Crack in left fairing at bolt hole

[GunMD]

I've been trying to locate an annoying front end clunking on my when I hit a bump (already checked the steering head torque) and began pulling plastic today in pursuit of an answer. I didn't find the answer yet, but I did find something pretty disturbing. At the bolt hole in the bottom side of the left fairing (the only bolt that faces the road, directly behind the front wheel) I found a couple of cracks developing. I'm going to go grab some epoxy and try to stop the crack before it gets worse.

Anyone else notice any similar cracking?

My bike is an '05 (26K miles).

 

[Ignacio]

I've got a hairline crack on my upper fairing right by the front knee where it joins with the D panel, but I'm sure it's because of my efforts of stuffing an FF200 ballast in there. I have one by the alternator cover, but also can attribute that to a sagebrush and pretending to be a V-Strom in last year's Utah 1088....so both the cracks are my fault.

On hairline cracks I've had pretty good luck with a toothpick and dabbing 5 minute epoxy from the backside and in the crack. Hand hold until it sets. But yours seems to show a pretty good amount of force tugging at the joint over an extended period as it's deformed and hole is elongated. You got some farkle stuffed somewhere (maybe upgrade horns) pulling on things to fix the cause to this symptom?

The epoxy trick might work if you can push back the plastic close to it's original shape without cracking it off.

 

[GunMD]

No farkle stuffing in this case. I'm a bit confused by the elongation myself. I'll try the epoxy and keep ya'll posted.

 

[Ignacio]

In fact, I'm just doing the epoxy trick on my fender this morning. For some reason last year my Fenda Extenda decided to come unglued and take up permenant residence somewhere between Denver an my home (I like to think it found one of those stacked chick silouhette mudflaps from an 18 wheeler to cohabitate with in Wyoming).

It left a big brack in my fender and I epoxied it up last night before putting on a new Fenda Extenda. Once I clean everything up after the glue hardens I think it will be hardly noticable. Just a few pin-pricks of epoxy ooze.

 

[MCRIDER007]

It may have been screwed up from day 1. I had a messed up connector on the center faring that I found when I took the panels off and got it replaced under warranty. It was so bad it should have been rejected on the assembly line.

I think epoxy or JB Weld would work. If it is out of sight, I wouldn't even try to bend the pieces back, just put epoxy everywhere, let it dry, and reinstall.

 

[skyway]

If I had to guess as to why you have a crack in this location, this photo would be it. Look at where the metal fastener has overlapped onto the outer fairing at some point in time. When you tighten up the screw it is no longer sitting flat and will be putting stress on the plastic. You can clearly see where it has rubbed the paint away to expose the primer. It looks as though someone has just kept cranking on the screw until it felt tight.

 

[odot]

Hm...fiberglass repair kit, repaint, redrill....good to go.

 

[GunMD]

used a fiberglass repair kit (Thanks to Desert Cycle Works for letting me use some shop space and get this taken care of). Pictures later on today of the repair.

 

[FNG]

You know, those don't look like holes anymore-they're elongated, which usually points to loose fastners, allowing movement. 17,000 miles on mine, and I've yet to see a hint of anything resembling that, nor have I heard or read of similar complaints. A word of advice-I finger tighten, using a 3/8 drive hex key socket and a long extension, then add 1/4 turn with the ratchet once max finger torque has been applied. No cracks or damage, no lost fasteners, no dimpling or marring of the surface. Just a thought.

 

[GunMD]

As I mentioned a couple of hours ago I managed to come across a pretty cool plastic repair kit...the box specifically mentioned m/c fairing repair. This thing was cool. I'll find out the name of the product and post it here next week. Piece of cake. I aplogize for the picture quality...apparantly I wasn't as good with the camera the second time today. It looks like this should keep the cracks from getting any worse.