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I decided to get my 83 GS1100 ESD back into good shape after letting it sit in a corner of my garage for the last several years.
The inventory of things to fix was longer than I had expected, and included a number broken mounting studs and tabs for the side and tail covers.
I bought the bike new in 83 and over the years I have tried a number of different solutions to repair the plastic, including, various epoxies, and metal substitutes riveted in place. None of these proved very satisfactory.
The first thing I did was buy a copy of “How to Repair Plastic Bodywork: Practical, Money-Saving Techniques” by Kurt Lammon (I got my copy form Whitehorse Gear) Fortunately the repair situation has improved. With the proliferation of plastic on automobiles the repair industry offers a wealth of new and effective options.
I learned that the plastic pieces are most likely made of ABS, which is a thermoplastic.
There are a number of manufacturers selling kits to both repair and reproduce this kind of plastic. They are all basically the same. A methylacrilic powder and a solvent. You mix the two together and apply it to the parts to be fixed as glue and it bonds broken parts together Alternately you make a mold using the supplied molding stick made of a material that can be formed when heated but is rigid when cooled, then fill the mold with the same 2 part material in place to replace or repair those broken studs and tabs.
I bought a kit for about $30.00 from Urethane Supply Company; it came with an instruction CD detailing its application. I used it this past weekend and the results were, to say the least spectacular. The technique takes a little getting used to but once you get it, it performs like a charm.
I only wish I could find this stuff in bulk, it seems a little pricy for what you get, but I can't argue with the results.
The inventory of things to fix was longer than I had expected, and included a number broken mounting studs and tabs for the side and tail covers.
I bought the bike new in 83 and over the years I have tried a number of different solutions to repair the plastic, including, various epoxies, and metal substitutes riveted in place. None of these proved very satisfactory.
The first thing I did was buy a copy of “How to Repair Plastic Bodywork: Practical, Money-Saving Techniques” by Kurt Lammon (I got my copy form Whitehorse Gear) Fortunately the repair situation has improved. With the proliferation of plastic on automobiles the repair industry offers a wealth of new and effective options.
I learned that the plastic pieces are most likely made of ABS, which is a thermoplastic.
There are a number of manufacturers selling kits to both repair and reproduce this kind of plastic. They are all basically the same. A methylacrilic powder and a solvent. You mix the two together and apply it to the parts to be fixed as glue and it bonds broken parts together Alternately you make a mold using the supplied molding stick made of a material that can be formed when heated but is rigid when cooled, then fill the mold with the same 2 part material in place to replace or repair those broken studs and tabs.
I bought a kit for about $30.00 from Urethane Supply Company; it came with an instruction CD detailing its application. I used it this past weekend and the results were, to say the least spectacular. The technique takes a little getting used to but once you get it, it performs like a charm.
I only wish I could find this stuff in bulk, it seems a little pricy for what you get, but I can't argue with the results.
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