Split front fender

THe front fender on my '83 Seca900 is split 4 inch long at the front end. It is very obvious when you're close to the bike and at idle it makes a weird, unpleasant rattle.

What would be the best way to fix it solid without ruining the aesthetics?

 

Plastic-weld and a re-spray.

 

I'm trying to source some plasti-weld around here.

I'm planning on using red nail polish (almost same color as the fender) to touch-up the tiny crack where the fender is split. WIll it hold in place?

 

If you can't find an ABS-specific cement, then go to your local model railroad hobby shop. Buy yourself a bottle of Pro-Weld, and repair it. It's expensive---about $4.00 for a 1 or 2 oz bottle. BUT.......it works great-- it's as thin (or thinner, it seems) than water. It'll wick right into a clean/tight crack, and it softens the plastic almost immediately and the two sides of the crack melt together/mush together.....then the dries almost as quickly, too. Do NOT breath the fumes.

Dave

 

Is it the same cement we used for small plastic cars assembly when we were young?

I tried to source the black ABS cement around here without any success.

 

ACE hardware has the ABS glue - - it's black and dries as hard as the plastic. And it's not very thin, like molasses.

Another trick is to dissolve a couple LEGO blocks in ACETONE of the proper amounts ?? and that is your glue. I have no details.

 

Unfortunately, we in Quebec don't have any ACE hardware, well it is not always that great to be a "societe distincte"! Maybe I'll have to ask my father0in-law in Gatineau to go buy some in Ottawa for me!

I have acetone but do I still have some red lego blocks? Hummm, I'll have a look!

 

Franc, NO it's not the same stuff.........at least not what WE used. THAT stuff was a clear gluey stuff that was really stringy and sticky. The stuff I was talking about is in a glass bottle, and LOOKS right like water.

If you're coming down for the tire-work, then I could have a bottle of it here for you, if you don't mind waiting til that time. I could also send a pic of the bottle from my phone sometime..... email me on that.

Dave F

 

Franc, NO it's not the same stuff.........at least not what WE used. THAT stuff was a clear gluey stuff that was really stringy and sticky. The stuff I was talking about is in a glass bottle, and LOOKS right like water.

If you're coming down for the tire-work, then I could have a bottle of it here for you, if you don't mind waiting til that time. I could also send a pic of the bottle from my phone sometime..... email me on that.

Dave F

 

I've used the stuff hogfiddles is talking about. I think it is used by model builders, but higher end stuff than those kits you get at the toy store.

I've always bought it at hobby shops.

It's for pieces that fit together very well, it will not fill a gap. If your crack is clean (no ships or shards missing) it should wick right in and bond it. Paint it on from the back side and you probably won't even detect the defect in the paint.

 

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... t=abs.html

 

The brand name is "Ambroid".

dave f

 

Thanks for the link!

 

Thanks Dave I'll try to find some around here!

 

don't forget to drill a tiny hole at the end of the crack to keep the crack from continuing.

CN

 

Don't have to with this stuff.................

 

Yep, no hole necessary.

Hole is for stress relief. If it's repaired the stress is relieved.

 

Will I have to remove the front wheel first to remove the front fender or will I just need to undo the two fork-brace-to-fender bolts and the two fork-to-fender bolts (one on each side apparently)?

 

Correct. No need to remove wheel

 

Thank you adrian.

i'll probably pull it off tomorrow, I got some epoxy stuff from the guy at our autoparts this morning, he already used some wwith good results for a snowmobile fairing repair, so it should be ok for my fender. IT said on the tubes that this is good for rigid and semi-rigid plastics.

I'll clean the fender and sand it rough before I glue it.

 

That will only be temporary. The proper solutions were posted earlier

 

epoxies are band-aids. They cover the crack but don't remove it. the abs-specific cements have chemicals that soften and dissolve the plastic which then allows the melted plastic to melt back into itself then re-solidify. The end result there, is that the crack no longer even exists.

dave

 

Hum, ok, i'll remove the fender and prepare it and then wait until I can source some ABS cement.

 

Well, it turns out to be a bigger job to repair my front fender than just gluing it with ABS cement. The fender has suffered several damages over the years:



Cracked but still pretty solid

[

One broken tab and the other one is cracked, probably the main reason why the fender vibrates a lot at idle.



The only obvious crack before I pulled the fender off.

So I think I may use the ABS cement for the split in the front end and the cracked tab, but I will need to fabricate a new tab with a piece of metal sheet and epoxy, I guess.

What do you think?

 

Seeing that........I'd replace it.

dave F

 

Dave,

Do you know someone who could sell me a good one, preferably red?

 

I'll check around......I don't know if I have any extras at the moment.

However, here's an arrangement that I've done for some of the guys who have come down from Canada before.....

If you find a good fender for sale in the USA, have it shipped here. Then, when you ride down, we'll swap it out. Tools will be here, too.

Dave

 

Sounds good, thanks for this nice offer!

I think I'll try fixing my fender as best as I can and go check on a regular basis on ebay until i find a solid one.

 

Check this out

http://www.maxim-x.com/seca/sidecover/

 

Adrain

Thanks for that link, the second method will suit my case for the broken tab.

 

I'm pretty sure I have an old damaged plastic cover off of a Goldwing that I certainly will not use since I sold that bike, I could do shavings out of it to mix with acetone to get the paste for my fence repair.

 

Yesterday, I glued the split in the front end of my fender with some kind of "super glue". It is very fluid, like water, and it sets very quickly. It says on the pack that his is a cyanocrylate adhesive, not specific to plastics nor ABS.

It stabilized the crack very effeciently, so it will be easier to work on it later with two well aligned surfaces. I will sand the excess of super glue inside the fender and use the ABS cement to make a better long-term bond.