Cracked plastic

[DrRJD]

I was very disappointed to find a crack in the plastic at the site of the captive nut where the left fairing attaches. New bike, 430km, never dropped. I’ve had the fairing off to fit crash bars. Has anybody else experienced this? Suggestion on the the T7 Facebook page was that I'd overnighted the bolt which I accept is a possibility.  It seems a very vulnerable design though: there is not much plastic to take the strain and the plastic itself is quite brittle compared to the softer, more forgiving plastic on my WR250R.

 

Unfortunately I think that the OEM replacement is expensive!

[AZJW]

Wow, that sucks, sorry to see that. As an alternative to replacing the panel, you obviously could try some Super glue, but I'd be tempted to try a soldering iron on the backside to fuse the crack closed.  I've had success with plastic "welding" in the past, but I find a throwaway container about the same thickness to practice my technique on first. Good luck.

[SKIPNOMAD]

Camel Adv has a repair video for the plastic.  You might want to check it out. I'd fix it, you can't make it any worse.  And I agree,  I wish the plastic was the same type used on the WR.  When replacing those screws watch your torch, you may have over tightened them and that's why it stressed and cracked.  Cheers mate!

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by SKIPNOMAD
Add info

[Louis]

Over tightening? I once bought a second hand bike every nut, bolt and screw was a struggle to undo! Rounded off cap heads,stripped threads, cracked plastics everywhere. Torque wrench is simply a must for some people! But they don't see it that way, merrily damaging everything that they "repair " 

[DrRJD]

9 hours ago, SKIPNOMAD said:

Camel Adv has a repair video for the plastic.  You might want to check it out. I'd fix it, you can't make it any worse.  And I agree,  I wish the plastic was the same type used on the WR.  When replacing those screws watch your torch, you may have over tightened them and that's why it stressed and cracked.  Cheers mate!

 

Thanks for the advice - I’ll take a look.

[rumrum]

The plastics on these bikes are ABS which as you have found out is not very robust compared to Poly Polypropylene found on most off road bikes. On the plus side ABS is easy to weld and paint. Take it down to your local panel beater or plastic welding joint, there are plenty in Perth for a strong repair and don't use glue please.

[qInvention]

5 hours ago, Louis said:

Over tightening? I once bought a second hand bike every nut, bolt and screw was a struggle to undo! Rounded off cap heads,stripped threads, cracked plastics everywhere. Torque wrench is simply a must for some people! But they don't see it that way, merrily damaging everything that they "repair " 

Isn't that just the big classic ?

[OU812]

ouch, sad to see, when you do get a suitable fix please share! 

[Yamadube]

I broke every single attachment point for the nut on the rear fender. I took it off to replace the OEM turn signals and must have over tightened them.

I can't believe how fragile the plastics are for an off road bike. Makes me think that when the inevitable lay down happens the plastics will just explode.

So far this is my only gripe about the bike though. Otherwise it's been awesome.

[NvNick]

Need Acerbis or PolySport to make the availale.

[MikeCMP]

Not the case in this instance, but you have to watch the fasteners on the plastic, they have a larger hole, with a "centering" section in the fasteners. If you don't center the fasteners properly you will pinch the plastic panel and crack it. 

 

I wish I had bought a spare set of side plastics and kept my nice ones prior to my jack breaking and damaging my right side panel. Live and learn!

 

Mike

[cstatman]

i'm a fan of the Bondic system --  ya can get it on AMAzon, etc
 

Not a Glue

---

Bondic® works where glue fails. Won't dry out, only hardens when you want it to. A 4-step process (clean, fill, cure and shape) to fix almost anything.

 

[A A Ron]

I repaired the ABS plastic cowling (radiator shroud in Kawi parlance) on my KLR650 with JB Plasticweld with great results.   In addition to cracking the plastic, I had broken off the nub on the inside of the cowling that sits in a rubber grommet to secure it in place.  I didn't expect the Plasticweld to work, but it was still holding strong when I sold the bike years later.  One tip:  for a clean "weld" place tape on the outside of the cowling, and apply the Plastic to the inside of the cowling.  That way there isn't much if any plastic well visible on the exterior.  But be careful not to glue the tape to the plastics.

