Kawi2strokes.com Forum

Got a side cover with 2 small cracks next to a mounting tab. Anybody have any luck with any clear epoxies? It has nice original paint so hoping to save.

Yes that will work but you need to reinforce it with some glass cloth. We do the same thing all the time with plastic and fiberglass airplane cowls. Clean area thoroughly to remove any oils and contaminants. Maybe even scuff the backside with sandpaper.

Thanks for the reply should have thought of the glass cloth! Not knowing what type of plastic the original side covers were made of is there any type of glue or epoxy hopefully clear that works best?

Hate to bring up a negative, but a lot of that era plastic is high-silicone content, "oily", and most epoxies will not stick to it very well. Plastic welding done correctly is really the only way to go, a mounting tab is a relatively high-stress area. Sometimes you can weld the back, and save the paint, but it's not so easy!

_________________
"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

I don't remember if PVC cement would work or not. I think I tried it, and it worked, but.... I think the side cover plastics of that time were made of a plastic called "Cyco-Lac", and it is as Rod says, very hard to "glue" back together.

I do know that most later black/dark plastic parts are ABS, same material as the black plastic drain pipe used these days. To fix that kind of plastic, I use the ABS cement and fiberglass cloth, NOT the matte glass, and use two to three layers of the glass cloth with the ABS cement between them all. Works well for ABS plastics.

I would drill a small 1/16 dia hole at the end of the crack to stop further propagation, fuse the crack back together with a pencil soldering iron but not the 1/16 dia drilled hole. Don't breathe the fumes while soldering!!! Cover with epoxy of your choice.
If needed you can put a stitch or two of lock wire around the crack before fixing if it will be hidden.
Putting a small smudge of grease on the peg reduces friction on the rubber grommet even to slightly radius the back side of the peg.

Appreciate all the good advice. I should have remembered that I should approach this like repairing an old snowmobile hood.

Thanks

I have had excellent luck with the cheapo harbor freight two part clear epoxy. It seems to stick well and is strong. Have made many plastic repairs with it.

I used J-B Weld on my CBX sidecovers

I've used the two part epoxy "roll" stuff from Moose on my KDX.
This the the stuff that looks like putty that you squish together in your hands to mix.
It worked OK although the dirt bike gets parts "flexed" a lot more than a street bike.
Don't forget to ruff up the surface with something like 100 grit paper

_________________
There are only two types of motor sport racing:
Nitro and everything else
(Sometimes referred to as fast and slow)