Little People, Big Trucks Vs. Little Bikes

So I parked my bike behind work to keep it safe from the dumb people in the parking lot. Some little guy with a big new Toyota Tundra unknowingly backed into my bike. Damage is minimal but I'm leaving for Indy on Monday on my bike and right now both turn signals in the front are pushed in. I don't have the right tools to take it apart right now so I don't know how they mount. From what I can see there are some little clip brackets in there that appear to be broken. Is this a part of the fairing or something that I can order separately?

Visual aides...

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/uploads/1220489099/gallery_13448_4125_25336.jpg
bike 2.jpg

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/uploads/1220489099/gallery_13448_4125_19720.jpg
bike.jpg


I need to know if I need to make this guy buy a whole new fairing or if there is a clip that I can get...

Thanks in advance for your expert knowledge and advice.

You should make the lil' fella buy you a '07 Anniversary Edition to teach him a lesson. As long as you are not paying for the repair I would just take it to the dealership to see if they can fix it on the spot.

Regards,
Rollin

[image: View Post]RollinAgain, on Sep 5 2008, 03:08 PM, said:

You should make the lil' fella buy you a '07 Anniversary Edition to teach him a lesson. As long as you are not paying for the repair I would just take it to the dealership to see if they can fix it on the spot.

Regards,
Rollin

No time for the dealership...working all weekend and then leaving after work on Monday.

Having your signals pushed in like that very well could total your bike on an insurance claim! LOL

It depends on whether the holes on the upper cowl that the turn signal lamps screw into are stripped or not.

I'd say that anywhere there is damage to your plastics caused by the inattentive gentleman in the truck; he should be responsible for those parts.

If I were leaving on a trip with no time for a proper repair I'd make sure the signal lamps worked and then I'd zip-tie or otherwise securely fasten them back up into their respective positions and worry about the permanent fix after your trip.

Honda Direct Line has a great parts fiche and great prices as well: http://www.hdlparts....tion_detail.asp

Just my 0.02

Cheers,
-T

Sorry to hear about the damage. If the light lenses AND fairings are damaged and you can't replace any parts in time for your trip, I'd say tape them together from the inside for now. Or bite the bullet and glue them together since you'll have to replace them anyway.

If you're pricing parts, you should try Dave Lusk at Mosites Motorsports. His contact info in the Bargain Finders section here on VFRD. Link: http://www.vfrdiscus...showtopic=33107

Did the pick-up truck driver own up to the damage? If so, did you exchange insurance info, or does he just want to pay for the BTW, damage out-of-pocket?

[image: View Post]TonySanchez, on Sep 5 2008, 12:01 PM, said:

I need to know if I need to make this guy buy a whole new fairing or if there is a clip that I can get...

Thanks in advance for your expert knowledge and advice.

It depends. If the light housing broke, then you'll just need two new turn signals (good time to upgrade to clear lenses).

But, more than likely the plastic mounting posts inside the fairing snapped off. They can easily be plastic-welded back together. The alternative would be to buy a new front cowl.

It would take less than 10 minutes to check. Just pull the side fairings off and take a look at the turn signals.

[image: View Post]Darth Bling, on Sep 5 2008, 01:43 PM, said:

[image: View Post]TonySanchez, on Sep 5 2008, 12:01 PM, said:

I need to know if I need to make this guy buy a whole new fairing or if there is a clip that I can get...

Thanks in advance for your expert knowledge and advice.

It depends. If the light housing broke, then you'll just need two new turn signals (good time to upgrade to clear lenses).

But, more than likely the plastic mounting posts inside the fairing snapped off. They can easily be plastic-welded back together. The alternative would be to buy a new front cowl.

It would take less than 10 minutes to check. Just pull the side fairings off and take a look at the turn signals.

+1 - One of mine got pushed in. On mine it was the tab on the signal that broke. I just epoxied the tab and very carefully screwed it back on. Like Darth said you should be able to tell what you need fairly easily, and probably at least temp fix it in time for your ride.

Action

So I found some tools and took the fairing off to check out the damage. The two mounts for the screws that hold the turn signals in are broken...$510 to replace that not to mention the time it will take me to take it all off and put everything back on. The fender is $135. Maybe I should tack on some labor charges too. The probelm is he's a nice guy who has let me take his bike for a ride on more than one sunny day when mine was at home.

