Fixing broken fairings?
 

A number of the plastic 'pins' (for want of a better word) for clipping on my Transalps fairings have broken off http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/frown.gif . I have tried glueing but this is only a temporary fix as they inevitably break again (and I've lost some of them now anyway). Has anyone else had to find a solution to this problem? I was thinking along the lines of some sort of quick release clips. I would happily drill into the plastic to attach them. I just don't know what clips are available or where to get them (UK)?! Any ideas (new or tried and tested) welcome.

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Look at either M&P or Demon Tweeks catalogues. Look for Dzus fasteners or similar.

Are those the pins to hold the fairings to the fueltank? Don't bother mine are long gone and didn't notice any difference. Tried to glue them both broke of again later.

If it are the black enoying things I just replaced them by seltapping screws and some others by bolt and nuts.

Thanks for the input. Those D-fasteners look like what I need but they may be too short. Need to keep searching.
Yes fireboomer they are the plastic pins that clip onto the tank. Some of the side panel ones are broken as well. I would leave it but the front fairings are rattling rather irritatingly when I ride. Also if i decide to sell the bike, a buyer would appreciate a good solution to the problem rather than loose fairings.

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Hi Paul,
You can also buy captive/caged nuts, M6. These are nuts on a spring clip that can clip on the lug where the rubber ring is. Then you can choose the correct length of bolt.
Another good method is to drill a small hole in the back of the broken plug and fit a screw from the outside of the fairing into the lug before glueing. A bit tricky to explain in text.
Tip number 3..( yes these lugs break off a lot and give plenty of practice ) Leaving the rubbers in place on the tank and try to copy the original plug using nuts and bolts with plastic pipe over more nuts. Again its hard to explain but maybe you get the idea.

I can try to explain it better if needed or maybe email a photo for you.
Cant believe Honda still use this method, what is it nearly twenty years of the transalp?

Andy

Andy, you sound like a man speaking from experience, and I like what I hear. Just a couple of questions...
These caged/captive nuts sound good. I can't imagine how they look or work though. Not sure where to get them either but will ask around. What sort of place do you think would have them?
I am not sure of the difference between your first and second method. It seems both would require the fairing to be drilled and a bolt threaded through from the outside. This bolt would then screw into the caged nut yes?
For the third method, I do not understand what you mean by "with plastic pipe over more nuts". Could you explain this in more detail please? If it's not too much trouble, photos would be very nice...

I would say email me personally with more details but I think it is a useful enough topic to leave on HU as all TA owners must face this problem at some point.

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The caged nut idea is a good one (oddly I used to work in a hospital for caged nuts....); I had a friend who used dzus fastners on his TA, and they didn't look so good. They will work though, because the receptor is a spring clip-like arangement that can be fixed in the recess in the tank that held the rubber washer. If you haven't lost the lug itself it's pretty easy to repair the panel with that. Screwing into the back of the lug is an excellent idea, and will provide good support.

On the other hand, I have used Isopon P40 (available from any car accessory shop) to support and fix the lug, and I've never had one fail on me in two TAs! The idea is that you use the glass-fibre reinforced epoxy resin to glue and support the repair. I usually glue the lug with isocyanate superglue first, to get it into the right position, then apply the P40 around that. You will need to use a knife to deeply scratch the plastic on the panel and on the lug, and both have to be clean of course. You will need to make sure the P40 doesn't extent onto the area thatfits inside the rubber washer, or the lug will then be too fat to fit. It works and is much cheaper than either the dedicated kits that are available specifically for fairing repair, or a set of dzus fastners. If you do go down the latter route, try to get stainless dzus fastners, as the others rust.

Whichever method you choose, good luck!!

Stig

Here we go, a bit of searching came up with some links. To tell you the truth Paul, I am a more on the lines of Fireboomer and rode with taped up panels for a long time untill it was time to sell the bike. The second Tranny is holding up well as I take care to silicon grease the rubbers, only broke the one fitting up to now.

http://www.boltproducts.com/tinnerma...lt-u-type.html

http://world.altavi sta.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.transalp.de %2Ftechnik%2Fpd-technik%2Freparaturen%2Fverkleidungsrep.php&lp=de_ en

Hope the links work

Andy

Edit.. Seems to have stretched the page a bit,sorry.

[This message has been edited by andygray (edited 11 March 2005).]