DISASTER !!!! My newly painted bike!

[Jayceesfolly]

In the previous thread I told about the work done on the bike and the new paint job. Well, today I went to the garage to get the bike to add running lights and a Strebel horn I had purchased and when I got the bike out, I discovered the clutch fluid had leaked out of the cylinder at the handle and dripped on the fairing!!! My beautiful paint job is ruined and the fairing has split into 6 pieces. I am heart broken. I removed the fairing and washed all the pieces in soapy water and am going to have to try to save the fairing. Question: What can I do to glue it back together and what else can I do to fix the degradation in the plastic.

 

 

Jim

[kantornado]

I used 3M 2 part apoxy industrial, kind of green in color, very flxable to work with but strong as steel. Very good stuff.

 

I just used duc tape on the inside of fairing and put the epoxy on and worked with it molding the resin to get rid of cracks. used a body cheese grader and then sanding 40,80,120,180,220 grit paper to sand. finish filler to get rid of dimples, primed wet sanded 600 and painted.

 

hope it helps ..................Ron

[waterbug]

Wow man that really sucks! It depends on how bad the plastic is on how or if you can fix it. You might have to cut all the contaminated plastic out and rebuild it from there. There are products out there to repair most plastics and I think those are ABS plastic if I remember rite. Main thing make sure bad parts are gone and you hand sand the areas to be fixed as this plastic melts easy and hand sanding will make better adhesion then clean it very good with denatured alcohol or amonia and water mix. Go to a auto paint and body supply store they will have the proper glues to fix this and go from there. Good luck and don't let it get you down my bike went down my drive way by itself after I painted it and put it all back together, had to redo it all again because of our ghost! Life goes on!

[waterbug]

Oh if you get a chance post some pictures on how she looks.

[rstacy]

I'm sorry Jim. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you repair it.

 

Ray

[Eck]

I would suggest searching for a replacement fairing in place of trying to repair that one. With the constant air pressure, temperature changes and amount of vibration the front fairing goes through, I would be a VERY reluctant in trying to patch it up with any type of ABS glue, then pay again to repaint it, only to find the wind and or vibration at 70 MPH cracked it again..

 

Just my 2 cents which ain't worth a nickle...

[twigg]

The fairing is made of ABS plastic.

 

The solvent required to fix it id Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK). This is available from Home Depot for about $10 per quart.

 

You can use any scrap ABS (kids toys, old bike parts) to supply the filler. Just grind it up and add it to the MEK to form a paste.

 

There is a commercial prep available called Plastex .... It is the same as I described except it comes in tiny quantities and costs a fortune

 

If you have a clean break just put some MEK in a dropper .... feed it into the crack and hold the pieces together for a few minutes. You will actually see it "welding" together and the joint will be as strong as the original.

 

If you want to re-inforce areas, forget using glass fiber or epoxy, they don't hold properly.

 

Simply cut the appropriate shape from ABS sheet and use the MEK to glue strengthening in any area you want it.

[friesman]

Crap!! Sorry to hear of your bad luck.....

A second vote on the not using epoxy or fiberglass, a previous owner used it on my trunk and just made a mess that didnt stick to the ABS very well. Some have had good luck heating up bits of heavy metal screen and pressing it into the plastic on the backside of the cracks to reinforce, and then do your finer finishing after.

 

PS i like PLastex, as it comes with a powdered plastic filler in a few different colours, as well as the solvent so you can actually build up new pieces with their product. I saw Rocket build some parts for my bikes radio panel within a couple of minutes and it was strong as new and invisible when done. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xBIf_fx708]‪World's Best Plastic Repair‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

 

Brian

Edited July 22, 2011 by friesman

[Rick Butler]

You know guys,

 

That brake fluid and even Loctite basically sucks all of the moisture out of ABS and makes it brittle enough to break. I'm not sure, but I would be suspect of being able to glue these brittle pieces back together and not have it break apart in another location of the fairing? If it were me, I'd be looking for another fairing half? But then again, it wouldn't hurt to see if it could be glued. My favorite choice over the years has been the Oakley general purpose (in the red can) PVC/CPVC/ABS glue that you can find in any hardware plumbing section.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Rick

[twigg]

Take a look here, then go Google "ABS MEK"

 

http://www.popupexplorer.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=595db2805134abd1fcb2d1236dfb9da0&topic=73807.msg108317#msg108317

[Flyinfool]

You know guys,

 

That brake fluid and even Loctite basically sucks all of the moisture out of ABS and makes it brittle enough to break. I'm not sure, but I would be suspect of being able to glue these brittle pieces back together and not have it break apart in another location of the fairing? If it were me, I'd be looking for another fairing half? But then again, it wouldn't hurt to see if it could be glued. My favorite choice over the years has been the Oakley general purpose (in the red can) PVC/CPVC/ABS glue that you can find in any hardware plumbing section.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Rick

 

This was my thought a;so, there is a lot more damaged plastic than just where it cracked. you may have to reinforce from the back side to hold the shape and then remove a wide strip of the damaged plastic and replace it. If you just glue it back together the glue joint may hold but it will break again right next to the joint.

 

Then there is the question of why did the brake fluid leak?

Was it something you did or something the painter did?

[Eck]

You know guys,

That brake fluid and even Loctite basically sucks all of the moisture out of ABS and makes it brittle enough to break

 

If it were me, I'd be looking for another fairing half? But then again, it wouldn't hurt to see if it could be glued

 

 

Rick,

Your thinking like I was thinking but it may take a few trial and errors before the rest jump on board....

