cracked tourpak solution - maybe???

[GoSlo]

Let this be a lesson to you all of you...don't wash your bikes/trikes!! I was washing mine after two weeks of riding through Wyoming, Colorado and South Dakota and found that my tourpak had a crack in it. Figure that if I hadn't washed it, maybe the crack would go away?!?! The crack starts not quite a half inch from the inside lid screws, goes down about two inches and then angled back towards the rear of the trike for about three inches. The "V" shape up to the top of the tourpak was popped out of place.

Anyway, I've heard and read all sort of articles and posts about how the tourpak's cannot be fixed once you have a crack in it and it's going to cost you about a grand for a new one painted. I know there's lots of used ones on the internet you can buy, but I was determined to see if I could figure something out.

Since the new tourpaks are made of ABS plastic now and not fiberglass (which is easier to fix), I had to find something that would work and maybe, just maybe I have. I bought a can of Oates ABS cement. It's a black gooey mess that has an applicator that looks like the old shoe polish applicator - a round ball on the end of a stick. It's actually made for ABS plumbing pipe that you want to glue together.

The first thing I did was to drill a 1/8" hole about 1/8th of an inch in front of the end of the crack to stop it from growing.

I took out the tourpak liner and using a flathead screwdriver, I "popped" the piece that had popped out of place back into place so that I could give this a try.

I put painters tape on the outside of the crack and then applied the ABS cement to the inside of the tourpak.

Using a piece of plastic, I worked the "goop" into the cracks as best I could.

I then cut a piece of flat ABS plastic that would cover almost the entire crack and glued it to the inside of the tourpak. I'm going to give it a day or so to fully set and then I'm going to cut another piece to run along the top edge that will go under the screws that hold the lid on and will wrap over the final part of the crack that the first piece of ABS didn't cover.

I have no idea if this will work, and according to most everything I've read, it won't. But spending a few bucks on some plastic and glue, I figured it was worth the effort. I'll follow up on how it all went.

[rhino 2]

Nothing ventured nothing gained....

[peteg59]

I've got a tourpack lid that I need to repair as well, so you've got my attention!
I was planning on using a marine grade epoxy to do the crack fix on mine but if the stuff you tried holds ok, maybe that's the answer?
Hopefully the cement works...

[Sloride]

I am in the Specialty Alloy piping business, we also do some exotic plastics from time to time. ABS can be Plastic welded, but your going to burn up the paint on the outside of the tour pack

I think you are going down the right track. IMO...I would dremel a little V grove in the back side of the cracked area (not all the way through) about 1/8" at the top of the V to hold more adhesive. Then I would also glue a good size backing plate on the inside of the tour pack and consider 4-#4 black socket cap screws with their black nylon washers to secure the backing plate and strengthen the whole area. IMO...Those little #4 cap screws painted gloss black would not be much of a detraction at all...compared to spending all that money for a new tour pack

let us know how it works out

[clint44]

What's cracked,the lid or the base? What color? If it's just the lid and a standard color,cost for a new lid would cost around $250 from Boardtracker H-D. http://www.boardtrackerharleyonline.com/

[GoSlo]

What's cracked,the lid or the base? What color? If it's just the lid and a standard color,cost for a new lid would cost around $250 from Boardtracker H-D. http://www.boardtrackerharleyonline.com/

It's just the base and it's a two tone Midnight blue and Silver. That's why the cost would be so high.

[clint44]

It's just the base and it's a two tone Midnight blue and Silver. That's why the cost would be so high.

Cost for a bottom in that color looks to be around $350. That's a long way from $1,000. Just trying to help out,though.

[GARYD]

I've had great success with JB Weld plastic adhesive on many plastic endeavors.

[GoSlo]

Cost for a bottom in that color looks to be around $350. That's a long way from $1,000. Just trying to help out,though.

Good to know, so thanks for the info and link. So far it's cost me about $8.00 and if it works, great. If not, then I'll start looking at other options.

- - - Updated - - -

After letting the backing plate of ABS glued to the inside of the tourpak (covers 90% of the crack) set for two days, it appears to be solid and will hold. Next is to cut some narrow pieces of the ABS, glue them together to glue on the inside of the tourpak at the very top. This piece will have to be heated to shape for the bend right next to the hinge. I may need to get longer screws to fit the added depth with the ABS between the hinge plate and the tourpak, but not sure yet. I'm thinking I should double the ABS on this part because it sits right at the top of the tourpak and under the hinge for more strength.

If this last part works then I just have to hope it holds up. I won't be putting any luggage on the tourpak rack anymore though.

I think that's what cause the crack in the first place.

Opening the lid with all that weight wasn't a good idea I guess.

Done it for years and never had a problem, so I must have twisted it a bit at some point.

I'll post again after I finish this last part, hopefully this week.

[Texan]

Got any friends or yourself going to Sturgis this year. There has been a fellow in the Civic Center selling ABS repair kits. He had a tour-pak lid there last year repairing it for a fellow out of Canada. Saw it the next day and it did a great job. Just needed to be painted.

