Recently took my battery out for a charge, but when temporarily refitting the fairing I neglected to do up the two belly dzus fasteners. 'Remember to put them in before you go riding!", I told myself. As per the title, this did not happen. Could have been worse, but my mint original fairings are now a little worse for wear Right fairing swung up, bending dzus tabs, causing cracks, breaks and and stretching of the plastic. Is my best option a heat gun to gently massage the tab back, then epoxy or glue?
Not good, a mate did similar with a 749 followed him out of petrol station and he opened it up and I thought he was trying to fly. He had them repaired wasn’t too much.
That's what i'm always worried about especially when you've carbon fibre panels ££££££,before i go for a ride i do check everything is bolted down.hope you get it sorted quickly fella.
i had the same on my 748 on the trip to the isle of mann 2009. left a petrol station on the m1 and there was lorries every where so i decided to carve em up a lil... doing about 120 ish then bosh!!!!!! the fairings came up and smashed me in the elbows!!! i was between 2 lorries at the time. more than a lil scary but nothing a lil gaffa tape didnt sort for the rest of the trip. my own fault as i was aware a fastener was missing but in my haste to set off i forgot it...
Let's just say I'm trying to remain philosophical. Am hopeful that I can do a good repair job. Actually, maybe a local plastic welder is a better idea...
I'd say plastic welder is a good option, as IMO epoxy and normal plastics aren't a great combination.
Ok, so found a local 'plastic surgeon' who make great claims. Will report back with before and after pics. http://www.theplasticsurgeon.ca/
Thanks, Pete. Definitely is gutting, but I ride the bike a lot. Sooner or later, something like this was going to happen. Trying not to beat myself up for making an avoidable and costly error. Have to be tolerant of things breaking on an old ducati. In saying that, when I get the fairings repaired properly, I think I'll shell out for Chinese ebay items and wrap the originals in cotton wool!
Good plastic welder ought to be able to sort it!! I had a piece snap off the top fairing, Id kept it but never thought it could be fixed but my local paint shop said he could plastic weld it!! And its a great job - you couldn't tell it had been snapped off!!!
Well, they've been at the plastic welders for the past 10 days, buddy says they'll be done shortly. Once collected, I'll post an update for sure. In the meantime, I've been fanging about on a naked 916. Mirrors bolted straight into the supports and air runners bolted directly to the headlight mount. Battery exposed surely a cop magnet. Anyway, 50 mile lake loop this morning in warm sun before breakfast. Might be lacking any aerodynamics and feel lethargic due to the increased drag, but we're still riding!
I recommend looking on Ali express or Alibaba. I buy quite a lot of stuff via those 2 platforms direct from China. Usually the prices are less due to less fees for the seller. I had one issue so far which was sorted quicker and easier than via eBay. Here is a example #Aliexpress ￡279.85 12%OFF | Injection mold Fairing kit for 748 916 996 998 03 04 05 748 916 996 998 2003 2004 2005 Red white Fairings set+gifts DE09 https://a.aliexpress.com/_dTynGGV
So far I never paid anything so long as it's sent with China post and not with DHL or another courier. Those will take it through customs and you have to pay vat and duty. That is the same when you buy from China via eBay by the way. I bought all sorts of stuff. Fake Lego, computers, etc. I had a bronze statue made in China recently and that came seafreight so import duty was payable but they put whatever value you want on the bill so it wasn't a lot. In my experience, don't just click buy but write to them. Their English is usually excellent and you might get a better deal, discuss freight options etc. I can't comment on the quality of fairings as I haven't bought any yet but I'm at the point where I want to preserve my original plastic and use a set from there. One of the Lego sets from there at 25% of the price here had a faulty motor so I asked if they could give me a new one. They couldn't but they offered free return for a full refund or a 80% refund and I keep it. Went with option 2 and had money back within 48 hours or so. Obviously anything over 100 pound I use a credit card so I have the card issuers liability insurance on top of anything the Chinese trading platforms offer.