[Jayceesfolly]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I am going to try to glue it back together and reinforce it with a thin aluminum mesh on the back. I found it at Home Depot when I went to get some epoxy. I can mold the aluminum to the shape of the fairing and then put a layer of epoxy over it and see how it works. Here is a photo of the bike when it was finished. This was taken about two weeks ago right after I had it put together. The irony in this whole story is I just gave away a good left fairing to another member on this forum, because I didn't think I would ever need it.

 

I think the problem was caused by the high heat in the garage. It was 101 degrees here and it had to be hotter than that in the closed garage and I would guess that the fluid expanded and caused the seal to leak. Just one of those things that happened, I guess. Since I have removed the bike, it hasn't leaked anymore.

 

 

Jim

[Jayceesfolly]

Rick and Jeff:

 

I agree with your assessment, as far as it being brittle and breaking somewhere else. Therefore, I am going to try to reassemble and reinforce it first, as I have nothing to lose at this point, and will look for a new fairing half. As I was removing the fairing from the bike, I had a piece break off in my hand and it basically just fell off the fairing, so I know the plastic has gradated to the point where it is very brittle and has little strength.

 

BTW, that was a $1500 paint job and it was a custom color. I wonder what it will cost to paint just one piece?

 

 

Jim

[Freebird]

Man...I don't know what to say. I almost want to cry for you. I can only imagine how disappointing this is after you had it looking so fantastic.

[Flyinfool]

Just hope the body shop has some of the original paint left.

 

If you cry enough he may feel sorry for you and cut you a deal.:crying:

[Yammer Dan]

Man...I don't know what to say. I almost want to cry for you. I can only imagine how disappointing this is after you had it looking so fantastic.

 

 

I would still be crying!!! That is a shame. It was beautiful.

[bongobobny]

Pure bummer Jim!!!

 

Were you using synthetic brake fluid? If not then switch to it not only for the better charactoristics, but also it does not seem quite as voilatile to abs plastric...

[Jayceesfolly]

Well, I have glued the pieces together with epoxy glue (for ABS) and have started a jar of MEK and ABS pieces and will try to use that to reinforce the pieces. Fortunately, the pieces that broke are in an area that has a lot of clearance behind the wall of the fairing, and I can add as much reinforcement material as I want. I am going to add some ABS material and glue it in with the MEK and ABS mixture. Also, the broken pieces do not exhibit the spongy looking edges which indicate that the brake fluid has gone deep into the material. The edges show nice shinny material, so I am hoping to save this fairing. I will know in a day or two. I will take some pics tomorrow and post.

 

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. After the panic has gone, I am more optimistic that I can save this faring, but time will tell.

 

And the person that I gave the left fairing to has called me and offered it back to me as he has found another fairing. Thank you, Ray Stacy.

 

I will still have to have it repainted, so I may use the fairing that Ray has offered back to me. I will make a decision next week after I see how strong this one will be, after the repairs.

 

 

Jim

[Jayceesfolly]

I spent all day yesterday and today reinforcing the fairing with pieces of ABS. I used a 5 minute epoxy and it seems to have worked well. I just finished assembling the bike and everything is still holding together. Of course, it took about 7 lbs of epoxy, but it seems to be working. I could not get the MEK to dissolve the ABS I was using so I decided to go with epoxy glue instead. See pics below. I contacted the paint shop and they have plenty of paint left, so I am going to have them paint another fairing. I am going on a 175 mile ride tomorrow, so I will see if the epoxy fix will hold up.

 

 

Jim

[Jayceesfolly]

Went for a 170 mile ride yesterday and the epoxy and reinforcement pieces held up well. No additional cracks appeared. I am going to leave the fairing on and ride it this way until I can get the replacement fairing painted. Thanks to everyone, for their suggestions and ideas.

 

 

Jim

[Darren]

I'm a little late on this one, but, I've used 'Q-Bond' and you don't have any mess like epoxies do! Just lay the powder in the cracks ( making sure the plastic is clean and beveled) drop the glue on the powder, wella, 10 sec repair that is sand-able and paint-able and flexible. Works quick and its inexpensive with little to no mess. I 've repaired side covers and works great as well as those little *%^& tabs that fasten the uppper outside fairing ( RSV riders, you know what i mean LOL)

[Dave3]

I used some JB Weld over some small cracks in my fairing tabs. I think the best thing Star could do is upgrade the windshield/fairing mounts. Why not make them separate? Seems like too much stress and not enough support to mount them together and the tabs on the fairing should be beefier!!

[dynodon]

I used Plastifix http://www.urethanesupply.com/plastifixhowto.php to fix the trunk on my '86 VR. Think it is about the same as similar product mentioned. Isn't really expensive. I got a small kit, and it did my entire trunk, and it was about in three big pieces with lots of other cracks besides. Still have enough left to do most of it again. That was several months ago, and the repair is holding where any number of epoxy and ABS glues did nothing or didn't last long. The procedure looks time consuming, but once you get going, it doesn't take long. I did the inside of my trunk in about 2 hours one day, let it set overnight, then did the outside in about another two hours. Can be sanded and painted as they show in the video at the link. I highly recommend this stuff.

[Yamamike]

Went for a 170 mile ride yesterday and the epoxy and reinforcement pieces held up well. No additional cracks appeared. I am going to leave the fairing on and ride it this way until I can get the replacement fairing painted. Thanks to everyone, for their suggestions and ideas."

 

Hey Jim,

Just an FYI...acetone works really well at dissolving ABS and making a really good and fast setting paste. Once the acetone evaporates, you're left with essentially on piece of plastic.