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Repair Front Fender with Fiberglass, good or really bad Idea?


goflynn

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I have a couple of quick questions. The front fender for my 1999 VFR is cracking right through around the bolt holds. On one bolt, it has completly cracked though in a semicircle around the bold and I think it's starting to become dangerous and the whole fender could fly off.

Has anyone repaired a front VFR fender with fiberglass? I was thinking of using fiberglass to build up and support the fender on the inside. I have a niggling in the back of my mind that fiberglasss is not the right repair material. Something about it being fragile and potentially shattering, dumping shards of sharp fiberglass near my front wheel. Anyone got some advice or used fiberglass for this type of repair?

Is the front fender necessary? Can i ride around without it for a couple of weeks while i repair the fender?

Are there any replacement options aside of the OEM for front fenders?

Thanks,

~g

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Get some plastic bumper repair epoxy at an auto supply place usaully about $15 makes a better repair and use some fiberglass drywall mesh on the inside of it to support the repair works really well.

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Thanks for the response and the link. It looks like that crazy glue + baking soda would be good for tacking the parts back together but i don't think it is a structural repair solution. I attached photo of my fender.

post-13221-0-82334000-1334694107.jpgpost-13221-0-53889400-1334694117.jpg

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goflynn,

I am currently bikeless, so feel free to ignore anything I write.......

My 1995 VFR had 25k miles on it before it was stolen but I didn't have any cracking similar to what you have which makes me wonder what would cause the problem.

Is it a high mileage bike or was it bumped while it was in the garage? Are the fork tubes true?

Good luck with the repairs.

LH

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LH , you raise a good point. Bike has 37k on it . Have never had the forks examined to see if they are true, Is there a standard way to check if they are true/ aligned?

goflynn,

Sorry, but I haven't a clue as to how to check the fork tubes, or if that is even an issue. I may be overthinking this a bit.......it's been known to happen.

Maybe some of the folks with high mileage bikes will chime in.

Good luck.

LH

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Guest Viffertex

I did a lot of research on plastic welding after my crash back in December. I was planning on fixing all the broken mounting tabs on my bodywork and having it all repainted before I decided to just make an insurance claim and pay the deductable. Granted I haven't gotten around to trying it out, but I plan on doing it and converting my old set of plastics into a set strictly for the track. There are tons of videos on youtube and several different ways to go about it. Some as simple as a soldering iron and zip-ties(a lot of noxious smoke to deal with). Others include buying plastic welding devices that are basically a heat gun that you feed abs plastic strips through. The whole process seems pretty straight forward and interrests me quite a bit. Going to be my next project for sure. You might want to look into it.

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Strikes me as how you had better figure out what caused the breaking first. This should not happen if something isn't moving that shouldn't be. I think the fender is polypropylene, and it can be welded with the proper adhesive and stainless steel mesh. Since the fender gets a lot of flexing and shaking in daily life, fusion welding is quite likely to fracture. DuraMix 4036 two part or Scotch-Weld 8010 will stick and bond well.

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