Saddlebag repair

[Tropic traveler]

Finally got around to working on the smacked LH saddlebag from our little BikeWeek "incident".

This is what it looked like.



About an hours work using a $4 Harbor Freight soldering iron & it's pieced back together again.



It was a major pain fitting the broken pieces back in, had to cut them up to fit them back in as they were warped pretty bad. The "stitching" of the cracks was fairly straightforward. Tomorrow I will stitch up the inside for strength & maybe later this week get busy with the bodywork part of it. Not my strong suit.  

[al v]

Perfect opportunity to mount some tail lights on the bags.

[Red Diamond]

Nothing a little sanding wouldn't take care of. What else is needed to do what you have done besides the soldering gun, rods, cleaner, etc?

[signart]

Looking good. You might want to reinforce the inside with some plastic radiator repair kits. Comes with the cloth & resin. Super strong & fast.

[da prez]

 JB weld is your best friend with the ABS bags. Scuff the surface well and use a small artist type or acic brush to spread the JB as the brush can not be used again. Use the JB on the outside after you start smoothing the surface. For the final touchup , body spot filler will stick to the JB Weld. A primer paint compatible with ABS plastic must be used.
 I filled the seams on my bags before painting and tried several products. JB is the best ( not affiliated).
  I went to a website ( google ABS repairs) and read it several times .
 Good luck , and take your time.

                       da prez                                                   
                                             

[Xtracho]

I second the JB Weld. After my deer encounter in January my left saddlebag was busted pretty bad around the hinge where the lid mounts to the bag. JB Weld on the outside underneath the hinge and inside the bag. After drying I sanded it down even to the level of the bag and used a backing plate with ny-lock nuts to secure the hinge/lid back to the saddlebag. It will need touch up painting for sure, but the fit of the lid on the saddle bag is as tight as it ever was.

[F6BANGER]

Paint some of this on the inside to melt the abs together.....you can use it on the outside and sand it down smooth too......

[Tropic traveler]

Nothing a little sanding wouldn't take care of. What else is needed to do what you have done besides the soldering gun, rods, cleaner, etc?

Just a soldering iron & some patience.  I have a feeling what I have done so far is the easy part! 

[Tropic traveler]

Paint some of this on the inside to melt the abs together.....you can use it on the outside and sand it down smooth too......

Sounds like a great idea!
I went to Lowes but they didn't have that kind of ABS cement & they carried Oatey products. Where do you get that kind?

[Tropic traveler]

Rough sanded the repaired area today with some nasty 60 grit. Knocked down the nasty areas & the high spots. Looks a lot better.


Looks like a saddlebag again!

[Hook#3287]

Looking good

[da prez]

  If you can't get ABS black , do not use it. The universal solvent glue will not work.
  Been there , tried it!

                                                    da prez

[gordonv]

 If you can't get ABS black , do not use it. The universal solvent glue will not work.
  Been there , tried it!

Thanks for that and the picture, I was wondering the same. Have some fairing pieces from the wrecked IS to practice on.

Here is a link that was posted on GWdoc forum, about what you are doing, and mentioning about the Lo VOC abs cement.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Plastics_repair_with_ABS_cement

[Garland]

Perfect opportunity to mount some tail lights on the bags.

While waiting for a new u-joint last week I took the opportunity to get some new lights installed in my bags while I had it all apart.

[jmann]

Perfect opportunity to mount some tail lights on the bags.

While waiting for a new u-joint last week I took the opportunity to get some new lights installed in my bags while I had it all apart.

Garland I like the lights you installed. Can I ask where you got them and were they hard to install? It looks like more than just a simple bolt on. Very nice.         

[Garland]

The leds are Custom Dynamics

http://www.customdynamics.com/led_billet_circle.htm


It took a little while to make the shims to angle them down but otherwise pretty easy. I originally had the oem turnsignals  integrated a bit lower, but had to remove them and fill the holes when I got the chrome saddlebag rails.

[Tropic traveler]

  If you can't get ABS black , do not use it. The universal solvent glue will not work.
  Been there , tried it!

                                                    da prez

This is the stuff that I found. Looks like the same stuff except it's not lo-v.o.c. It stunk pretty good! 


It went on real smooth & looks like it filled in all the gaps & holes nicely.



And this one is for you Red Diamond.... The $3.99 soldering iron that melted all that ABS. 


I'll let it set a couple of days before I try to sand it down a bit. 

[Red Diamond]

Thanks Traveler, I've been following your thread closely, I have a crack in the fairing where the bike leaned against a wall before I got it. All the info has been very helpful.

[old2soon]

Search Tue Value Hardware and when you get to their home page enter 127862 in the search bar and i'm hoping this is the correct stuff. Could NOT find the can pictured even with the # off the can. And my True Value handles the Oatey line of cements. RIDE SAFE.

[Tropic traveler]

 If you can't get ABS black , do not use it. The universal solvent glue will not work.
  Been there , tried it!

Thanks for that and the picture, I was wondering the same. Have some fairing pieces from the wrecked IS to practice on.

Here is a link that was posted on GWdoc forum, about what you are doing, and mentioning about the Lo VOC abs cement.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Plastics_repair_with_ABS_cement

The ABS cement I bought seems to have worked exactly like the link said it would. I guess the Lo-v.o.c. part was just for lung protection, not affecting the way it works. Anyways I sanded it off to a MUCH smoother surface tonight. It behaves very much like bondo except it seems to have "melted" into the black, exposed raw ABS. Had to apply a 2nd coat to fill in a couple of spots I missed yesterday, I will give it a couple of days curing time before I sand it again.