[HoboHighlander]

On 9/4/2020 at 9:04 AM, DrRJD said:

I was very disappointed to find a crack in the plastic at the site of the captive nut where the left fairing attaches. New bike, 430km, never dropped. I’ve had the fairing off to fit crash bars. Has anybody else experienced this? Suggestion on the the T7 Facebook page was that I'd overnighted the bolt which I accept is a possibility.  It seems a very vulnerable design though: there is not much plastic to take the strain and the plastic itself is quite brittle compared to the softer, more forgiving plastic on my WR250R.

 

Unfortunately I think that the OEM replacement is expensive!

Took me awhile to figure out what it means to "overnight" a bolt...

[Stevoh]

I work in a body shop and repair all sorts of plastics on a regular basis, short of turning your cracked plastic into a major that might mean refinishing the whole part I would use Q Bond, it's extremely strong and takes just seconds to cure, you could align the parts and glue from behind, I'm sure there would be some YouTube vid of how to.

It would take some explanation on how to use effectively, it's not that difficult, but with that crack you only kinda get one shot at it if you use Q Bond, it's cracked in a fairly high stress area, you might want to practice joining some things together first.

 

And......don't overtighten!!

 

Found this vid

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Stevoh

[DrRJD]

Thanks: it's good to know the best glue to use. 

 

I cobbled it together with super-glue... and bought a replacement plastic that I haven't fitted yet!

[TimmyTheHog]

Q Bond works quite well for all sort of plastic.

 

I also use them for any sort of model airplanes when I "test their emergency landing abilities" and need to repair after

 

 

[dobbi]

On 9/4/2020 at 2:21 PM, AZJW said:

Wow, that sucks, sorry to see that. As an alternative to replacing the panel, you obviously could try some Super glue, but I'd be tempted to try a soldering iron on the backside to fuse the crack closed.  I've had success with plastic "welding" in the past, but I find a throwaway container about the same thickness to practice my technique on first. Good luck.

I'm with you there, I've just started to learn how to do platic welding and forget all the products all you need is a soldering iron, some copper wire and some zip ties. finishing it off is going to take some effort and the right products but the whole process is absolutely doable and very satisfying.

 

Delboys garage does a really good walk through. 

 

[DrRJD]

So in the end I decided to replace the plastic tank cover. Ordered the part, picked it up and went to fit it today. Unbelievably I found that one of the front tabs had broken off. It wasn't in the bag - clearly it had broken off before being packaged. 

 

I am incredulous that Yamaha would use such brittle plastic on an off-road bike.

 

 

[DT675]

Oh crap! That sucks.. After seeing some of your posts on this I’ve been extra sure to be super careful on tightening my bolts. 

[bikeever]

Maybe some day there will be a set of aftermarket plastics from Acerbis or Polisport. That would be great...

[JimmyTheHuman]

The problem is, it doesnt need a silly plastic tank cover...they should just shape the tank properly to start with. I do love this bike but i hate the plastic and the silly tabs and plastic clips all over it...

Edited December 28, 2020 by JimmyTheHuman

[cstatman]

one word kid -   PLASTICS!!! 
 

 

 

[bwilly]

On 12/27/2020 at 7:39 PM, DrRJD said:

So in the end I decided to replace the plastic tank cover. Ordered the part, picked it up and went to fit it today. Unbelievably I found that one of the front tabs had broken off. It wasn't in the bag - clearly it had broken off before being packaged. 

 

I am incredulous that Yamaha would use such brittle plastic on an off-road bike.

 

 

How much did you end up spending on replacements?

[NomadLad]

10 hours ago, bwilly said:

How much did you end up spending on replacements?

I'm curious about this too as I debate on whether to add 10kg or steel to the upper half of my Ténéré or not