[image: View Post]TonySanchez, on Sep 5 2008, 12:52 PM, said:

So I found some tools and took the fairing off to check out the damage. The two mounts for the screws that hold the turn signals in are broken...$510 to replace that not to mention the time it will take me to take it all off and put everything back on. The fender is $135. Maybe I should tack on some labor charges too. The probelm is he's a nice guy who has let me take his bike for a ride on more than one sunny day when mine was at home.

It'll probably be easier and faster to fix the tabs yourself with epoxy or plastic-weld than it would be to wait for the new cowl to come in and then remove the old cowl and install the new one.

[image: View Post]Darth Bling, on Sep 5 2008, 03:43 PM, said:

[image: View Post]TonySanchez, on Sep 5 2008, 12:01 PM, said:

I need to know if I need to make this guy buy a whole new fairing or if there is a clip that I can get...

Thanks in advance for your expert knowledge and advice.

It depends. If the light housing broke, then you'll just need two new turn signals (good time to upgrade to clear lenses).

But, more than likely the plastic mounting posts inside the fairing snapped off. They can easily be plastic-welded back together. The alternative would be to buy a new front cowl.

It would take less than 10 minutes to check. Just pull the side fairings off and take a look at the turn signals.

[image: View Post]Darth Bling, on Sep 5 2008, 04:01 PM, said:

[image: View Post]TonySanchez, on Sep 5 2008, 12:52 PM, said:

So I found some tools and took the fairing off to check out the damage. The two mounts for the screws that hold the turn signals in are broken...$510 to replace that not to mention the time it will take me to take it all off and put everything back on. The fender is $135. Maybe I should tack on some labor charges too. The probelm is he's a nice guy who has let me take his bike for a ride on more than one sunny day when mine was at home.

It'll probably be easier and faster to fix the tabs yourself with epoxy or plastic-weld than it would be to wait for the new cowl to come in and then remove the old cowl and install the new one.

Yup and yup.

[image: View Post]Darth Bling, on Sep 5 2008, 01:01 PM, said:

It'll probably be easier and faster to fix the tabs yourself with epoxy or plastic-weld than it would be to wait for the new cowl to come in and then remove the old cowl and install the new one.
Plastic-weld holds up better and can be considered a permanent fix. I've seen epoxy fail too often.

It looks to me like you could save a nice guy $500, thus earning yourself some good will next time you're in his shoes... :fing02:

No damage to the fender? Musta been a 4x4...

[image: View Post]Darth Bling, on Sep 5 2008, 04:01 PM, said:

[image: View Post]TonySanchez, on Sep 5 2008, 12:52 PM, said:

So I found some tools and took the fairing off to check out the damage. The two mounts for the screws that hold the turn signals in are broken...$510 to replace that not to mention the time it will take me to take it all off and put everything back on. The fender is $135. Maybe I should tack on some labor charges too. The probelm is he's a nice guy who has let me take his bike for a ride on more than one sunny day when mine was at home.

It'll probably be easier and faster to fix the tabs yourself with epoxy or plastic-weld than it would be to wait for the new cowl to come in and then remove the old cowl and install the new one.


Easier and faster? Yes, definitely.

Better? No, I haven't had a single piece of plastic I've epoxy'd back on actually stay for very long. When I got in my accident and the signal got pushed in, breaking that tab totalled the upper cowl.

What are you guys using for plastic weld, anyway?

Yes, I know, I tell someone else to buy a new piece, and in the next sentence ask how I can fix mine without buying a new piece! :biggrin:

Plastic weld is different from Epoxy...instead of gluing the piece, you are actually melting two pieces into one....similar to how JBweld and welding are different.

[image: View Post]Tightwad, on Sep 8 2008, 12:53 AM, said:

Plastic weld is different from Epoxy...instead of gluing the piece, you are actually melting two pieces into one....similar to how JBweld and welding are different.

Tell me more! Where do I get this stuff?

When I broke the mount for my turn signal, there wasn't enough surface space to rebond it at now matter what you use, because it broke right at a seam.

It wont total the bike.


The turnsignal are just screwed into the plastic with self tapping screws. Tabs the screws go into are on the frt. fairing. They break off and your turn signal are like yours.

You need a frt. fairing, turn signals.

[image: View Post]Ryanme17, on Sep 7 2008, 08:40 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Darth Bling, on Sep 5 2008, 04:01 PM, said:

It'll probably be easier and faster to fix the tabs yourself with epoxy or plastic-weld than it would be to wait for the new cowl to come in and then remove the old cowl and install the new one.
Easier and faster? Yes, definitely.

Better? No, I haven't had a single piece of plastic I've epoxy'd back on actually stay for very long. When I got in my accident and the signal got pushed in, breaking that tab totalled the upper cowl.


