Fairing self-mutilation

[SuperCruise]

Wheeled my bike out of the garage the other day to ride to work, and sitting next to it on the floor were these:

Upon closer inspection and removal of the right fairing cover, this is what I discovered:

It seems the fairing plastic around where the two right quick release fasteners go through, and where the top right one goes into the top right fairing, have just disintegrated, causing the fairing to break loose at the front of its own accord. The bike has not been dropped on that side and there is no visible damage to the fairing itself, suggesting that internal stress pressure was the cause. I've very confident that the side cover was put on properly, making sure I positioned the locating pin properly, the last time I was in there. The only unusual thing I can think of is the 100F+ days we've been having over the last couple of weeks, with my garage temp getting close to that and perhaps hot baking the plastic ???

Anyone else had this happen? More importantly, how do I go about fixing it (other than the cable ties that are currently holding it in place)?

 

[GrahamD]

I'm scared to check now. Last week has basically all been around 40 except for one day...

Nope all looks good...

Sorry mate, don't know what would have caused that.

 

[Swagger]

That's not good. It looks like damage caused by over stressing/tightening. Could have been weakened and then the extreme heat has compounded the issue. I'm shocked to say the least. Modern plastics, especially those designed for a bike should be able to withstand the rigours of being removed and reinstated. They should also cope well with vibration etc. That is bizzare. You might want to get those in front of Yamaha and see if they are aware of any other cases. I'm not ... nothing on here about it.

As for repairs I've had outstanding success with the Plastech repair system. That said, if it's a vibration issue, it'll happen again.

Do you off road the bike much?

 

[serhan]

Bummer! I also saw loctite on plastic having similar effects.

 

[JaimeV]

Really strange... ???

 

[SuperCruise]

That's not good. It looks like damage caused by over stressing/tightening. Could have been weakened and then the extreme heat has compounded the issue. I'm shocked to say the least. Modern plastics, especially those designed for a bike should be able to withstand the rigours of being removed and reinstated. They should also cope well with vibration etc. That is bizzare. You might want to get those in front of Yamaha and see if they are aware of any other cases. I'm not ... nothing on here about it.

As for repairs I've had outstanding success with the Plastech repair system. That said, if it's a vibration issue, it'll happen again.

Do you off road the bike much?

I've only done about 100 kms off road (out of a 40,000 km total), and even then it's been pretty tame mostly-graded dirt roads, so I don't think its that.

I'll look into the Plastech repair system, thanks.

 

[SuperCruise]

Bummer! I also saw loctite on plastic having similar effects.

Come to think of it, I had changed the brake fluid about a week ago, and there was some invariable squirting spillage when pulling the brake lever while changing that which I thought had all been captured in the big rag I had wrapped underneath the offending area. I thought I had wiped everything down, but maybe some of it got in to where the fasterners are located. Should have washed the bike straight away after that job it seems! :-[

 

[Checkswrecks]

Not buying it.


These did not disintegrate on their own or from brake fluid.


The third photo shows the fairing was hit hard enough to scrape the paint. Plus the directionality of the scratches is appropriate to the direction of how the plastic broke around the fasteners, as shown in the first photo.


At least in the visible amount of photo space, the OEM bars do not show equivalent scratches, which is puzzling. Even though they are not the best for fairing protection and even if you never dropped the bike, the scratches would be appropriate to something trying to get by and catching your plastic. Maybe a shopping cart at a grocery store?


Sorry.

 

[XTDelZ]

I can't see any scratches/marks? Only dead bugs splattered in the direction of travel. Whatever caused this left no marks. Maybe they were over stressed when tightening, how thick are your arms? ???

 

[SuperCruise]

Not buying it.


These did not disintegrate on their own or from brake fluid.


The third photo shows the fairing was hit hard enough to scrape the paint. Plus the directionality of the scratches is appropriate to the direction of how the plastic broke around the fasteners, as shown in the first photo.


At least in the visible amount of photo space, the OEM bars do not show equivalent scratches, which is puzzling. Even though they are not the best for fairing protection and even if you never dropped the bike, the scratches would be appropriate to something trying to get by and catching your plastic. Maybe a shopping cart at a grocery store?


Sorry.

No worries. While they do look like scratches in that photo, they are actually bug smears. I just cleaned them off and took another couple of photos of that same area post-cleaning, one with flash and one without. As it is o'dark o'clock here in Oz ATM they are not the greatest. If you're still not convinced, I'll take some shots in daylight tomorrow morning.

 

[SuperCruise]

I can't see any scratches/marks? Only dead bugs splattered in the direction of travel. Whatever caused this left no marks. Maybe they were over stressed when tightening, how thick are your arms? ???

Haha! As they are quick fasterners, I just turned them with light pressure until they clicked in - a couple of nM of force at most.

 

[Checkswrecks]

While what I took as potential scrapes may have been bug marks or reflections of your sockets in the tool box, I'm still not buying it. Seen it too many times.


The cracks and number of fracture faces on the fragments that remain with the fasteners are indicative of impact or overload. I'd have to look closer in our lab to tell which. They are nicely lipped at the edges for directionality.


