hey fred, is this gonna get me banned???? if it is, then i w

[Dan Keen]

I was riding my 2008 KLR up some mountain logging roads today and having a blast until I found myself on a rough decommissioned spur road and I was getting deeper in over my head. Unfortunately I dropped my bike in a sea of nuggets and cracked a side panel horizontally near the bottom. What type of plastic is used for the side panels and what type of glue is recommended for repair? Would fiberglass resin and matting on the inside adhere to the plastic? I learned my lesson and will be ordering some nerf bars and skid plate from Happy Trails ASAP!

[Luc Legrain]

Dan, In my experience with an A19 there is no glue that will stick to the KLR plastics, fiber glass will just fall off once dry. --- Dan Keen wrote:

> I was riding my 2008 KLR up some mountain logging > roads today and > having a blast until I found myself on a rough > decommissioned spur road > and I was getting deeper in over my head. > Unfortunately I dropped my > bike in a sea of nuggets and cracked a side panel > horizontally near the > bottom. > > What type of plastic is used for the side panels and > what type of glue > is recommended for repair? Would fiberglass resin > and matting on the > inside adhere to the plastic? > > I learned my lesson and will be ordering some nerf > bars and skid plate > from Happy Trails ASAP! > >

____________________________________________________________________________________ Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/

[Ronald Criswell]

Seems like my brother ran into this trying to repair an ABS plastic canoe. He solved his problem using an epoxy of some sort. I know in fibre glass you use a hardner with a resin but you might ask an experienced epoxy dealer / person. He fixed the canoe after he found out what would stick. criswell

On Aug 22, 2007, at 10:27 AM, Luc Legrain wrote: > Dan, > In my experience with an A19 there is no glue that > will stick to the KLR plastics, fiber glass will just > fall off once dry. > --- Dan Keen wrote: > > > I was riding my 2008 KLR up some mountain logging > > roads today and > > having a blast until I found myself on a rough > > decommissioned spur road > > and I was getting deeper in over my head. > > Unfortunately I dropped my > > bike in a sea of nuggets and cracked a side panel > > horizontally near the > > bottom. > > > > What type of plastic is used for the side panels and > > what type of glue > > is recommended for repair? Would fiberglass resin > > and matting on the > > inside adhere to the plastic? > > > > I learned my lesson and will be ordering some nerf > > bars and skid plate > > from Happy Trails ASAP! > > > > > > __________________________________________________________ > Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative > vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center. > http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/ > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mike Frey]

I sent the following reply to Fred by mistake last night, meant to send it to the list: It's Polypropylene, and no, conventional fiberglass repair won't work. JB Weld won't work. There used to be nothing that would stick to PP, but with many automakers going that route for front and rear bumpers, there are fixes available. Rather than recommend one (I don't have much experience at repairing it, only making it), do a search of "repair cracked polypropylene" or better still, ask a local body shop what they use. There are some reasonably good kits out there. A replacement side panel is not all that expensive - I see them on ebay for reasonable prices. Mike

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Dan Keen" wrote: > > I was riding my 2008 KLR up some mountain logging roads today and > having a blast until I found myself on a rough decommissioned spur road > and I was getting deeper in over my head. Unfortunately I dropped my > bike in a sea of nuggets and cracked a side panel horizontally near the > bottom. > > What type of plastic is used for the side panels and what type of glue > is recommended for repair? Would fiberglass resin and matting on the > inside adhere to the plastic? > > I learned my lesson and will be ordering some nerf bars and skid plate > from Happy Trails ASAP! >

[Ed Chait]

I think folks might be forgetting that the plastic on 2008's is not the same as on previous years. It breaks easier, but is probably also much easier to repair. ed A17

[Blake Sobiloff]

On Aug 22, 2007, at 5:33 PM, Mike Frey wrote:

> It's Polypropylene, and no, conventional fiberglass repair won't > work.

Mike, the OP was talking about a 2008 with the sportbike-style plastic; are you sure that that's polypro? I haven't heard it called that before, but what do I know? Actually, I've repaired the same kind of plastic that's on the 2008's with Plastex . The kits even include glass mat to strengthen high-stress areas. Worked well on my Triumph Sprint ST and my Yamaha Seca II, including the fairing mounting tabs. -- Blake Sobiloff http://www.sobiloff.com/> San Jose, CA (USA)

[Mike Frey]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Blake Sobiloff wrote:

> Mike, the OP was talking about a 2008 with the sportbike-style > plastic; are you sure that that's polypro? > Blake Sobiloff

> http://www.sobiloff.com/> > San Jose, CA (USA) >

Oops, I missed that part about it being a new one. I have a feeling that it's not - it is more likely ABS. If I could get my hands on a sliver of material - about the size of a small fingernail cutting - I could identify it. One easy test is to take a part and immerse it in water. If it sinks, it's likely NOT polypropylene - unless it has a filler in it that takes its density over 1.0 If it is indeed ABS, or one of the newer related plastic alloys, then those become easier to "repair". That said, the materials that work for polypropylene will also work for most other plastics. Mike

[Norm Keller]

On Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 12:31:50PM -0700, Harry Seifert wrote:

> Take to the air little birdie, and roost elsewhere...........

Total agreement here. Norm [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]