Repairing an ABS Street Motorcycle Fairing with PlastiFix

Motorcycle side fairings are very expensive; when they crack, you can often save hundreds of dollars by repairing them with products from Polyvance.

The fairings on this Kawasaki Concours are made of ABS plastic, the most common type of plastic on motorcycle fairings. ABS can be repaired by welding, but our Plastifix rigid plastic repair kit works really well on it. PlastiFix is a methacrylate two-part repair system which uses a liquid acrylic monomer combined with a powder catalyst that melts into ABS plastic to form a repair that is often stronger than an actual fusion weld. PlastiFix is great for do-it-yourselfers since you don’t have to buy the plastic welding equipment.

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Products Used:

Note: This is a list of the Polyvance products that can be used to make this repair. This list does not include sanders, grinders, or other common tools you will need. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call technical support at 800-633-3047.

• PlastiFix Kit (several options available)
• Aluminum Tape (several options available)

Video Notes:

• English Closed Captions have been provided for this video. Click on the CC button to turn them on or off.
• The length of this video is in no way representative of the actual time required to perform a complete repair and therefore should not be used for estimating purposes.

Music Credits:

• "Gearhead" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
• "Delay Rock" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

English Transcript:

Motorcycle side fairings are very expensive; when they crack, you can often save hundreds of dollars by repairing them with products from Polyvance. The fairings on this Kawasaki Concours are made of ABS plastic, the most common type of plastic on motorcycle fairings. ABS can be repaired by welding, but our PlastiFix adhesive system works well on it and is great for do-it-yourselfers since you don't have to buy the plastic welding equipment.

After cleaning the plastic, rough grind the backside with 50 grit sandpaper. If you don't have power tools, you can sand the plastic by hand. It's important to sand off any paint on the backside and rough up the surface about one inch on either side of the crack, because we'll be applying a wide patch of PlastiFix on the backside for strength. Use our 6482 aluminum tape to hold the broken off piece in position. The 6482 tape is very thick and strong, and has excellent adhesion to hold the piece firmly. Press the tape into all the grooves and body lines as tightly as possible. Now the area is prepped and ready for application of PlastiFix.

First, we'll cut a piece of fiberglass cloth roughly the size of the repair area. Fiberglass cloth is available from your local auto parts store and is used to reinforce the PlastiFix. Cut to size and set it aside for later. Prepare your new PlastiFix kit for use by filling the dropper bottle with liquid using the included pipette. Fill the cup with the lid with PlastiFix powder. Here we are using black powder, but PlastiFix is also available with white or clear powder.

There are a couple of ways to apply PlastiFix; the dropper method and the sprinkle method. We'll start with the dropper method. Put one or two drops of liquid into the powder, then immediately stab the drop with the tip of the needle and pick up the droplet. Move the drop over the work area, then squeeze more liquid to wash the drop off the needle. Note that the hole is in the side of the needle, not the tip, so when you squeeze liquid out, it runs down the tip of the needle to wash the powder ball off. Repeat this process until you have filled the area with saturated powder. It helps to keep a smooth surface on top of the powder, so tap the cup once in a while to level out the surface. Also, it helps to keep the liquid bottle full to allow for best control of the liquid drops. The dropper method is great for applying PlastiFix to detailed areas, but it is a little slow and tedious. If you have a large area you want to cover, it's faster to apply the liquid and powder in thin layers over a large area by sprinkling them on. You have to make sure your work surface is horizontal to do this. First, apply some liquid to the surface. Then sprinkle some powder over it as evenly as possible. Then apply some more liquid to saturate the powder. As long as the powder is saturated with the liquid, the PlastiFix will cure out.

Here, we want to apply enough PlastiFix to imbed the fiberglass cloth into. Before the PlastiFix hardens, press the fiberglass cloth into it. Then apply more layers of liquid and powder on top of the fiberglass cloth to embed it into the PlastiFix. Build up as many layers of liquid and powder as necessary to provide the strength you need, making sure to saturate the powder with the liquid at every step. Although it's not necessary, you can smooth the backside of the PlastiFix with a piece of polyethylene film or Saran Wrap. Apply it over the wet PlastiFix and press any air bubbles out with your fingers. Leave the plastic film over the PlastiFix while the adhesive cures.

After about 30 or 40 minutes, you can peel the film off the backside. The material won't have full strength for a few hours, but it is strong enough to continue working on the front side. Peel the aluminum tape off the front side. Use a die grinder or Dremel tool to grind a v-groove along the crack, about halfway through the plastic. We're not going to refinish the outer surface of this repair, so we'll keep the v-groove as tight and pretty as we can, avoiding scratching the paint in the surrounding area.

Before we apply the PlastiFix, we'll put a small piece of aluminum tape at the edges to keep the liquid from running off. Fill the v-groove using the dropper method. Again, put one or two drops of liquid into the powder, then immediately stab the drop with the tip of the needle and pick up the droplet. Move the drop over the work area, then squeeze more liquid to wash the powder drop off the needle. Continue this process until the v-groove is full. When the PlastiFix is cured, your repair is complete, strong and functional.

The owner of this motorcycle didn't want to paint it at this point, but the repair could be refinished easily using Polyvance's refinishing products. The first step would be to sand the PlastiFix slightly flush. Then apply some 2020 SMC Hardset epoxy filler. Sand it smooth and apply the 3041 All Seasons primer surfacer. Finally, sand the primer smooth and paint to match. Polyvance has been the expert on plastic repair and refinishing since 1981. We have everything you need to repair just about any plastic part.