The breaks in the silver piece are directional. Vibration or chemical (which there is no other evidence of) would be circular around the fasteners.


The lower fairing mount sockets are splayed max away from each other, indicative of the silver piece pressed inward. Once those sockets reach their ends of travel, any loads would increase locally in the plastic near the fasteners.


Even if the outer silver piece were defective, the fractures in the blue piece seen should not be there.


That all said, your recent heat should have been beneficial in softening the plastic, making it less brittle. The types of cracks and fractures you have are indicative of cold and/or use for a period of time. The cracks and raggedness of the lower silver hole clearly suggest a brittle event. Even though the 3 cracks from the allen fastener in the blue could be from over-tightening (note the word "could" as I'm not saying this is the case) the cracks and fracture surfaces should run smoother in hot weather.


Put it together and it still appears to be something hit or heavily pressed on that outer silver panel, probably when it was cool.


Just my 2 cents, believe what you want.
::003::




As for fixing, the pieces are ABS, so best to weld with the right tool and technique. Glues and local patches can work or have mixed results. Ask at your local plastic supplier or kayak place about who does plastic welding.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Obviously a much worse impact, but look at the directionality at the fastener and the inward bruise on the plastic. This is an unused photo from the WebBikeWorld Tenere crash article I did.

 

[SuperCruise]

While what I took as potential scrapes may have been bug marks or reflections of your sockets in the tool box, I'm still not buying it. Seen it too many times.


The cracks and number of fracture faces on the fragments that remain with the fasteners are indicative of impact or overload. I'd have to look closer in our lab to tell which. They are nicely lipped at the edges for directionality.


The breaks in the silver piece are directional. Vibration or chemical (which there is no other evidence of) would be circular around the fasteners.


The lower fairing mount sockets are splayed max away from each other, indicative of the silver piece pressed inward. Once those sockets reach their ends of travel, any loads would increase locally in the plastic near the fasteners.


Even if the outer silver piece were defective, the fractures in the blue piece seen should not be there.


That all said, your recent heat should have been beneficial in softening the plastic, making it less brittle. The types of cracks and fractures you have are indicative of cold and/or use for a period of time. The cracks and raggedness of the lower silver hole clearly suggest a brittle event. Even though the 3 cracks from the allen fastener in the blue could be from over-tightening (note the word "could" as I'm not saying this is the case) the cracks and fracture surfaces should run smoother in hot weather.


Put it together and it still appears to be something hit or heavily pressed on that outer silver panel, probably when it was cool.


Just my 2 cents, believe what you want.
::003::




As for fixing, the pieces are ABS, so best to weld with the right tool and technique. Glues and local patches can work or have mixed results. Ask at your local plastic supplier or kayak place about who does plastic welding.

The bike has been barely out of my sight since I last touched that panel, either in the garage or with me out riding and coming straight back to the garage, so I'm struggling to think when something/someone had the possible opportunity to make such a stealth-like blow to the side of my bike. It's a mystery to me!

In any case, thanks for your assessment of what could have caused the damage and the suggestion you have made for me to fix it up.

 

[AlsoRan]

Have you trailered or trucked your bike lately? Last summer I had to trailer my bike and noticed right away that the tiedowns overlapped the fairings and put a downward stress on them. I think it would have done damage beyond cosmetic had I not noticed. Ended up using the motor mount as the tie down point and all was good.

 

[GrahamD]

The bike has been barely out of my sight since I last touched that panel, either in the garage or with me out riding and coming straight back to the garage, so I'm struggling to think when something/someone had the possible opportunity to make such a stealth-like blow to the side of my bike. It's a mystery to me!

In any case, thanks for your assessment of what could have caused the damage and the suggestion you have made for me to fix it up.

I'd say given the expert forensic analysis and the bug splat, and putting them both together, I'd say you have collided with one of those big ass Australian Christmas beetles.. ;D

 

[snakebitten]

I'd say given the expert forensic analysis and the bug splat, and putting them both together, I'd say you have collided with one of those big ass Australian Christmas beetles.. ;D

Makes perfect sense.

And, therefore, I have nothing to worry about.

 

[SuperCruise]

Have you trailered or trucked your bike lately? Last summer I had to trailer my bike and noticed right away that the tiedowns overlapped the fairings and put a downward stress on them. I think it would have done damage beyond cosmetic had I not noticed. Ended up using the motor mount as the tie down point and all was good.

I haven't yet trucked/trailered the bike, but yes that could cause that type of damage I expect.

 

[SuperCruise]

I'd say given the expert forensic analysis and the bug splat, and putting them both together, I'd say you have collided with one of those big ass Australian Christmas beetles.. ;D

Or it could have been a snake falling from the sky from an overhead Qantas aircraft.

 

[Swagger]

.... Or it could have been a snake falling from the sky from an overhead Qantas aircraft.

Snakes on a plane? You could make a movie called that! You don't wanna be worried about snakes it's that blue ice you need to be avoiding at all cost. Sh*t that could hurt! )