Repairing Motorcycle Plastics Part 2

June 25, 8:11 AMSanta Fe Motorcycle Travel ExaminerCameron Weckerley

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Much used and often abused trunk box/pillion back rest

The back box or "trunk" of the Road Show Beemer has been the subject of this column before, but the fun continues. The "trunk" box, and bracket that it mounts to, is actually made by Honda and is superior to anything manufactured specifically by/for BMW in its sheer capacity and its value as a safety mechanism/backrest for my faithful pillion. The previous owner had a custom rack welded together and mounted for the box which, after some adjustment and lots of locktite, works out really well.

So well in fact, that we have just used it to death and it has become considerably worse for the wear. As we all know though things are tough all over these days and a new trunk/backrest is currently out of the question. So we thought we would apply a little expertise we had gained on some previous projects. My wife Patti worked in the special effects industry in Hollywood for a time and has a good working knowledge of bonding plasitcs. I have developed some exprimental techniques of my own rebuilding crashed motorcycles and fashioning non-available parts.

Fiberglass cloth used as a strengthening component.

In part I of this series we explored some of Patti's techniques for using light industrial plastics at a strenthing component.

In this part of the series we take a look at a technique involving fiberglass cloth and J B Weld. This actually works very well believe it or not.

Here Patti fashions a piece of fiberglass cloth to shape and size for the repair.

Layering JB Weld and fiberglas cloth.

The surface is prepared by roughing it up slightly and then putting on a layer or JB Weld....next the cloth is laid into the prepped area and additionally impregnated with more JB.  After curing for 48 hours it is possible to trim the weather stripping and other fitment portions with a sharp blade and even sand and drill if necessary.

Outside composite patch.

The high stress areas where the new hinges will be attached were also reinforced from the outside using a similar method.

A little grinding and shaping to finish the job

The next installment will cover cutting and shaping the new hinges.  Saving and re-using the OEM hinge componenents, etc.