I hurt my baby!
. What's the best and cheapest way to fix this.
03-09-2010 | 11:50 AM
#2
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,707
From: Essex, UK
First thing is to drill a small hole just beyond the extent of the crack to stop it going any further.
A search of the forums/google will bring up past threads/info on plastic welding, v in crack , sanding, blending in spray etc
A search of the forums/google will bring up past threads/info on plastic welding, v in crack , sanding, blending in spray etc
03-09-2010 | 12:08 PM
#4
Banned
MotoGP
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 5,942
From: Lake View Terrace, CA
I use this stuff for plastic repair and have had good results with it.
http://www.plastex.net/index.html
http://www.plastex.net/index.html
03-09-2010 | 12:49 PM
#5
Senior Member
SuperSport
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 805
From: Delmar NY
I'v got a stress crack in almost the same place, but about 1/4 as bad - it never made it past the horizontal. To stop it from geting worse I took a piece of plastic (the plasic tie from a loaf of bread) put couple drops of epoxy and glued the plasic over the crack to hold it together. From the outside it is impossible to see the repair.
Last edited by Stevebis1; 03-09-2010 at 01:14 PM.
03-09-2010 | 01:36 PM
#6
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,548
From: MN
I know nothing about plastic repairs. I personally would change all the bodywork to yellow to remove the crack and improve the performance of the bike........
more seriously, when yuo guys say take a small piece of plastic or zip tie, are you just heating up the plastic and 'welding' it together? do you heat the plastic piece or the original bodywork at the same time?
more seriously, when yuo guys say take a small piece of plastic or zip tie, are you just heating up the plastic and 'welding' it together? do you heat the plastic piece or the original bodywork at the same time?
03-09-2010 | 01:55 PM
#7
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,109
From: Skurup, Sweden
Low wattage soldering iron... Use it to melt both the piece of ABS plastic and the fairing piece... I basicly use the ziptie like a welding rod/soldering tin... Work it down a wee bit past the surface to get it to stick, but not to deep because then the front gets damaged and you need to repaint...
03-09-2010 | 04:19 PM
#9
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Back Marker
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 216
From: Seattle, WA
The zip tie trick works amazingly well. I've just fixed my tailpiece tabs, and using washers created whole new mounting tabs for my trashed CBR front fender. They are rock solid. Fixed the cracks in it too. I've even fixed several of the kids RC race cars when he's stuffed them really hard and broken one bit or another, neat trick!
03-09-2010 | 05:20 PM
#10
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,548
From: MN
Low wattage soldering iron... Use it to melt both the piece of ABS plastic and the fairing piece... I basicly use the ziptie like a welding rod/soldering tin... Work it down a wee bit past the surface to get it to stick, but not to deep because then the front gets damaged and you need to repaint...
thanks tweety and others. I will have to give this a try. and by low watt you meaning just one of the little hand held jobs like 10W or so? guessing lowest amount of heat to do the job
mdbuehler: I have some broken tabs on the RVF400 fairing panels that I picked up last year as well. Did you just use the washers and then plastic weld them into place?
03-09-2010 | 06:15 PM
#11
Senior Member
Superstock
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 380
From: Warrenton Virginia
Methyl Ethyl Ketone. use a q-tip to get a little into the crack squeeze together for a few minutes. It's now chemically welded. you can also use abs glue or make your own by melting abs (shavings are best) into the MEK. Legos are abs and make wonderful reinforcement with a little home made abs glue to hold them in place.
03-10-2010 | 02:25 AM
#12
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,109
From: Skurup, Sweden
thanks tweety and others. I will have to give this a try. and by low watt you meaning just one of the little hand held jobs like 10W or so? guessing lowest amount of heat to do the job
mdbuehler: I have some broken tabs on the RVF400 fairing panels that I picked up last year as well. Did you just use the washers and then plastic weld them into place?
mdbuehler: I have some broken tabs on the RVF400 fairing panels that I picked up last year as well. Did you just use the washers and then plastic weld them into place?
03-10-2010 | 06:59 AM
#13
Senior Member
MotoGP
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,132
From: Phoenix, AZ
Indeed, 15W is probably perfect.. I have a 25W one I have been using and it is too hot so the resulting fix is brittle, even when I minimize the time in contact with the plastic.
