A minor, yet expensive drop!

Hi there friends and fellow SW riders!

Last night I went over on my SW by slipping on those tortuously wet tram lines we have here in Vienna! I was only going at about 5km so I was fine, and a passing police lady helped me get my bike up off the street. Unfortunately the fall did some serious damage to the left hand side cover (the one with the key lock for the back seat). It was cracked in several places and even has a hole! I've just checked on the price of replacing this section and Honda want nearly €250!!!! I have found a second hand cover in the right colour for €75 but I'm thinking of leaving things as they are. My only concern is that the smallish hole will allow rain in and on to the fuses and battery, so I've covered these with a plastic bag for now.........

What would your advice be??

SteVe

Steve,

You could remove the panel and using some epoxy and somewhat stiff plastic "patch" the hole from behind. Also patch the cracks to preserve the integrity of the panel.

Then take your time to find the part at the right price.

This site shows the cost at a good bit less, but you'd have to contend with shipping and taxes.

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/detail/honda/HP-83500-MCT-691ZS.html

I don't know if is of any help. But son's previous bike Yamaha Majesty had a couple of holed panels. So to repair them I rough up the inside of the panel and laid a single sheet of Fastglass glass fibre and resin to put the strenght back, and then in the UK we have a national parts store called Halfords and they sell a product made by a company called "Holts" its a filler made especially for repairing Plastic car bumpers I filled in the cracks and small holes from the outside with this product. and then resprayed the panel's. The panels are now 3 years old since the repair and there is sign of any cracking or movement in the repair. Total cost was £19.99 for the fastglass kit, £12.65 for the Holts plastic repair paste and £6.95 for a rattle spraycan of paint. It took me about a day to do the repair's due to the quick drying of the repair materials
regards Denzil

Is there ever an "inexpensive" drop? Haven't dropped yet, but have screwed up in other ways requiring repair and replacement. Furiously knocking on wood as I type!

I have recently moved to the USA. I have learned that a little Duct Tape can deal with many problems. If you, like me, ride all year round - then the odd drop is likely. So far I have not dropped mine, but I would Duct Tape it if I did and if it would make a safe repair. Now that would have the added advantage of it looking less attractive to people who like to steal things. However, where I work it would look even more out of place with all the nice-looking cruisers that come out on dry, hot, sunny days. No sport bikes, due sports, or scooters where I work other than my Silver Wing.

Good Luck with your repair

Suzy

Thanks as ever for all your kind and helpful advice guys! As I will be back over in The UK for Xmas, I will probably pop into Halfords for the products that Denzil suggested

All the best

SteVe

Hey these drops cost a lot !
$3575 in parts for my right side. $cha-ching$

Check out plumbing supply shops. The plastic on the bike is ABS which is the same plastic used to make the black plastic drain pipes and fittings. I've repaired a fair amount of Goldwing plastic with ABS cement. Just buff off the pain to show the black plastic and daub a bit of ABS cement over the crack. I usually seal the painted side of the crack or hole with a bit of masking tape to prevent the cement from oozing out on the surface or paint. You can mix in a bit of ABS sanding dust with the cement to make a stiffer ABS putty too. Don't build up a real thick layer of cement, a few thin coats are the way to go since the cement actually makes a chemical weld in the plastic, it's not a stick to the surface glue like epoxy or fiberglass resins. ABS cement is a strong permanent join.
The ABS cement I'm referring to is the black gooey stuff that comes in the little round can with a dauber under the cap. Three or four bucks in the USA at most hardware stores. A can of the stuff and a black plastic ABS pipe coupling or elbow to use as a source of sanding dust to thicken and reinforce joints is all you need for a good permanent repair.

A quick, cheap solution for the cracks is to use an old soldering iron and melt the cracks together on the back.

Check youtube for "plastic welding", small gaps can be filled by melting zip ties into the plastic.

I did this with the broken fairing tabs on my Swing and it worked well.

Sounds like the hole might require a bit more effort. Maybe shape an offcut of plastic to fit the gap. I doubt it'll look pretty but it'll keep the rain out until you have time to do a decent repair.

This site is worth it's weight in gold!

So many excellent suggestions from you all!

Thank you once again

SteVe

Could you cover the hole with a decal ? something like ..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Fuel-Tank-Wing-Decal-Wings-Sticker-x-2-SILVER-BLACK-GENUINE-HONDA-/291204417496 .. might look good

Hmm, could the earlier models (mine's a 2002) be different plastic? My cracks were white in color and I joined them using epoxy specifically for "most plastics". Dried clear and strong. There's an obvious "scar", but being down near the kickstand, it's not too obvious. Picked the stuff up at Lowe's.

All years use the same ABS plastic body panels. Just different paint colors. The ABS is white. I've had great success patching cracks and reattaching broken tabs using Oatey's ABS Plumbing cement and fiberglass drywall tape. It's used for black ABS plumbing pipe. Don't try PVC or PVC/ABS cement because it wont adhere properly to ABS plastic. Be sure to thoroughly clean & sand the area around the broken area so that the cement will adhere to the body work.

A smear of ABS cement, a layer of tape, let it set up for 15-20 minutes and do it again as necessary. Finish off with a final smear of ABS cement. It's a goopy, messy job and best done on the inside of the panel. It's never going to look good on the outside.

You can also try "welding" the ABS with a hot soldering iron and melting black zip ties as a welding rod. There are several YouTube videos showing that technique.

A combination of welding, fiberglass & ABS cement work for me.

Tim

if over in the uk any use to you?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-FJS-600-A7-SILVERWING-2007-SEAT-UNIT-FAIRING-PANEL-SILVER-/121493870200?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item1c49995678

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-FJS-600-A7-SILVERWING-2007-SEAT-UNIT-FAIRING-PANEL-SILVER-/121493870202?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item1c4999567a