Fairing material

[TheFalcro]

Hey everyone !!

Now that the fairing is stripped of components I can now see that is is severely cracked along the botom tank side of the fairing. Does anyone know for certain what this material is exactly. I am going to repair it but I honestly cannot tell if it is fiberglass, Vacuuformed ABS plastic or some other material. I want to at least attempt to use a compatible product to repair it. I have pics of the damage but I do not know how to put them ona website or whatever and link them here. if you want to see what I am referring to PM me and I will email pics of the damage.

[TheFalcro]

Hello again everyone,

Here is my update for the time being. After even more research it appears that the fairing and saddlebags are most likely (ABS) Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic but could also be (PP) Polypropeleyne plastic. Apparently Kawasaki has used both materials for bodywork.

Both are similar in the final stage of production but are very chemically different. ABS is usually painted and is stronger againt impact PP is usually "colored" before it is molded. I am hopeful that these are ABS as it is much easier to work with.

I have stripped the saddlebags of hardware and seals. Every hole that was in the Plastic of the bags is hogged out from vibration wear and tension. I am gong to need to repair them somehow but I don't want to just fill the holes and re-drill them.

I would like to put some metal (like a plate) with holes drilled for the hardware to attach to and to add strength to the clamping points for the lids of the saddlebags. My thought process here is that this will be more durable long term that the original "bolts/studs through the plastic" that is so worn after only 35k miles that the lids are loose even when clamped.

I welcome any and all suggestions from folks whether you have repaired some already or if you have some experience with repairing plastic. Obviously this information will help tremedously in fixing the botom of the fairing on the tank side as well. This portion is broken so badly that the bottom of the fairing is nearly detatched at this point.

[ekap1200]

Hello from NJ, ABS is what I have always used, Has held up even on, side cover grommet/pins . I have used behind the repair fiberglass cloth , wet with abs glue.
Gene

[TheFalcro]

Hello from NJ, ABS is what I have always used, Has held up even on, side cover grommet/pins . I have used behind the repair fiberglass cloth , wet with abs glue.
Gene

Thank you for that most valuable information. I was thinking along similar lines but did not consider using ABS glue on the cloth. I was going to mix regualr fiberglass resin but I like your method much more. It makes sense to use the ABS glue in place of the resin. One thing I was also considering was to bond some thin plate over the area that the latches attach. I think your method could work for that as well.

[Van Voyager]

Following this because....

When I first got my ZN, I noted there were some cracks - material actually displaced - on the inner fairing opposite the right fork - where the mixer bolts to the inside of the fairing (I think it's the mixer - going from memory here). It seemed that at the factory, one of the audio cables was run under the mixer and squeezed between the mixer and the side of the fairing - causing it to crack. I pulled the mixer and rerouted the offending cable which brought the fairing pieces back into alignment. It's not a critical support area so I left things like that but one of these days I'll open up the fairing and attempt a repair of those cracks.

[sir old dirt]

To: the falcro

Consider a close inspection of the fairing, espcially around and under the headlight. The fairing is so heavy that the few support brackets are not enough to prevent the vibrations you mentioned earlier. I had two 1300's and both experienced the problem. The area around the air pressure gauge on the right also cracked.
Bob Jones

[TheFalcro]

To: the falcro

Consider a close inspection of the fairing, espcially around and under the headlight. The fairing is so heavy that the few support brackets are not enough to prevent the vibrations you mentioned earlier. I had two 1300's and both experienced the problem. The area around the air pressure gauge on the right also cracked.
Bob Jones

Thanks for the advice Bob. I did exactly that already as a part of the plan to get this scooter back on the road. This scooter is getting completely stripped and "refurbished" (not restored lol). The cracks are quite extensive and had I not takent this down to bare nothings the fairing quite literally would have failed completely and fallen off (no exaggeration). Everything I have researched thus far is telling me that this is ABS plastic so I will be re-engineering the tank side of the fairing with a lot of support structure built in. I have plenty of room as I am not going to put the Audio/CB/Com system back in. In its place will be a modern and lighter set up. The sound system alone weighs 25 + lbs and is most of the weight inside of the fairing so the fairing will be under a lot less stress but will have a lot more structure on the tank side of the fairing.

[TheFalcro]

Following this because....