Don't know if he'll be there again but if he is I'll grab a card and post it here.

8~\o

[GoSlo]

Got any friends or yourself going to Sturgis this year. There has been a fellow in the Civic Center selling ABS repair kits. He had a tour-pak lid there last year repairing it for a fellow out of Canada. Saw it the next day and it did a great job. Just needed to be painted.

Don't know if he'll be there again but if he is I'll grab a card and post it here.

8~\o

I was just up there last week, so not going up again for the rally, but I do know people going so I'll ask if they can stop by. If you could get his contact info, that would be great. Kind of late now, but it would be interesting to know if I'm even close to going down the right path. Thanks!!

[GoSlo]

Last night we removed the tourpak lid to add more support to the crack. I cut out a piece of ABS plastic to go under the braces for the screws that hold in the lower half of the hinges. We made it a bit narrower on the part under the screws and then wider once it was past the screws to give more support over the last section of the crack not previously braced. We're letting the cement dry for 24 hours before we reattach the lid tonight. Will do some riding this weekend and it should be a good start to test if this works.

[Texan]

Don't know what happened to my post from yesterday but if you don't drill a small hole at the end of each crack it will coniinue to crack out. Have done this to engine blocks for too many years. If I tried to weld or mend a block that was cracked it continued to crack if I didn't drill the crack. Same with working on Corvettes.

8~\o

[GoSlo]

Don't know what happened to my post from yesterday but if you don't drill a small hole at the end of each crack it will coniinue to crack out. Have done this to engine blocks for too many years. If I tried to weld or mend a block that was cracked it continued to crack if I didn't drill the crack. Same with working on Corvettes.

8~\o

I did mention in my first post that I drilled a 1/8th inch hole just in front of the end of the crack and that was the very first thing I did. Since it went all the way up to the top of the tourpak not much I could do on that end. But thanks for the heads up. I know that if I didn't drill that hole the crack would continue to grow and all my work to date would have been for nothing.

Thanks again!!

[Texan]

I did mention in my first post that I drilled a 1/8th inch hole just in front of the end of the crack and that was the very first thing I did. Since it went all the way up to the top of the tourpak not much I could do on that end. But thanks for the heads up. I know that if I didn't drill that hole the crack would continue to grow and all my work to date would have been for nothing.Thanks again!!

Sorry guess I read right past that portion. Good luck on your repairs. Don't know if you have a luggage rack on your tour-pal but be careful with how much weight you carry.

8~\o

[The Gitard]

Do you know how it cracked? Was it overloaded or did you hit something or is there an area where they are crack prone? The reason I ask is because I put Rivco passanger armrests on my 2015TG. They do cause the tourpak to flex a little bit since they are bolted under the rear speakers. Much stiffer with the lid closed naturally.

[GoSlo]

Do you know how it cracked? Was it overloaded or did you hit something or is there an area where they are crack prone? The reason I ask is because I put Rivco passanger armrests on my 2015TG. They do cause the tourpak to flex a little bit since they are bolted under the rear speakers. Much stiffer with the lid closed naturally.

I'm pretty sure I caused the crack. I had luggage on the tourpak rack and I guess I didn't use both hands to open it. Using one hand, off to the side, torques the lid and I guess I finally went too far. Besides all the reinforcing of the crack that I've done, I shortened up the tether strap so the lid won't open all the way. If you open your lid all the way slowly and watch the hinges, you'll see the base of the tourpak flex when it's getting close to being fully opened. Why they didn't make that area thicker and stronger doesn't make sense except they can sell more replacements once they do crack.

If my patch/reinforcement idea doesn't work and it breaks again, I'll get a new tourpak and figure out someway to reinforce the base where the hinges are.

That and be more careful about opening it.

[Phu Cat]

I'd like to add my 2 cents worth regarding JB Weld's 'plastic bonder' (their name) product number 50133. It sets in 15 minutes and can be sanded in 30 minutes. I used some 3 years ago and it is still holding very strong on the Tglide. Really, really good stuff.

An earlier tour pak also cracked (but that's not what I used the JB Weld on, that was a different bike). I think my tour pak cracked in the same place as yours because I tried to put too much in it and pressed the lid closed putting too much pressure on the hinges. Never suspected the plastic would crack like that. My mistake really.

PC

In retrospect, if I had another tour pak do this, I think sanding the interior area for good adhesion then put a ratchet strap around the upper portion just snug enough to pull the cracked pieces back into position. Mix half of the plastic bonder and apply that, wait an hour and apply the other half and see how that might work.

[GoSlo]

It's been about a month now and a little over 2,000 miles, but so far the patch job is still holding and shows no signs of breaking loose from the support pieces glued in. I've been VERY careful when opening the tour pack lid (should have been that careful before!!) and I think this might have actually worked. When it gets cold this winter, it'll be interesting to see if everything still holds since things tend to get a little more brittle as the temps drop.

[rhino 2]

Thanks for the update....