pictures of my saddlebag breaks

[cruiserlover]

Here are pics.KIMG0309.jpg (60.7 KB)

 

KIMG0310.jpg (64.4 KB)

[eagleeye]

I repaired the top box on my 86 VR and a friends box using fiberglass cloth and epoxy on the inside. It was stronger than ever. Man those are really busted up. I'm not sure how you would deal with the outside.

Good luck

[videoarizona]

Sometimes with plastic, once you've repaired the inside, the outside will hard to see. Just make sure when you pull the sides together,and the outside seam is nicely aligned.

 

If the seam still bothers you after the repair, take a sharp beer can opener (old kind) and carefully run the thing along the seam. Goal here is to make a V-shaped groove. Then buy some black ABS and melt it into the groove. Stinks so be prepared. Sand flush and re-paint.

 

david

[Great White]

Find a good body shop that can plastic weld. Good as new.

 

You'll have to repaint though.

 

How did that happen? Those a pretty broken...

[cruiserlover]

thanks guys.they have plastic welders at harbor freight.I might do that.I can do that.I was wondering if that would be better than fiberglass resin and cloth.Inside thats what I am going to do primarily, but the tip of the black abs I had picked up on and have some abs cement for that.Used bags on ebay cost $689.For $30-40 I can repair them.I can get a friend of mine to paint them, but if I just have noticeable repairs on the bottom rearward corners as are seen in the pictures a rattlecan of touch up colorrite paint might do it.I traded a little yamaha cruiser for the bike 3 days ago.The owner was a kid about 21 yrs old.It was his first bike.Dumb idea i would say.I assume he dropped it.He said he liked riding my bike, cause his was "kinda heavy".yep.850 lbs versus 500.

 

 

One more time,Thanks guys! I really appreciate your input.I am lovin this forum.

[Flyinfool]

Using glass cloth with ABS cement works great to repair cracks from the inside. Because the ABS cement has a solvent that actually melts into the original plastic the glass cloth becomes part of the bag, not just glued to it.

 

For the missing pieces, I would get hold of a chunk of sheet ABS (hardware store or hobby shop) and cut and shape a piece to fill the hole and attach it with ABS cement and glass cloth. This is how I did all of the repairs on my bike.

[djh3]

You will still need to fix the cracks but I think there is some sort of flexable bondo sort of stuff now they use on these new car noses being they are sort of a rubber based thing. Maybe on that bottom crack that is so big a piece of metal and a rivet or 2 to hold sides together. Although the guys that have done the plastic weld stuff say its as tuff as it was orginaly. Good thing is you have a line there between the red and black totape off and blend to.

[cruiserlover]

Using glass cloth with ABS cement works great to repair cracks from the inside. Because the ABS cement has a solvent that actually melts into the original plastic the glass cloth becomes part of the bag, not just glued to it.

 

For the missing pieces, I would get hold of a chunk of sheet ABS (hardware store or hobby shop) and cut and shape a piece to fill the hole and attach it with ABS cement and glass cloth. This is how I did all of the repairs on my bike.

 

Thanks for the tips.So far I havent found a small piece of abs.I will eventually.

[Great White]

Plastic welding:

 

http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r618/justonepict/Interceptor/image_zpstkryxlrv.jpg

 

That was originally a single headlight fairing.

 

Strong as original because, well, if you do it properly and re-flow the plastic it is one piece when cooled. Just like the original mold pour.

 

There are special body fillers that are used for thinks like flexible bumpers. This is what you want to put over abs pieces like fairings and body pieces. It expands and contracts at the same rate and helps prevent cracking issues.

 

Hard bondo like products can separate and/or crack.

[cruiserlover]

Plastic welding:

 

http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r618/justonepict/Interceptor/image_zpstkryxlrv.jpg

 

That was originally a single headlight fairing.

 

Strong as original because, well, if you do it properly and re-flow the plastic it is one piece when cooled. Just like the original mold pour.

 

There are special body fillers that are used for thinks like flexible bumpers. This is what you want to put over abs pieces like fairings and body pieces. It expands and contracts at the same rate and helps prevent cracking issues.

 

Hard bondo like products can separate and/or crack.

 

Harbor freight doesnt have any plastic welder,just came from there.I will check lowes,home depot,northern tools.might have to go online.is yours 800 watt or 1300 watt? Was it about $65.00?

[djh3]

I wonder what in the heck he was hauling in those bags to kill them like that. Bricks?

[Great White]

Harbor freight doesnt have any plastic welder,just came from there.I will check lowes,home depot,northern tools.might have to go online.is yours 800 watt or 1300 watt? Was it about $65.00?

 

Believe it or not, I use a wood burning tool and abs rod. Its kinda of like using a tig welder. I've been doing it this way since I was 16, so about 34 years. I like doing it this way because it also allows my to "sculpt" shapes as well as just repair damage. For example: the trailing edge of the fairing in the Pict needed a bead and I was able to build it up to match one side to the other.

 

I don't recommend it to anyone unless you know what you're doing though. Very easy to mess it up and burn the plastic. Once its burned, its ruined. Only reason I get away with it is because of how long I've been doing it. I've just developed a feel and and eye for it.

 

The proper tool removes a lot of the guess work and possibility of error. You can still mess it up, but it takes a bit more effort.

 

We also don't have harbor freight in Canada so I can't help you out there.

 

Edited May 19, 2015 by Great White

[vzuden]

Similar to the wood burning tool, I use a soldering iron with a paddle tip and black zip ties for filler. Small wire such as paper clips cut into small pieces can be imbedded into the softened plastic to add some strength in crack repair if needed

[cruiserlover]

Ingenuity reigns supreme here.I think that is awesome.You guys are smart and innovative.