Structural weaknesses in fairing

Hi all,

I have a 1994 RC36-2 (4th gen), it's an incredibly solid bike and I love it, I have dreams about the engine sound, but.....the fairing is incredibly weak to the extent that i'm scared of taking it out. More or less all of the replacement fairing i've seen online is missing the same tabs/lugs. This is material because that's the only way i can get a decent profile match to cast a new repair in plastex. Lots of bikes i've seen all have an iffy join between the front cowl and the middle panels, it's like the middle sections just drop even if the horizontal openings on the front cowl are in tact (on many they're not).


The rear cowl section joining the side panels to the tail light and rear cowl seems particularly accident prone - i plastexed one of the lugs where i could manage to get a good fix on two of the three points for one of the side panels, but then a UK-level pothole snapped the repair. Anyway so questions:

-Does the 3rd gen or 5th gen fairing suffer with these issues too? I'd probably enjoy the ride more without the fairing constantly rattling.
-Is there an easier way to reproduce a broken tab? I'm thinking in particular about the ones that are a bit more complex and harder to sand down from all sides.
-Are people pro-actively re-inforcing these? It seems like a bit of a design flaw if 1 of 3 tabs fails then the undue pressure kills the other 2.
-Is there any other fairing which is interchangeable?
-Why no aftermarket kits!

 

I can't speak to 5th, but 3rd gens are even more convoluted and fragile. I own a 3rd and 4th gen.

I proactively reinforce everything I can. I think just about every single piece of bodywork on my 92 has been modified/reinforced/repaired by me. Especially the tail.

My 95 is pretty minty and low miles, so not much work done to that one. But I automatically reinforce the rear cowl piece above the taillight around the mount, they like to crack right up the middle. The tabs on the upper and lower cowls are heart attack inducing even just looking at them.

I use ABS material in different thicknesses and a Plastic Weld Epoxy. It works really good for me, but I have been doing it for quite a while and developed my own techniques and tricks.

Lots of other people are super crafty with Plastex and ABS cement/slurry.

 

Thanks Captain, I'm glad it's not just me! What's your go-to method for reinforcing the rear cowl? I've tried non-ABS methods in the past but they still leave it flapping around on anything but the smoothest road. The flat one that connects to the side panel i can do in plastex, but the one with three sides that comes out of the side panel to connect to the top centre cowl is a bugger to cast properly.

I'm glad you said about the 3rd gen, i was on the fence about getting one as a replacement recently because the examples that come up on auction sites look like they're in better condition than the 4th gens. Survivorship bias i expect.

 

I create pieces from ABS material in varying thicknesses. I create bends, folds and contours if needed with a heat gun.

I have been using a 2 part Devcon Plastic Weld Epoxy for years with great success. The chemical reaction gets "hot" enough to slightly melt pieces together. It's also just a great epoxy for aluminum/steel to plastic for example like a mounting tab. Made taillight mounts on my Hawk GT that are notorious for breaking. It is also sandable and paintable if needed, like when repairing cracks that are reinforced from behind with a panel. Sometimes don't even need to finish with any body filler.

Except for the very thin stuff, the sheets of ABS have a textured side the epoxy loves. I take a fine grind tip on a Dremel and rough up the mating area. Very strong bond.

It's my method and it works really good for me. I get the strength and versatility I'm looking for.

Many people are very handy with plastex and ABS cement/slurry.

 

To answer the question abut the 5th gen, these have a quite simple fairing structure, the fairing sides are one piece and use three of wellnuts on the joint to the nose, plus the two hard mounts to the frame and two push-pins at the belly joint, more wellnuts secure the inner chin piece. I've never had an issue with any of these. The weakest spot would be the blinker mounts but these are usually only an issue in a tip-over. The tail is one piece, no joins at all.