What glue works on side (battery) covers?

[41077]

I managed to break the plastic that holds the center metal tab on my side cover. (K75)
Anyone had any luck repairing these? New one in primer is $110, used almost impossible to find.
Knowing what kind of plastic may help with finding the appropriate adhesive.

[Teslaesque]

When I bought my K75 over a year ago, it had the metal tab epoxied on...and it still does, without issue. I don't know the brand used, but its definitely an epoxy. Good luck.

[thompsonr]

J B Weld will hold about anything. My side cover plastic was repaired with JB an unknown period of time before I had bought the bike and it still holding up. Try it bet you keep some on hand after you use it once. RT :thumb

[Kayseventyfive]

The problem with JB is that when it fails, it fails suddenly. The panel could fall off. I was fortunate that mine failed when installing or removing the panel. I stuck it back together with a big gob of Shoe Goo. Once set up, it has some resiliency, so should not fail without warning. So far, so good.

I should warn not to increase the tension on the metal clip. The more tension, the more force you must use to remove and install the covers, and the more force is on the repair. I have replaced the factory plastic edge cover on the underside of the tank with some neoprene tubing so it doesn't seem to need as much tension as previously.

Some of the repair kits for plastic radiators might be worth looking in to. Syon makes some pretty good stuff.

I would weld it if I knew what material it is. My guess was ABS, but ABS cement does not soften it.

[Paul_F]

I managed to break the plastic that holds the center metal tab on my side cover. (K75) Anyone had any luck repairing these? New one in primer is $110, used almost impossible to find.

Did the same thing in May and I am still looking for a side cover. OK, I did finally find one on E-Bay, but it doesn't fit as well on my bike (K100RT) as the original. On the plus side, I've put 13,000 km on the bike since I broke the tab and the original cover is still hanging on the side with just the stick at the end and the upper tab.

[wmubrown]

I managed to break the plastic that holds the center metal tab on my side cover. (K75)
Anyone had any luck repairing these? New one in primer is $110, used almost impossible to find.
Knowing what kind of plastic may help with finding the appropriate adhesive.

I've never had much luck with JB Weld and have given up on it. I've recently tried Gorilla Glue and have been extremely pleased with its strength - its worth a shot! I just glued the tabs of the K1100LT side panels back on after accidentally breaking them... its worked beautifully!

OH... as this glue DOES expand as its curing, you might want to keep an eye on it and wipe access away before it hardens. After hardened, you can sand or trim it with a knife.

[johnpeter]

Best bonding agent?
LocTite 454. Read about it.. http://www.akd-tools.gr/xmsAssets/File/TDS/LOCTITE/loctite_454.PDF

Most bearing houses stock it.
If you call and they say the comp says it's in stock?
Have them pull stock to be sure because it is so good that the warehousemen steal it. Yep!

[BuddingGeezer]

I have had to make new dog knots for abs panels. A BMW K100 was one of these. I used the plastic connectors that have a dog knot on the end used to hold bumper covers.

Epoxy is what I used. JB Weld is an epoxy with steel power in it. It will work or epoxy putty with out the steel filler is what I have used the most.

Epoxy bonds dissimilar materials with a mechanical bond. The key to a good bond is to rough the surfaces with coarse sandpaper 80 grit. I use an engraving tool to rough metal. I have never had a bond fail if I roughed the material. If the materials are slick finished the bond will fail.

Ralph Sims

[BuddingGeezer]

Did the same thing in May and I am still looking for a side cover. OK, I did finally find one on E-Bay, but it doesn't fit as well on my bike (K100RT) as the original. On the plus side, I've put 13,000 km on the bike since I broke the tab and the original cover is still hanging on the side with just the stick at the end and the upper tab.

I had the same problem on a K100LT. The hook was broken off the side panel. I drilled a 1/8" hole in the shoulder that was left of the broken hook on the side panel. I threaded a black zip tie through the hole and around the bike frame. Leave the zip tie with enough slack that the side panel will lower when you remove it. Total cost $0.05 for the plastic zip tie. It can't fall off this way.

Rode 23k with it this way and sold the bike.

Ralph Sims

[nh7robmw]

Ralph's method seems sound and easy but if you go the epoxy route try FastSteel (epoxy-steel putty that sets up in 3-5 minutes); it's available at Home Depot for a couple of bucks a tube.

Excellent stuff for all kinds of uses.:brad

[Gilly]

On my old K75, I took the covers to a body shop on a few different occasions and they had some good stuff, was probably the loctite stuff previously mentioned, and worked good.
Gilly

[41077]

Thanks for all the great responses, I knew someone would have experience with this issue.
Stopping by home depot on my way home today, hopefully I have time to fix it tonight.

[mrich12000]

Fixed my left cover and attached small aircraft wire on it so it can't be stolen(rippped of in Quebec)Purchased the cable at home depot.:wave

[ejressler]

As a preventative measure, would anyone suggest using something to bond the clip to the panel, so it would not have a chance to break? This seems like a weak link in the side panels to me. Just wondering if squirting some shoe goo or something between the clip and panel to fill the void would be beneficial and possibly prevent the problems that happen? Would appreciate any feed back, as I have just converted to standard from low seat, and the side panel attachments seem somewhat fragile.

[ejressler]

Someone had mentioned this to me before. He said he gluded a piece of plastic to inside panel and attached. How did you do yours?

[PGlaves]

I tried several adhesives. None was trustworthy.

I drilled a hole in the metal and in the sidecover and installed a small bolt with a cap cover. Since my sidecover was black and the bolt cover was black it was hardly noticed.