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The first step is removing the fairing, two screws on each side of the tank -- including the tab that is busted, four mirror bolts, two bolts under the headlight. (Grab a 10 mm wrench for those last six...)
As you pull the fairing towards the front of the bike (or away from the rear, take your pick), ask a helper to disconnect the turn signals connector (unsnap) and the headlight connector (just pull on it gently).
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| This is a naked EX500. I think it looks ugly |
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| Here's a good tip: take notes and picturees and sort your fasteners with a little piece of paper, indicating where they go and their socket size. |
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| Here's the fairing on my bench, after I removed the two side reflectors. I also removed the left-hand turn signal, because it was wobbling like crazy, which means the area around it needed to be strengthened. |
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The previous-previous owner had tried to fix his busted fairing by gluing it with something that came out of a caulking gun. It was beige, brittle and had not bonded to the black ABS.I tried using a dremmel to remove it but ended up using a 3/8" wood chisel.
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| Here's the same area, but cleaned up. |
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(Time for a commercial break.) Here's what is included in the Plastex standard kit: the black powder, the liquid that will mix with it, applicator bottle and needles, a powder dish, a pipet, the moulding bar, one page of instruction and a DVD.
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| Two more things to prep the fairing:
1.Packing tape on the outside, which
- holds the part together;
- ensures that the plastex doesn't seep through the crack.
2.With the dremmel, grind a v-groove, on the inside. Easier said than done.
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| There are three ways to use the plastex. Add a few drops of the liquid to the powder, in the dish, pick up the sphere, drop it on the repair area, repeat.
Fill the crack with the powder, add the liquid, let cure. (About an hour at 75 F)
Using the reinforcement cloth -- which has some powder embedded in it, place the cloth on a sheet of poly, add powder generously, saturate with the liquid, flip the whole kit onto the crack, press to remove air bubbles, let cure and then remove the sheet of poly. That is recommended for areas subjected to tension or, hint hint, vibration.
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| Here's the completed repair. Time to put the turn signal at its place, the fairing back on the bike and show this page to any prospective buyer of Brandywine. |
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