areas of paint down to the black abs, used a heat gun to soften the fairing slightly, glued joined and clamped the repair, the jobs a good-un!

When the fairing gets re-sprayed (jet black) then the slight crack can be filled.

(The hole at the end of the crack was to stop the crack propagating)

 

I might not have the images here - if not could someone help me?!!!