fairing repair advice

[GPZ500chris]

Broke front fairing on my 1998 GPZ500 after accident with back end of a tractor. The fairing is in two pieces so need to connect at the top and bottom and fill the square hole that the tractor made with something. I have the indicator as well so no problems here. The fairing is a type of solid black plastic. (acrylic perhaps?)

Any advice on materials to fill in the hole?

Any advice on ways of fixing the fairing back together?

see pics

https://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/844/img0862di.jpg/

https://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/img0864ly.jpg/

thanks!

[Nope.]

1st) Ouch! that sounds painfull...

2nd) Plastic welding is your friend =D check on ebay for some plastic repair kits.
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Former: Derbi GP1 50, Sachs XTC 125, Suzuki GSXR 400 GK73A, Kawasaki ZX7R, Suzuki DR250, Yamaha RD350
Current: 2011 Yamaha XT660Z Ténéré, 2003 Yamaha YZR-R1 5PW (In Build), 2009 Kawasaki ZZR1400

[GPZ500chris]

Not painfull at all!

Just a glancing blow, kept the bike upright and a friendly trucker even lent me a bungee strap so i could take the broken fairing piece home with me!

[jimbothe]

[stinkwheel]

That's pretty screwed. I doubt you'll ever get a good cosmetic result but you should be able to get a functional one.

One thing that will pose a problem is that you've lost a headlight mount. From experience, these are a total pain in the arse to repair.

With damage that extensive, I'd suggest cutting out a couple of bits of aluminium plate, glueing them to the inside then drilling through the fairing and plate together round the edges and fixing it with pop rivetts.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=78843

I might be tempted to do the same on the outside with a thinner bit of plate then paint it up.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=78842

I did a similar thing on mine using copper sheeting (easier to bend) It would look neater painted.:
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/gpz/gpzright.jpg
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Teflon-Mike]

I would probably do it all in plastic, using 'scrap' from old staka-boxes, coat hangers, anything else of similar plastic feel & texture I could find not thrown away, with a cheap 15w Weller soldering iron....
I would get a 'good' cosmetic finish... because I wouldn't simply work from behind, I'd work front and back to get good penetration, and do a LOT of building, which I'd then filled and dress afterwards, before taking entire fairing section back to bare plastic, using filler primer to get a new level, then flatting, priming and sanding before adding paint & laquer.
It would NOT be a quick fix, and it would take an awful lot of patience and time wielding the soldering iron, working on a 50p sized area at a time.....
For a quick 'bodge', I'd simply glass it. Score the plastic around the wound, to get adherance, then lay up glass fibre over the hole and a WIDE area around to strentgthen the repar.
Flipping it over, I'd then fill the missing plastic with some chopped up glass and more resin, and then skim over with filler, or my own home made skimming compound...... epoxy mised with talcum powder to the consistency i want!
Sand and paint to desired finish.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Vincent]

I think that I'd be chucking that one away and looking for a replacement. Are they not easy to come by?

Hitting a tractor is one of my biggest fears, there are some nasty hard sticky-out bits on them - no soft landings there. You're lucky to be still standing let alone fixing your fairing.

[kramdra]

My repair I substituted glass fibre for a dish cloth. Works quite well, gives a structure to the resin. . . where can one buy glass fibre?

[Frost]

Halfords, the tissue stuff is better than the mat.