Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

This is in a local small business (that is co-owned by the ex-advanced/police-trainer). Forgiving the price (someone on facebook threw shade about it), I absolutely love the colourway.

1 Attachment

Oh that's bloody gorgeous! I've been fixated on the idea of doing a DIY electric motorcycle build recently and I'm torn between something like this or just swapping out my TU250...

.

It seems to be tough going to make the battery box look presentable so lots of fairing could be the answer...

Fairings would be a useful way to hide it all, and since it will all be custom you can build the battery to suit the shape nicely.

Maybe more suited to the hacks/bodges page. Used the blowtorch end on the butane soldering iron to melt a few lengths of staple into the cracked fairing end, then etching tape over the top to stop the decal peeling further.

Not the most beautiful job but quick and dirty. At some point with hot glue or similar I’ll reinforce it. Ideally one of those 3D printing pens than have the filament instead of glue would be ideal for this.

2 Attachments

Does no one plastic weld with nail glue kits anymore?

Nobody ever taught me how. Teach me how.

Sorry, though it was common knowledge.

The plastex kits https://www.plastex.net/ and people found that the acrylic nail kits with acrylic powder and acrylic liquid is the same stuff. It is great stuff, with plastacene you can even rebuild broken tabs and repair fairings. So use the video from the plastex, to see how things work.

Cheap source is the nail supply places, common in London. I use a modellers needle tipped bottle to but the liquid in to the powder.

I bought a plastex kit, cos I snapped some tabs on my BM fairing. Not got round to using it yet, but pleased to hear that I'm in the ballpark.

Evo-stik PVC pipe weld will do a great job as well. It just melts the very edge of the plastic together and makes a neat joint as long as you're not missing chunks of plastic.

On the subject of fast two strokes, I once had a go on a tuned NS400R. It was the nearest thing I could relate to the description of "riding by thought control", so rapid and agile, so much fun.

Ah okay. I wasn’t aware of using it for plastic welding.

Ugly as the staples are, they have melted the plastic a little so it feels a bit stronger already. The piece was almost totally split off.

I’ll look into the nail route or else just wait til I get a 3D pen and reinforce the area with ABS filament.

@lynx - turns out I did know about your method you suggest but through different names.

Okay so looking online I am struggling to find somewhere that stocks acetone on the shelf.

Reading online there’s ‘nail polish remover’ acetone and then there’s ‘proper’ acetone. As far as I can work out, I want the proper stuff to use with abs shavings to make the gloop.

Might double check in the motor shop for a kit. Normally they stock highly questionable items at fair prices.

Definitely 'proper' acetone - nail polish remover often has moisturizing oils and other skin friendly contaminants that you do not want if you're solvent welding.
Try the 3D printing thread for ABS slurry recipes?

Not sure that PVC pipe weld works on anything other than PVC plastic.

This isn't using acetone at all, and I've not used proper acetone.

The stuff I used is acrylic powder and acrylic liquid, as used by nail people. It is alot easier and cleaner also quicker to repair. Having been on a few bike forums this is what the go to repair was. Either that or plastic welding using a solder iron and plastic coat hangers. That way you could get matching colours.

From being told on this very forum, there is no difference between 'proper' acetone and acetone nail varnish remover. Yes, I know.

Some nail varnish remover is acetone free. And some is a rather weak solution. Read the label. The purest I've found in a high street pharmacy is Cutex Ultra Powerful, which is 98% acetone. You can get 99.9% on ebay, and it's cheaper.

For removing a sticky label (or nail varnish) there might not be much difference with some brands - personally I wouldn't risk it for something I want to repair rather than replace.

For any specific brand, there should be a data sheet with ingredients, e.g.
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-/sainsburys-nail-polish-remover-250ml
or even a safety data sheet such as
https://www.leading-solvents.co.uk/uploads/pdf/bcde7472fd4bced3cf7f346d443124eb.pdf

Given that solvent welding usually requires clean surfaces and no contamination, I'd check before introducing something like hydrogenated castor oil to a repair. There will be some nail varnish removers that will work as planned, and I'm probably being over cautious...

Some acetone on ebay is 100% pure. This one is £3.49 for 250ml, with free delivery https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/133482076487

I can assure you that it does a great job. I regularly use a bike with a fairing repaired with this stuff about 10 years ago, and it's very strong. You don't have to believe me of course, it can just remain a "best kept secret".

Not a matter of believe, PVC weld stuff works on certain plastics. If the fairing is made of the right stuff then it will work. As proof, ever tried to take solvent weld pipe apart that has been 'glued' with PVC weld stuff? Then try PVC weld works on non solvent plumbing plastic. It doesn't work.

Glueing plastic together can be a real nightmare.

Not an arguement, just chat. Have fucked plastics up in the past by using the wrong bonding stuff. Want people to learn from my mistakes as I don't seem to.

Yes I agree with you, as you say sticky label (or what nail varnish remover was invented for) is great. Would go further and say that any thing that requires a clean surface for bonding needs a clean surface. Would say over cautious, just less to go wrong and have to do again. Or break something so have buy it.

I got this info from Straightliners forum about 10 years ago to successfully repair my ZX12R tailpiece. I have also repaired the fairing on my blade. It's been used by many others repairing motorcycle bodywork. Your reasoning is sound, but doesn't disprove what I know works very well.

Thanks all.

Well. I got distracted and ended up using the vape module soldering iron to melt the plastic together a bit.

Then it ran out of battery.

Anyway that is effectively the soldering iron method.

This afternoon I also got some ABS filament from a mate. I am hoping that it will mechanically if not chemically bond over the top so I can bulk up the area to have some extra rigidity.

Messy job is messy. If I make it fat enough I can sand it smooth after.

Buy a cheap aldi/lidl sorder iron for this sort of shit. Costs less than a decent tip.

Also inside and no one see that.

You are right, sorry if it comes across as argumentative.

As I said, I want people not to make the fuck ups I have made. Cos some one has to learn as I fucking don't time and fucking time again ;)