There's also a bunch of different types of epoxy too. I rebuild a bunch of broken tabs on my headlight housing using epoxy and those fake plastic credit cards you get in the mail. My headlight have been rock solid for the last 2 1/2 years. :rolleyes:

[image: View Post]Ryanme17, on Sep 11 2008, 03:04 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Tightwad, on Sep 8 2008, 12:53 AM, said:

Plastic weld is different from Epoxy...instead of gluing the piece, you are actually melting two pieces into one....similar to how JBweld and welding are different.

Tell me more! Where do I get this stuff?

When I broke the mount for my turn signal, there wasn't enough surface space to rebond it at now matter what you use, because it broke right at a seam.

I know you can find a plastic welding kit at Harbor Freight.

I have busted 2 of them on my 04. The problem with the 6th gen is the tab breaks from the fairing and the turn signal and falls off the bike. It happened on both of mine. There were no tabs to glue back on. They are still connected with the screw but laying out on the road somewhere.

[image: View Post]soichiro, on Sep 11 2008, 05:24 PM, said:

I have busted 2 of them on my 04. The problem with the 6th gen is the tab breaks from the fairing and the turn signal and falls off the bike. It happened on both of mine. There were no tabs to glue back on. They are still connected with the screw but laying out on the road somewhere.

The fairing is made of ABS plastic. They sell ABS plastic glue at the hardware store in the plumbing section. Use an old piece of sportbike ABS plastic and cut your own mounting tabs and glue them on. I have had good luck doing this on a couple bikes including my current ride. You can strengthen certain things using plain dental floss and superglue to create a cast of sorts.

Make the guy pay for a new front fairing and lenses...I think the fairings are about 280.00 at honda direct line...the signals I don't know how much they are. The fairing is a breeze to replace....use the 2002 downloadable manual off this site for step by step instructions. I did that and it took about 2 hours from start to finish (if that long). To hell with rigging with epoxy, it wasn't your fault so why should you have to do some 2nd rate repair on what was a perfectly good fairing/signals.

[image: View Post]freako, on Sep 20 2008, 12:37 AM, said:

Make the guy pay for a new front fairing and lenses...I think the fairings are about 280.00 at honda direct line...the signals I don't know how much they are. The fairing is a breeze to replace....use the 2002 downloadable manual off this site for step by step instructions. I did that and it took about 2 hours from start to finish (if that long). To hell with rigging with epoxy, it wasn't your fault so why should you have to do some 2nd rate repair on what was a perfectly good fairing/signals.



www.hdlparts.com

288.00 for the front cowl and the signals are 25.00 a piece......free shipping and no tax....if you call....youll pay shipping if you do it online. Ask for the VFRD discount

[image: View Post]freako, on Sep 20 2008, 12:42 AM, said:

[image: View Post]freako, on Sep 20 2008, 12:37 AM, said:

Make the guy pay for a new front fairing and lenses...I think the fairings are about 280.00 at honda direct line...the signals I don't know how much they are. The fairing is a breeze to replace....use the 2002 downloadable manual off this site for step by step instructions. I did that and it took about 2 hours from start to finish (if that long). To hell with rigging with epoxy, it wasn't your fault so why should you have to do some 2nd rate repair on what was a perfectly good fairing/signals.



www.hdlparts.com

288.00 for the front cowl and the signals are 25.00 a piece......free shipping and no tax....if you call....youll pay shipping if you do it online. Ask for the VFRD discount


I stand corrected, I didnt realize your bike was a 2004 model.....approx. 360 for the upper cowl and still 25 a piece for turn signals at the place above.

You look to have a nice bike. Sorry to hear about the damage.

You will NEVER be happy with a glued on repair. It will always be a half assed solution to what should be a proper repair. If your friend is such a nice guy he should know that he really is responsible for whatever damage he did and the repairs. The quote from the local Honda dealer will involve retail prices for the front cowl and $85 an hour for labor. That estimate might run between $500 and $900 or more!

Pick up the cowl online for half of retail and install it yourself - that seems MORE than fair since he was careless and it could have been a lot worse. As him to just pay for discount parts and get it done right yourself.

You will NEVER be satisfied with plastic weld or epoxy that might fail in the future.

Have that guy buy you a new fairing+ whatever else has a scratch on it. He hit a parked bike, I would not be looking to spare him the expense. Have a dealer do the work and make it as good as new. As for your trip maybe you can jury rig the signals so they can be seen. Sorry to here about the bike. Good Luck.