Instrument Panel Glass

[Guest]

I saved an 81 1100 this summer, and one of its problems was UV damage to the instrument panel glass (plastic, plexi, polycarbonate, what ever it is). I figure the bike spent at least 15 years out in the weather, and it showed everywhere. Once I got the bike on the road, that glass was really starting to bug me. It just looked horrible. I posted here, and the best suggestion I got was to try and polish out the damage with the Novus products. Well, that didn't work, and then in a momentary lapse of reason, I tried to speed up that process with a polishing pad on a Dremel. Bad move. That actually melted the material very quickly, so the next thing I know is that the cheapest instrument panel on eBay is $130, and it doesn't look much better than mine. I tried briefly to find a source for just the glass / lens, and I quickly figured that it just wasn't going to happen. It's definitely a special part (it's actually three parts). It's thin (like 1.5mm) and slightly dome-shaped above the instruments. I thought briefly about trying to cut curved shapes in the real glass that I had laying around before I hit the hardware store to see what they had for plastic options. The guy there said plexi-glass wouldn't work, too brittle, so he sent me to a local glass shop for Lexan (polycarbonate). The girl there gave me a scrap piece out of the trash barrel, so I had something to play with for the rest of the day. I spent the next few hours with various woodworking tools shaping pieces that would fit into the rubber gaskets that hold them in the panel. The issue was that the gasket channel is only about 1.5mm wide, and the thickness of any raw material like Lexan is at least 1/8", or about 3mm. I had to thin the edges, and I found paint scrapers worked best for that. Otherwise the material cuts easily with a band saw and shapes easily with files and sandpaper. In the end, I got a result that is 100% satisfactory for zero cost. It's not dome-shaped like the original, but you'd never know. Now I just see clear.

 

[portdave]

Looks awesome. Nice job!

 

[uk gs nut]

Now you have done yours you could get some more material and start selling dash repair kits !. Top job done there !.

 

[Gorminrider]

um, just some empirical know-how here and maybe dated, but "lexan" (using here as generic name vs actual copyright name) can have poor longevity in sunlight- it hazes in about two years full sun/temperate zone...but it depends on the manufacturer. I expect there is a uv coating on better varieties.

and Not to diss your efforts at all but "plexiglass" (generic etc.)is not so hard to work with as the person mentioned says. True- it is prone to crack when drilled and cut without a bit of research as to method versus "lexan" that can be tortured with vicegrips and bullets.. but it is better in the sunlight in it's generic form.

 

[GS1000S]

Very nice! Mine is showing some crazing but still clear. I'd love to find a source for the rubber odometer reset button cover.

 

[wymple]

um, just some empirical know-how here and maybe dated, but "lexan" (using here as generic name vs actual copyright name) can have poor longevity in sunlight- it hazes in about two years full sun/temperate zone...but it depends on the manufacturer. I expect there is a uv coating on better varieties.

and Not to diss your efforts at all but "plexiglass" (generic etc.)is not so hard to work with as the person mentioned says. True- it is prone to crack when drilled and cut without a bit of research as to method versus "lexan" that can be tortured with vicegrips and bullets.. but it is better in the sunlight in it's generic form.

An occasional application of a UV resistant polish (Son-of-a-Gun) will negate the sun problem.