broken left side cover tab

[brillo1542]

Last week, when my bike wouldn't start when I wanted to go home from work, I decided that the dyna 3000 had probably died.  Wanting to replace it and get back on the road, I hurridly tried to remove the left side cover.  DUMB.  I started to remove the front of the side cover without popping out the rear first, and snap, the little tab that holds the front part of the cover broke off.  I was pi$$ed!

Does anyone know a place that will repair/replace the broken tab?  Will I have to make one myself?  Will I need to fork over lot$ of money to buy a new cover?

I'm hope I'm not the first and only person who has done this, and I'm hoping that others might be able to guide me in this repair.

Thanks for your help.

Paul

[Chrisj CMA]

I think it was Ratdog that posted how to fix using a fence staple,  search for it ( I will too )

[96valk]

take small piece of sheetmetal cut to resemble tab with enough sticking in the cover to use two pop rivets to hold on. I have more than one done this way will not break again

[Hoser]

I've been usung self adhesive velcro strips for a broken rt side for several years, works fine.    hoser

[SCain]

Here is the link to the Side Cover Repair, I have done this and it worked great.
http://www.vermin-club.org/mods/side_cover_tab_repair.htm

[hubcapsc]

The other repairs that have been posted are tried and true...

However... 

If the little tab broke off clean, just one piece... I think that ABS glue would fix it. ABS glue welds ABS together,
it's not like two things glued together, they're one thing again. It has worked for me, for several years now, on
an interior sidecover crack...

I posted about it on the tech board way back when, and here are the pictures...

http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~hubcap/d.sidecover/

-Mike

[ptgb]

Here is the link to the Side Cover Repair, I have done this and it worked great.
http://www.vermin-club.org/mods/side_cover_tab_repair.htm

I did the staple repair using epoxy... it didn't hold.

I then used JB Weld and it worked great for years.

[gordonv]

I forget where I posted this here, but here is the one on th HSATF I also posted it at.

http://hondashadowacetourer.yuku.com/topic/13392

Read further down, there is the point about going to your local plastic shop for the item instead.

[Sodbuster]

I've been usung self adhesive velcro strips for a broken rt side for several years, works fine.    hoser

+1 on that  .... did the same thing and works great.

[ricoman]

I've been usung self adhesive velcro strips for a broken rt side for several years, works fine.     hoser

used velcro on the now gone (totaled) Valk-worked great

[Gangman036]

+ 1 for velcro..................did the trick, been 3 years still tight.

[Printer Mike]

This worked for me...

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,7332.0.html

[fudgie]

I used a bandaid for 1200 miles. 

I got a staple from a bostich sheeting air stapler. same width as the tab was. Heated it up with a torch and melted it into the plastic. Used soldering gun and folded more plastic over it. JB weld to touch up the areas.

[Hef]

+ 1 on the Velcro. Has worked good for me for 3 years now.

[Hoser]

+ 1 on the Velcro. Has worked good for me for 3 years now.

Best thing is....five minutes and yer done!  hoser

[Printer Mike]

Not taking off the seat first seems to interfere w/ removing the side covers.

[Walküre]

The Plastifix looks very similar to what us RC Airplane guys have been doing for years, as "fillets" on our joints. We'd use common baking soda, and CA hot glue. You would do the prep the same as the video, then fill and pack with baking soda, then drip the hot glue on it. You'll get a bit of smoke, when they chemically react, then voila, it's hard as rock! In fact, often you'll sand away the base material, before sanding away the baking soda/CA combo. I haven't ever had a reason to try it on pvc, but have on fiberglass cowls and wheel pants, and it works great! You can also embed a bit of mesh material, for added strength.

Hopefully, I'll never need to do it, but it WAS nice, learning about the tabs, from others' mistakes. Well, that and having owned 10 or so GoldWings...

 

R

[gordonv]

The Plastifix looks very similar to what us RC Airplane guys have been doing for years, as "fillets" on our joints. We'd use common baking soda, and CA hot glue. You would do the prep the same as the video, then fill and pack with baking soda, then drip the hot glue on it. You'll get a bit of smoke, when they chemically react, then voila, it's hard as rock!

What is CA?

I don't think I understand the prossess completely. You place hot melt onto baking soda and it chemically bonds?

I would think hot melt would not be liquid enough to flow into a powder, to react with anything other than the outside layer, so does it penetrat?

[Walküre]

What is CA?

I don't think I understand the prossess completely. You place hot melt onto baking soda and it chemically bonds?

I would think hot melt would not be liquid enough to flow into a powder, to react with anything other than the outside layer, so does it penetrat?

Oops, my bad - I meant to say "hot stuff", instead of "hot glue". CA is short for Cyanoacrylate Adhesive, normally known as "super glue" or similar. The Hot Stuff is pretty well known to the RC Airplane crowd, and is used more often than the term "super glue". Sorry! Here's a link to Hot Stuff:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2000346/1504/Hot-Stuff-Instant-CA-Glue-2-Ounces.aspx

The "super glue" thin works best, with baking soda. As I said, it chemically bonds into a rock hard substance, and holds extremely well. Here's a youtube vid, explaining it:

Tricks: Baking Soda and CA Glue	powered by Aeva

from Wikipedia:

When added to baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), cyanoacrylate glue forms a hard, lightweight filler/adhesive (baking soda is first used to fill a gap then the adhesive is dropped onto the baking soda). This works well with porous materials that the glue does not work well with alone. This method is sometimes used by aircraft modelers to assemble or repair polystyrene foam parts[citation needed]. It is also used to repair small nicks in the leading edge of composite propeller blades on light aircraft. Note that the reaction between cyanoacrylate and baking soda is very exothermic (heat producing) and also produces noxious vapors.[citation needed] See Reaction with cotton below.

Reaction with cotton

Applying cyanoacrylate to materials made of cotton or wool (such as cotton swabs, cotton balls, and certain yarns or fabrics) results in a powerful, rapid exothermic reaction. The heat released may cause minor burns, and if enough cyanoacrylate is used, the reaction is capable of igniting the cotton product, as well as releasing irritating vapor in the form of white smoke.

Sorry for any confusion!!

Roger

[gordonv]

My brother-in-law used the ZAP brand of CA for his modeling endeavors, with wooden airplanes. We ended up fixing my saddle bag crack with CA and carbon fiber.

Almost looks like the product in the videos I linked too was baking soda. Since I also found out that the product they where using was just CA, I can use any store bought super glue and my old baking soda at home for these repairs.

I like your video, says that there is a hot chemical reaction, so beware. Then to file while it's still curing, why wait till it's rock hard and have to grind it down.

I have my broken fairing to remove from the wrecked bike, and can break it up and try to fix it with these methods, experimenting on actual ABS plastic, and see how it reacts and holds up to this repair job. My first worry would be doing too big of an area and having the reaction generate too much heat and warp the ABS. Found some other youtubes, one mentioned practicing on an old CD.

Thank you VERY much for the clarification, I think this will really help a few people. Super glue is cheap, and the baking soda is in most homes.