Is this sidecover made of gold?

Wow! I'm holding on to the few I have.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1981-Yam ... dZViewItem

 

they go for 60 bucks at a Yamaha dealer i found that has them in Philly. I was in on this up to 50 bucks. if you have an extra one of these and want to sell it, let me know. obviously it is in demand.

 

Right-side sidecovers for our bikes always seem to be made out of "Unobtainium" - that is to say "pretty freakin rare with a high demand"

Sadly, Ebay is the best source -- so if you've got some, keep them close, and share with fellow XJ'ers in need...

 

Altus do you know the name of the bike salvage guy in Dorchester? I know he has left and right side covers for $45 each for the Seca 550.

 

I think you're thinking of NCK Cycle Salvage?

If that's true, I might have to pay him a visit (even though I can't use Seca bits )

 

I think the right sidecover probably does have a greater tendency to fall off, so it's scarcer than the left. The 550 Seca I'm restoring had the left but not the right side cover. There were none in the local bike salvage yards and I lost a number of ebay auctions before I finally won one in a set. Unfortunately it has a crack in it that needs to be repaired. I noticed that both sidecovers were drilled for and one actually still had safety wire on it, so that might be the way to not lose another one.

I was actually contemplated creating a master and a mold so that I could lay them up in fiberglass, but when I figured out how much it would cost in materials and my time, I decided to go the ebay route instead. I would have had to be able to sell a bunch of them to justify the costs.

On a side note, does anyone know what type of plastic the side covers are made of? ABS? Polystyrene? I need to know so that I can get the correct solvent to repair the crack.

 

hahaha my maxim has the left side cover but not the right as well...

 

When on your shopping spree stop at Sonic on Dundas Street they have the cover that is behind the seat. They are all the same color.

 

Well, since no one piped-up with an answer, I started experimenting. I think the side covers are made of ABS. I found that Plastruct Plastic Weld did a nice job of bonding the cracked edges together. You can get it at your better hobby shops or architectual supply shops. Now for much sanding and painting.

 

My dad and I went to a shop in Seattle that does plastic injection molding to get a quote on making a smallish plastic part. They said it would cost around $40,000.00 just to build the die for the mold! That was about ten years ago. Yeah, you'd have to sell a bunch of parts to make it worthwhile.

 

Because it must withstand the high pressures involved with the injection process, molds for injection molded parts generally have to be milled out of a strong material like steel for normal runs or aluminum for small runs. Hand laid-up or chopper-gunned fiberglass is generally applied to open wooden or fiberglass molds that only have to be strong enough to support the weight of itself and the materials being use to create the part without warping or distorting. The costs of a mold for a fiberglass part is an order of magnitude less than for an injection-molded part. So it would cost much less to make one out of fiberglass, but right now I don't have to time or money to do it.

 

There's a guy north of Toronto that has side covers for most XJs and doesn't charge that much. I got left side cover for my 83 XJ900 Seca and a left side cover for my 81 XJ650 Maxim. He wanted $60 for each but I got both for $100, no tax.
His name is John Hanney and he's a good guy.
Website is:
www.bikeyard.com

I think he sends stuff worldwide.

 

A local guy has moulds and can do them any time , last couple I got done in carbon fibre for $80NZ each

Just about every 550 I have seen is missing the RH cover

 

the worst part about mine is that I have my right side cover, but the mounting tab was broken when I got the bike. PO held it on there with duct tape. Id rather go no cover than that.