Plastic welding Krauser hard saddlebags?

[bgk]

I loaned one of my GS bikes to a friend. Unfortunately, he overloaded the Krauser brand hard saddlebags, which resulted in 6-inch long seams/tears at the front attachment point of each saddlebag. I think the saddlebags are ABS plastic but I’m just guessing.

I tried gluing with Gorilla Glue, properly set up for over 24-hours with pressure on the glue joints, etc. But within the first 5-minutes of riding the bike today with empty saddlebags, the seams/tears opened up again.

Tonight, I surfed the web using keywords “Krauser Repair” and “Plastic Repair” but I could not find a do-it-yourself type product or procedure.

Anybody have any experience/advice for a do-it-myself fix, or do I have to spend too much dough to get the bags “plastic welded” by a professional?

[marvinsc]

JB Weld? That's the Toughest Bonding Agent I know of. Most Repairs I have done with it Broke Somewhere Else before the JB Welded area Failed.

[Jagir]

I loaned one of my GS bikes to a friend. Unfortunately, he overloaded the Krauser brand hard saddlebags, which resulted in 6-inch long seams/tears at the front attachment point of each saddlebag. I think the saddlebags are ABS plastic but I’m just guessing.

I tried gluing with Gorilla Glue, properly set up for over 24-hours with pressure on the glue joints, etc. But within the first 5-minutes of riding the bike today with empty saddlebags, the seams/tears opened up again.

Tonight, I surfed the web using keywords “Krauser Repair” and “Plastic Repair” but I could not find a do-it-yourself type product or procedure.

Anybody have any experience/advice for a do-it-myself fix, or do I have to spend too much dough to get the bags “plastic welded” by a professional?

Best to find out if it is indeed ABS or something else. If they happen to be polyethelyne, you can 'weld' it like a kayak:

http://www.oceankayak.com/product_support/repair.html#welding

I know those cases are expensive so you may want to contact Krauser directly with your question (www.krauser.de) here: vertrieb@krauser.de
The website is all in German, but most Germans can speak some English if you don't sprechen de deutsch.

Good luck and please let us know how it turns out (I have Krauser cases too)
James

[Nicholaschase29]

maybe try fiberglassing it on the inside?

[derwood]

Plastex works better than JB Weld..http://plastex.home.att.net/

[snowbeard]

if they are polyethylene there's not very much that will stick to them. Old Towne Canoes may be able to help if they are in fact PE, they have a specially designed two part epoxy for repairing and glueing their PE boats. it's basically fiberglass epoxy but designed to stick best to PE.

[Jagir]

if they are polyethylene there's not very much that will stick to them.

except polyethelyene...

see above.

[salty_monk]

They could also be PP (Polypropylene) if so the repair will be similar (welding).

Dan

[dennis roy]

Take the bag to an auto body shop. I have a friend that does body work. There are alot of different types of plastic. They can tell you what it is. I bought a set of hard plastic bags that had holes drilled for some stupid crap and he told me what kind of plastic it was and what it would take to fix it.

[gustovh]

My guess is that it is abs plastic. Try a little abs glue on one of the cracks. If it sticks, glue a backing strip of abs to the crack and let set for 24 hrs. under pressure if possible. I rebuilt a couple of Honda bags that way.
Gustov

[Zooks]

you can tell what type of plastic it is by burning a small section. Different plastics give of different coloured smokes.

Look here - http://www.texloc.com/closet/cl_plasticsid.html

[GS Farmer]

saddle bags

Bought a bike last year that had krauser hard bags on it. I've redid the bike and don't think I'll use them again. If they are the same breed, I would consider selling them. If you are interested, maybe post a picture of them, front, back and sides and we will see if they are the same. Would'nt want a lot for them. Just an idea. Good luck!!

[bgk]

Thank you for your answers.

Yesterday, before I posted, I called the American distributor for Krauser, a company in Rhode Island named Twisted Throttle. The representative who answered the phone could not tell me what kind of plastic Krauser bags were made of, either old or new model bags. His suggestion was to take 'em to a body shop, which is the same advice I got from some of you GSR members.

So, thats what I'll do, and then I'll follow your advice on which product to use, once I find out what material I'm dealing with.

Thanks again.

[SqDancerLynn1]

The Vetter Hotcha glue is the best I have found but expensive

[unchargedken]

krauser bags

Brion;

I just found a krauser dealer in english. Try WWW.twistedthrottle.com
or www.krauserusa.com They have replacement parts for some of the older starlet bags.
good luck.
ken