10W might work, I don't know.
10W might work, I don't know.
03-10-2010 | 10:38 AM
#14
mad skill collector
Squid
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 77
From: Hayward, San Francisco bay area: California
Methyl Ethyl Ketone. use a q-tip to get a little into the crack squeeze together for a few minutes. It's now chemically welded. you can also use abs glue or make your own by melting abs (shavings are best) into the MEK. Legos are abs and make wonderful reinforcement with a little home made abs glue to hold them in place.
+3 ABS glue ,The crack you have is common, mine was cracked just like yours . do not drill the end of the crack!
Just sand the back of it to expose the abs and if to have a hugger on then use the plastic from the stock mud flap to cut a small square to span the crack with.
03-10-2010 | 04:32 PM
#15
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 216
From: Seattle, WA
Yup, I used superglue to hold the washer in place, then literally went all around the thing, inside and out with molten zip tie to rebuild the entire thing, then dremmeled / sanded it to a more presentable shape.
My soldering iron is one of those butane(?) powered ones. Works very well, and once you get a feel for it you can do some fairly elaborate repairs.
03-11-2010 | 06:16 AM
#17
Thread Starter
Member
Squid
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 30
From: Youngstown OH
+3 ABS glue ,The crack you have is common, mine was cracked just like yours . do not drill the end of the crack!
Just sand the back of it to expose the abs and if to have a hugger on then use the plastic from the stock mud flap to cut a small square to span the crack with.
Just sand the back of it to expose the abs and if to have a hugger on then use the plastic from the stock mud flap to cut a small square to span the crack with.
03-11-2010 | 07:06 AM
#18
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,109
From: Skurup, Sweden
Well, if you do the repair right you won't need to touch up the front and the crack will not spread since it will be repaired... And drilling a hole makes it kind of necessary to fill the hole and then sand and touch up the front...
A large crack in a high stress area where you don't have the option to repair it without messing up the front, then yes, you should drill it... Here I'd try to avoid it if possible...
A large crack in a high stress area where you don't have the option to repair it without messing up the front, then yes, you should drill it... Here I'd try to avoid it if possible...
03-11-2010 | 07:07 AM
#19
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,548
From: MN
[QUOTE=mdbuehler;257006]Lucky! I tried for a few years to get an RVF imported here, they would never let me though.
QUOTE]
I really did luck out on the RVF - someone had done all the dirty work about 2 years earlier, it was local and it was a good price. I mostly use it on track but its great that is licensed. it handles very well, and its a lower speed thrill which isn't all bad
QUOTE]
I really did luck out on the RVF - someone had done all the dirty work about 2 years earlier, it was local and it was a good price. I mostly use it on track but its great that is licensed. it handles very well, and its a lower speed thrill which isn't all bad
03-11-2010 | 09:14 AM
#20
mad skill collector
Squid
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 77
From: Hayward, San Francisco bay area: California
Drilling the hole is a technique used in glass. I beleve that the crack was made by stress when moving the bike, not from vibration . Drilling will not help in this situation. It is also cosmetically bad.
We have a shop here in Hayward "Cycle Salvage" , the owner Chris is a magician at plastic welding , I took my plastic to him and he repaired it good as new for a reasonable price.
We have a shop here in Hayward "Cycle Salvage" , the owner Chris is a magician at plastic welding , I took my plastic to him and he repaired it good as new for a reasonable price.
03-11-2010 | 10:41 AM
#21
Senior Member
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 216
From: Seattle, WA
I really did luck out on the RVF - someone had done all the dirty work about 2 years earlier, it was local and it was a good price. I mostly use it on track but its great that is licensed. it handles very well, and its a lower speed thrill which isn't all bad
Got all the way up the phone tree to whomever in DC was in charge of all things with wheels coming in on boats and he wouldn't budge. They occassionally pop up locally, but the markup is extreme! My little Bandit 400 was one of my all time favorite bikes, its fun to be able to put a bike through its paces without fear of prison time. Too much WOT on the Hawk is guaranteed trouble 
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