Cracked side panel ?

Steve, I watched your Video and pretty much what I thought about applying the PVC cement.



I also have a left side panel off my 78' Yamaha XS1100 that too has a long vertical crack from the bottom of the cover. Seems like these previous owners of these bikes manhandled the covers when removing them.

Anyway, I'm assuming this Yamaha plastic cover is made of ABS like the KZ ? If so, then the ABS cement should work as well ?

Maybe he stepped, sat or pulled on them too hard. Who know with PO's.
ABS cement seems to work better than the other PVC glues. Drilling a small hole at the end of the crack is a good idea too. I have some super glue made for plastic I will use on the backside of the Kawasaki emblem on my front end. It's chrome plated and no way to get glue in the crack unless it seeps in from the backside and not show.
Steve

I've tried just about everything you could imagine on these cracks and the only thing that hasn't failed over time is a home made paste made with cut up pieces of ABS plumbing fittings and acetone. An ABS plumbing fitting is any black one. Leggo's also work. I use my dremmel to enlarge the crack on the inside and then brush the acetone ABS paste into the crack with a small artist brush, letting it dry between layers. The acetone melts ABS plastic and this paste forms a permanent bond just like a plastic weld. A cheap plastic welder from Harbor would probably do the same thing but I really like working with this home made paste. If the crack is clean, you can get away with just gluing the back of the cover. If you're going to paint anyway it makes sense to do both sides. I'll then fill any imperfections on the side to be painted with spot putty. This really makes a great permanent fix.

This is what my box looked like.
Steve


kzrider.com/forum/6-paint-a-bodywork/599985-hard-box-repair

Fixed it and will see how it holds up !

Used the above ABS cement and had some 1" wide drywall tape I used on the back side for re-inforcement. Spread the crack first and used an Acid brush to apply cement on the back side. Let it set-up then laid down my Drywall tape over the length of the crack on the backside. Covered the tape with the ABS glue, done.



Appears to holding well now. Appreciate "All" the input again from the Forum members who responded to my Post !

Did you double it up?
Steve

Yes

Here's an article I wrote several years ago:
www.kzrider.com/articles/technical-tips/...ir-first-timeforever
Bill

KZQ wrote: Here's an article I wrote several years ago:
www.kzrider.com/articles/technical-tips/...ir-first-timeforever
Bill

Thanks a lot! Really shed some light on the matter.
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Alexandra from Les Revetements Agro

I have repaired lots of plastic parts and just fixed a few cracks in my kz side cover too.
I had to remove the previous fiberglass and epoxy repairs.
What I do is plastic weld it. I use a soldering iron with a flat blade tip melt into it a 1/4" spot at a time, melt the plastic and smooth it back into shape like peanut butter.
I can get it smooth enough to not need filters.
It almost never cracks again.
I have been doing restoration and custom paint all my life and learned how to do this on plastic car bumpers.

For those tricky fit ups, I've been using acetone on a brush to soften and dissolve the edges and press them together, then tape it up and wait till it dries out. Better for clean cracks and smaller bits. Make sure the acetone has liquefied the joint before joining or it won't bond properly.

The acetone fuses it quite well with minimal damage and then I can follow up with the soldering iron like bulletkz says if I find it necessary If you try to fix a big bit using lots of acetone it can take days to dry out properly.

You do have to watch the temperatures carefully as over heat will ruin it.

My hardware sells stainless woven mesh for the purpose for those weak spots and can just be melted in for reinforcement. Does not rust.

PVC cement does contain some fillers and other substances and dries hard. Sometimes if there's further problems, can be hard to get rid of the product, but neat acetone dries out clean.