I have had a broken fairing since I got my bike and finally resorted to a fiberglass patching kit to fix and it worked well. It was my first time working with such a kit and I was pleased with the results. As I was patching it though the thought occurred to me that I could possibly use the fiberglass mesh to reform a missing section of my right upper fairing and then use body filler to even it out with the rest of the plastic, paint, and pray. This is the hole I intended to patch:


and this is what I ended up with last night before turning in, still needs alot of cleaning up.
I did take it for a test ride last night to see if it was sturdy and it seemed to hold up well against the wind.
I'm wondering if anyone here has done something similar or if its generally a bad idea.

 

well that repair will work if the resin you use was an SMC resin. If it doesnt say smc resin on the container its not. Regular resin will give the appearence of adhesion but in time it will release from plastic. There are many ways to repair plastics, and if you go to your local autobody supply store they should be able to give you all the nessecary product knowledge and compatibility. as far as paint goes their will be special cleaners and adhesion promotors you need to use to make the paint stick.

long story short if you want a "factory" quality repair it will be cheaper to buy a replacement unless you work at a shop. if your looking for a quick scab job your "bondo" brand fiberglass repair kit and a spraybomb will work fine, but dont expect to win any shows....

 

I've done it with my right front fairing before an they hold up really well if you do it the right way. It looks like you layered some resin over fibercloth? If so, that's the same way I did it and it held up fine. Ans like the above post confirmed, I have never had the resin 100% smooth and flush with the plastic because I really didn't care too much as long as it held up, which it did. Painting shouldn't be an issue if you know how to do that as well. Krylon fusion worked well for me so I would check that out.

 

Hello and thank you for replies.

I did look over the container and unfortunately did not find the SMC tag on it. The resin I have is the 3M Fiberglass resin that came with their body repair kit. I will keep an eye on it.

I finished sanding today and put on a coat of primer to see how it looks.

IMG_0165.jpg?t=1298075017

Will have to sand the rest of the fairing tomorrow.

 

it will hold up well, but damn that seems like a lot of work trying to rebuild the old form. Id rather find a easier to fix busted fairing, or even a cheap fairing with a different part ruined, saw the part off that you needed and just weld it onto your current fairing.