Damn the bad luck!

[DirtFlier]

I've only had that meter cover off once and it was a pain to remove and it certainly felt and sounded as if things were breaking, but all was intact!

There are two cat eye slits in the meter cover and I installed 3 green LEDs behind each one as a reminder that my turn signals are ON because with the sun at my back, the turn signal arrows on the dash are impossible to see. My new/old CB500F has a tiny dash unit and it sit behind the headlight module so far, far from my old eyes.

I will have to remove that meter cover to replace the right turn signal module which broke one of its mounting tabs and it's not a job I relish doing.

ps. it's best to work on tupperware when it's warm so the plastic is more pliable.

 

[mikesim]

I've only had that meter cover off once and it was a pain to remove and it certainly felt and sounded as if things were breaking, but all was intact!

There are two cat eye slits in the meter cover and I installed 3 green LEDs behind each one as a reminder that my turn signals are ON because with the sun at my back, the turn signal arrows on the dash are impossible to see. My new/old CB500F has a tiny dash unit and it sit behind the headlight module so far, far from my old eyes.

I will have to remove that meter cover to replace the right turn signal module which broke one of its mounting tabs and it's not a job I relish doing.

ps. it's best to work on tupperware when it's warm so the plastic if more pliable.

I hear you about the meter cover. You have to pull, tug and pry on it until you feel like you a reaching the point of breakage then you feel a pop and it is released. I was certain that one of the locking tabs had broken, but it was still intact.

Mike

 

[mikesim]

I'm beginning to educate myself about the plastic used in the tupperware for the NT. I plan on plastic welding the crack together using a hot melt stitching tool and then going over the crack with a plastic welding adhesive. Not all plastics are created equal however and to make sure you get the right adhesive you need to determine what type of plastic you are working with. Most plastics have a marking (RIC) "resin identification code" that tells you what plastic you are dealing with for recycling purposes. In an obscure area of the broken pannier I found the code "PC" which indicates polycarbonate. I remember back in the day as a young engineer that GE brought out a new plastic that was virtually indestructible. They called it Lexan. Lexan was the first large scale use of polycarbonate plastic. It was simultaneously developed by a German chemical company under their name but GE with their huge marketing clout captured the market. Lexan began to be used in many everday applications. One principal application that everyone here should be familiar with is automotive headlamps and today virtually every automotive headlamp is made of polycarbonate. While the polycarbonate is tough and almost indestructable when new it does have a fatal flaw. UV radiation is polycarbonate's kryptonite. Yup, plain old sunlight causes polycarbonate embrittlement over time. You see this on automotive headlamps as hazing or yellowing. The lamps are coated with a UV inhibiter when new but eventually sunlight wins the battle and the lamps begin to haze and yellow. They can be restored to clarity by polishing but the UV protection is gone and the polycarbonate begins its downward spiral much more rapidly. Polycarbonate items used in outdoor applications are molded with UV inhibitors built in but they don't last forever. The acknowledged life by the plastics industry of a PC item used outdoors is 10-20 years. Even the protection offered by the paint on the panniers doesn't last forever. UV radiation can penetrate the paint and reach the PC. My right side pannier is considerably more faded that the left side due to the fact that on my daily ride to work Traveller was parked with the right side facing the sun every day for ten years. In looking back, the right side pannier was the first to start cracking around the latch hasps on the lid. So much for my short treatise on polycarbonates. I will report back on my fix.

Mike

 

[mikesim]

I began the reconstruction of the pannier lid this evening as the last of my supplies arrived by USPS today. I started by taping the exterior of the lid with industrial strength duct tape. If you've never used Gorilla duct tape, try it, you will be impressed. The tape held the lid together to keep the cracks almost perfectly aligned. I then used the welding tool and the serpentine wire stitches and began working at the end of the Crack. The tool worked great. You position the stich where you want it and the stich begins heating and on a second or two melts into the PC. You then let up on the trigger and hold it in place for a moment or two and remove the tool. The stitch leaves the legs protruding from the substrate so after all the welds cooled, I nipped 'em off with a dykes. I used a total of 32 stitches on the cracks. Tomorrow I will followup with a PC powder and solvent and solvent weld between the stitches on the interior of the lid. From the outside, all you can see is a hairline crack. I will take some pix tomorrow.

Mike

 

[mikesim]

Here is the interior of the pannier lid with the repair made with the serpentine metal stitches melted into the PC. What is less visible is the Plastex PC weld over the length of the crack.

 

[mikesim]

Here is a pic of the exterior of the pannier lid. As I had hoped, there is just a hairline crack that is still visible. I'm going to install the combination latches this weekend and hopefully the problem is behind me. I was impressed with the rigidity of the lid after the repair.

 

[Chucksklrst]

Here is a pic of the exterior of the pannier lid. As I had hoped, there is just a hairline crack that is still visible. I'm going to install the combination latches this weekend and hopefully the problem is behind me. I was impressed with the rigidity of the lid after the repair.

You still need Alaska and Hawaii? Better get riding.

 

[seagrass]

I completed a repair on my pannier lids a few weeks ago using the same stitches/staples.

I covered the stitches with araldite (similar to JB weld) to provide waterproofing and a bit more rigidity to the repair.

 

[mikesim]

Seagrass, your application of araldite looks a bit more substantial than mine..... now you have me thinking.....



Mike

 

[seagrass]

Mike don’t overthink it, I suspect yours will be as functional as mine.

I was quite impressed by how stable the crack was after I installed the stitches/staples. The araldite was more for waterproofing and a thin strip like you added would be sufficient. I just added more because I could.

Seagrass

 

[mikesim]

Mike don’t overthink it, I suspect yours will be as functional as mine.

I was quite impressed by how stable the crack was after I installed the stitches/staples. The araldite was more for waterproofing and a thin strip like you added would be sufficient. I just added more because I could.

Seagrass

Mine actually was a PC solvent weld. You can't see it in the pic but the material actually melted into and fused with the pannier lid substrate.

Mike