When I first got my ZN, I noted there were some cracks - material actually displaced - on the inner fairing opposite the right fork - where the mixer bolts to the inside of the fairing (I think it's the mixer - going from memory here). It seemed that at the factory, one of the audio cables was run under the mixer and squeezed between the mixer and the side of the fairing - causing it to crack. I pulled the mixer and rerouted the offending cable which brought the fairing pieces back into alignment. It's not a critical support area so I left things like that but one of these days I'll open up the fairing and attempt a repair of those cracks.

Based on what I am seeing I would reccommend investigating that a little further just to be certain. I have lots of pictures of the damage if you would like to see what I have found.I would be more than happy to send you the pics so you can see what you might be up against.

[Van Voyager]

Hi Richard: Yes, please post pictures. Better to post here so that everyone can see them though. You can anonymously (no need to create an account or sign in) upload pictures to https://imgur.com/upload?beta which will provide embedded links to the photos which you can use to post on this site.

[TheFalcro]

Hi Richard: Yes, please post pictures. Better to post here so that everyone can see them though. You can anonymously (no need to create an account or sign in) upload pictures to https://imgur.com/upload?beta which will provide embedded links to the photos which you can use to post on this site.

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/mcfhpyT" ><a href="//imgur.com/a/mcfhpyT">fairing cracks</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://thefalcro.imgur.com/all/?third_party=1

lol I am good at mechanical things but this stuff is like greek to me I hope this is right lol

[Van Voyager]

Richard:

To insert an image on this site - use the 'insert image icon' on the Post a Reply tool bar (see pix below) which will insert a "[ img][/img]" in your message - just paste your imgur image link between the brackets.

In this case, I took a snapshot of the image button, saved it to imgur, right clicked the image (once finished loading on imgur), chose 'copy link location', then pasted that location in-between the " [ img][/img]" .

i.e.: [ img]https://i.imgur.com/KzZvAh6.jpg[/img]

Inserts:

PS: Not sure why the pasted image shows up so small - that's a bit goofy.

[TheFalcro]

Van Voyager:
like this?

[imghttps://thefalcro.imgur.com/all/?third_party=1][/img]

[Van Voyager]

There's something wrong with the image url - I suspect that you're not waiting long enough for the image to load on imgur before coping the link (also weird that your username is in the URL - are you logged into an imgur account?) In any case, a valid image URL typically end with a ".jpg". Also the left "]" after the first "img" needs to stay with the img, i.e:

[img]https://thefalcro.imgur.com/all/?third_party=1[/img]

(although that link doesn't work).

[TheFalcro]

I am hoping this works. my apologies it is simply that tech and I do not communicate well
Kepp in mind that these were taken with the fairing upside down or sitting on the headlight end











In the last image look at the j-nut that is used to attatch the instrument cluster (bottom right of pic next to the speaker hole) The pic is not the best but you can see that the plastic is cracked around the area the j-nut goes over. it is the same on both sides. Also in Picture 3 you can see the rust created by the mouse house and the associated waste. I have drilled the rivets holding those in and refurbished the metal it is in surprisingly good shape considering the damage the urine did. I was not paying attention and didn't realize that the plate was more the focus thatn the cracks around the Air ride control area. These were taken when I had the fairing about 90% stripped

[TheFalcro]

There's something wrong with the image url - I suspect that you're not waiting long enough for the image to load on imgur before coping the link (also weird that your username is in the URL - are you logged into an imgur account?) In any case, a valid image URL typically end with a ".jpg". Also the left "]" after the first "img" needs to stay with the img, i.e:

[img]https://thefalcro.imgur.com/all/?third_party=1[/img]

(although that link doesn't work).

Thank you so much for helping me figure out the picture fiasco. I can fix just about anything but unless I can put my hands on it I struggle to learn new tech. I feel bad for the additional bandwidth used in my mistakes. Anyway now that i know how to do it I will post more pics in the future

[Van Voyager]

Thanks for posting.

Your cracking is a lot worse than mine. The cracks in my fairing are limited to the small area of the three bolt holes on the left side of the fairing in your first picture.

[TheFalcro]

Thanks for posting.

Your cracking is a lot worse than mine. The cracks in my fairing are limited to the small area of the three bolt holes on the left side of the fairing in your first picture.


<<<SNIP>>>
That is definitely a good thing. I just don't want to see anyone that thinks these cracks are minimal and not something to look more closely at on their own scooters. in my opinion it is better to let folks know what I found so they can look at their own and assess how closely they need to look into it. I knew this scooter was in poor to fair condition but honestly I was not prepared for the damage (cracks) in the fairing. I anticipated that this would be a 6 week ressurection I fear now that I may not ride until fall at best and maybe not until next summer. I have a lot of work to do lol