Plastex!

It will glue pieces back together. It can be used to build up areas. It can fill in gaps.

Here's where I used Plastex to built a missing corner for a tail center piece. Strong as the original.

Quote from: adidasguy on January 28, 2013, 06:25:31 PM
You drill a hole. Instructions come with the sliders.
First, locate the center of the engine bolt. Drill a tiny hole. if not right, drill another and another until you know you have the exact center location. Then use the larger hole saw or forstner bit to drill the big hole.
My set came with a pointy bolt. You remove fairings. Install new engine bolt and base of sliders. Put on the pointy bolt with some paint on it. Put fairing back and see where the pointy thing marked the fairing. Drill there.

Plastic repair:Look up PLASTEX. It works GREAT. You can even use it to build missing pieces. a friend repaired his CBR fairings with it. I've repaired some and built up missing tabs.

Just saying you could go with t rex frame sliders also might be a little cheaer and easier to put on.

The Rex sliders are mounted behind the fairing. The R&G go through the middle of the fairing.

Given the positions, I do not believe the Rex would protect a fairing very well - they are too far back and not in the fairing.

The R&G in the middle of the fairing would provide protection to keep the fairing from getting scraped up. I believe bluesmudge can shed light on that fact.

Well I was going to recommend Plastic Weld, stuff you can find at most auto parts stores. It has a strength rating of 3600 psi. Then I saw what Adidas recommended, the Plastex, and that stuff looks to be pretty amazing. Sadly I've never heard of it in my years of plastic repair (as a hobby, not professionally).

So with the new plastex info, I would recommend this. Order a small amount of plastex to test it out, and also get yourself a plastic weld pack (about $8) from a parts store. Test both of them on inconspicous areas or on scrap pieces around the house, and see which one you like better.

Regardless of which one you pick, with the way your fairing cracked, I'd try to do the work from the back side and minimize outside visibility.  Try to push the cracks back together as much as you can and use packaging or duct tape to hold it together. Then, apply the plastex or plastic weld to the back of the cracks (roughen up the surface for best adhesion) and try to smooth it out so you don't have too much jagged plastic weld back there. Also, make sure you fill the cracks all the way through (easier said than done). After it dries, if you have any residue from the tape, just hit it with some "goo gone" and it'll come right off.

Now, for the paint, go to www.colorrite.com. They are, from what I've heard from a Suzuki dealer, the actual company who does the paint for Suzuki and other makes. They sell touch up paint as well as pints, quarts, etc., and they have a convenient bike selection that shows the colors you need. I would just get some touch up paint and touch up those cracks on the outside. I'm not sure how well the touch up paint will mesh with the paint around it, but I've seen some professionals blend that touch-up stuff in and make it look like it was never there. You might be able to find some good info online about how to blend the touch-up paint.

All in all, I'd expect to spend about $60 on the job I just described, with most of the cost coming from colorrite paint. It's expensive, but its the only way to get the exact paint.

For those who are melting plastic to welded it together...... Be careful

A soldering iron/gun can work on thin things but melting/welding any plastic puts off "dioxin" which is deadly and will kill you over time. A lot of people don't know it because they don't know how to weld. Welding certain metals is no different.

I use a Leister plastic welder because I make a lot of custom cold air intakes for show/sport vehicles

Plastic epoxies are excluded from this as they are more of a glue

Anyone ever heard a kid get yelled at or scorned (or maybe you, yourself) for throwing plastic in the campfire?

Similar concerns...

- Bboy

I wasn't aware of the dangers of burning plastic. Sad, but I just never heard of it. Thanks for that post because I have a friend in a rural area that burns his plastic trash all the time (outside). Now I'm off to spread the word and save the world! 

If something when burning smells bad, burns your nose or eyes, it usually isn't good to breathe

Not to revive a dead thread but here's a quick update on my repairs - thought it best to keep it in the original thread.  Also, doing my best to resize the photos but the caching on my laptop is interfering.

Ended up combining two of the options listed by the group, melting the plastic together and etching a groove using a soldering iron, following up with the epoxy and fiberglass option.

 

The front fairing was by far the hardest to repair due to the exhaustive crack and removing the signal from the deformed plastic.  However, it is holding up great and the crack is not as obvious as before.

 

The left fairing was not as bad, just a large patch of fiberglass and epoxy resolved it quick.  However, the upper tape decal was damaged so it's been replaced with a bit of electrical tape for now.  Researching the idea of replacing the tape decals, repainting, or just leaving it.  The left fairing also had a chunk missing from the fastener; the epoxy filled in the gap with help from a bit of tape, nothing too bad.

   

It's also exciting to remove the fairings to reveal that the right side had a thick layer of amber epoxy over a few cracks - thought it best to re-do the repairs my way.  It's great to know the seller jipped me a bit.