Sprint Fairing Tab Repair

[pushr0d]

The ‘heat fairing’ (“Radiator to fairing infill”) on the inside of the right side fairing of my '03 Sprint ST had come adrift, and I had it and three broken tabs to re-fit to the bike.

Studying the damage, I recalled that I had hit a bird (at speed) a while back. It had come in just to the right of the front wheel, and I had heard an impact. I had not found any damage when I stopped later.

Then one day as I was parking at the office, I heard a ‘pop’, and the heat fairing was laying on the ground.

Since I’ve the house to myself for the week, and TV had nothing to offer last night, I decided to take on the fairing repair.

I had tried earlier to ‘weld’ the tabs on with a soldering iron, and I had tried model airplane cement. Neither method worked for any time at all.

I recalled that a fellow on TriumphRat.net had done an extensive ‘salvage’ job on a side fairing using a product called “Q-Bond” (http://www.qbond.net/pg_1/pg_1.htm).  He even built a new tab with the stuff. I found it at my local automotive paint store. Last night I tried it on my parts.

Well, I'm impressed!

I refitted the middle tab by relieving the contact edges and then applying the Q-Bond. The bottom tab, which appears to be the one that the bird broke, was in four pieces, held together by the clip and the paint. I refitted the tab to the fairing, then repaired the fractured bits.

Then I relieved the ‘back’ side of both tabs along the repair lines, and applied the Q-Bond there.

The Q-Bond cures in 5 – 10 seconds. So alignment of the part(s) is very important!

Lastly, I relieved the sharp juncture where the tabs and the fairing surface meet, and applied a ‘bead’ of Q-Bond there to reinforce the ‘joint’ and hopefully prevent a stress crack there.

After a quick ‘dressing’ with a dremel sanding barrel to clean up the overbuilt repair sites, they were ready for reinstallation.

Until I can pull the front fairing (or find a big sumbitch to hold the bike over on its left side), I can’t repair the top tab, as the location of the repair (and gravity) won’t let me.

Touching wood, I’m thinking the repaired tabs are fixed, and maybe even stronger than original.

We’ll see.

[bomber]

looks like great stuff (perhaps similar to the cyanoacrylate glues available at hobby stores?)

where'd you find it?

[Capirex]

Thanks for posting this.  I thought I was going to have to scrap a rashed and cracked fairing on my Sprint but I may give this a try.  I'm minus some tabs as well and figured that was a deal breaker.
The link to qbond.net doesn't work but I did find it for sale on Amazon.  

[MadOzodi]

I may have to try this to fix a dent in a RHS fairing I poached off eBay...it's only about the size of a nickel.

[pushr0d]

Bomber, I bought it at a local auto paint shop.  It is available online from a variety of vendors, including Amazon (as noted by Capirex).

Note there are two sizes.  The small one has two bottles of glue, and one bottle each of two fillers.  One is for metal, the other for everything else.

MadOzodi, if you go to this thread, there is a lengthy post on fairing repair.  He is the one that used the Q-Bond.

http://www.triumphrat.net/maintenance-tips-and-tricks-for-your-sprint/118503-rexxypups-101-panel-repair-part-1-cracks-broken-tabs-and-decal-removal.html


As an alternative; I posted this on triumphrat.net, and one fellow said he had 'built' a tab with a piece of PVC and ABS glue.

[bomber]

Thanks, push -- I appreciate learning new stuff ;-}

[servicerifle]

MEK works perfectly on Sprint fairings and is even cheaper.