can this be fixed?

[Coyote]

I'm thinking abpot picking up these side covers but one is cracked around the mounting hole. See the last pic in the ad.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzuki-G ... 1c1ad3619c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jmcgill89]

I've had good luck fixing things like that with epoxy...and believe it or not, Mighty Putty.

You'd have to sand down the putty after fixing it, but that stuff holds up well.

If you just need that one cover, I've got a spare one that I gave up on trying to ever get the paint to adhere on. It's not cracked.

[H2RICK]

Yep, Devcon makes a 2 component epoxy called "Plastic Welder" especially for plastics of all sorts. It's their product #14300 and costs about $15 for enough product to do a dozen or so small "normal" repairs. Your crack will take considerably less by the looks of it. I've used it recently to fix a "spear" back onto a side panel from a brand H (no, it's not mine) and it worked a treat. Devcon claims it can also be used to bond metal together but I haven't tried that.
Ahhhh....the wonders of modern chemistry....

[Coyote]

I bought em.

[Coyote]

I got the side covers today. Looks like an easy fix on that break with some Loc-Tite super glue for plastics.
What concerns me more is the paint. There is at leaast 5 coats on them. I doubt I will ever get it off.

[johnakay]

if the paint is not flaking or other wise then just rub it flat etc should be alright. but use barrier paint 1st so that there is no reaction to the paint underneath,this before you put some paint on.

[Wingspan]

My preferred method for fixing plastic motorcycle body panels involves a soldering iron and a bit of wire screen mesh. I'm in the process of repairing my T500's side cover. It's got several cracks:





I'm fixing these with a technique a friend showed me a few years ago. First I reinforce the broken area from the backside with wire screen material. Lay the screen over the area and press on it lightly with a hot soldering iron. Don't get things hot enough or press hard enough to distort the part, just go slowly and when the plastic melts the screen will sink into it.



Then use the soldering iron to weld the crack back together on the front side. If you have any bits of broken fairing around you can use it as a filler/welding rod. I'm not finished with this part yet, but that's really all there is to it. Weld,fill, and sand with the plastic until you've got it as good and you want, then you can continue with the bodywork as you would normally.





I've had a lot of success with this technique in the past, most notably after I plowed my VFR into the back of a truck...



Cracks welded up with the soldering iron/mesh:



Finished repair:



I put 20k miles on the VFR after the crash and none of the repaired cracks ever reappeared.

[Suzsmokeyallan]

The welding you speak off works good on stiff plastic, but on many other more flexible types it doesnt work as well.
For example on the T500 covers yes, as they are THAT type of plastic, but a GT750 cover for the 74-77 models, it will not work as well, if at all.
Chris,for lots of coats of paint try some water based paint stripper. The plan here is to test it first on the inside of the cover to see if it melts it.
If it doesnt try to get off the layers down to as close as possible to the original one, this is better than having five or six to deal with.
BTW,, the VFR came out really well, excellent job, now how did that accident happen again???

[tz375]

Allan is right GT750 side covers are not good for welding. I tried a couple of filler rods with zero success. Now I have trimmed some material off a cover, maybe that will work as a filler.

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Its all in the plastics makeup, for example very strong paint removers will not melt a GT750 cover, while they will quickly melt a T500 cover almost instantly.
As another example, you can literally fold a GT 750 cover in half and it will slowly rebound, a Titan one wont, it will break, hey they break even when not folded,LOLOL.
I'm no plastics expert but I do know plasticizers and release agents quickly change the compounds ability to bend and how or not, it allows paint to adhere to it.
I have not tried it but I'd suspect a GT750 side cover could be welded, but I'm quite sure it would snap open at that spot if bent again.
Considering how easy it is to get used Buffalo side covers, would it be worth trying to repair one? probably not just yet.
Richard let me know how your 'same filler' welding works out on that buffalo cover.