KDXRIDER.NET

A number of folks have made their own fiberglass pipe guards. For those of you that have..and those that are familiar with fiberglass 'stuff' (that ain't me), what are the basics of patching such a thing?

I have an FRP guard. The small end is about to become detached from the rest of the guard..right where the pipe clamp gets strapped on.

I've looked a bit on the web..find only stuff about boats and tubs. Haven't found anything applicable.

Where the guard is broken, there is a good bit of fiber sticking out that could be gooped together with resin, but there wouldn't be any 'grain' for strength as there would if you used a piece of cloth.

But...maybe with the frayed fibers that are sticking out, a simple application of resin would accomplish something? Or...I need to layer some cloth on top?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

I'm no glas expert, but have done a little. The fibers give it the real strength, so most likely gooping some resin on the frayed ends will give you adequate strength. a lot of boats are basically made of that (gooped loose fibers). They take a chopper gun which feeds and cuts glas rope as it sprays resin onto it and blows it into a mold. Better boats are made by laying up cloth, but it's not like people drown every day in the crappier ones.

Hard to visualize the repair you need to make, you might want to goop it up and lay some cloth on it. then goop over it. problem is on little strips of cloth, the ends fray bad as you work it. That's probably not be a big deal on something like a pipe guard. I have repaired a couple shotgun foregrips with very tight tolerances on the interior. What I ended up doing was cutting strips of fiberglas window screen because it doesn't fray, then gooped that. Regular fiberglas mat is much stronger though.

Polyester resin and fiberglass cloth. My opinion - for cloth get the kind that's weaved together (as opposed to the random fiber stuff, it's much messier). Get your resin ready per instructions, saturate some strategically cut fiberglass cloth section(s) and apply. You'll follow that up with additional resin, possibly more cloth sections depending on the nature of the repair needed. After it all sets up some sanding/trimming and some very high temp paint should finish it off.

A couple of things:

*The resin STINKS. You'll want for the resin to cure at like 75 °F or so but in a well-ventilated area so keep in mind where the ventilation happens. Back into the house really gets people upset.

*The resin is messy.

*You'll want SHARP scissors to shape the cloth. You'll want a SHARP carpet knife or similar to trim excess cloth/resin as you go along (not after you're completely done, then it's very difficult to cut).

Hope this helps. Later this evening I'll see if I can relocate some web stuff that may help as well.

This guard, as you might imagine, is smooth (on the outside anyway..not so much on the inside) is smooth. That comes from a couple coats of resin after the last cloth is laid (cloth structure can be seen on the inside of the guard)??

I don't imagine there's any gel-coating going on in the hi-class manufacture of a pipe guard.

Probably the chopped up bits can be bought..say at a auto refinish place, or a hardware store? Mix up some fibers, some resin, some hardener and goop it in between the two almost-separate pieces?

A picture isn't a problem if that would give you a better idea of what's what.

Thanks!

I found cutting with a razor wheel works better than scizzors. You get these from your unsuspecting wife's sewing kit. it's a wheel with a handle and runs on a kinda hard rubber or nylon or something mat. it cuts very cleanly. problem is as soon as you move the fabric, a small piece is gonna fray like crazy. Try to minimize movement.

Jeb:

Lay the 'strategically cut' cloth between the existing pieces (again, not quite separated yet, but close to it)? I was thinking (based on no knowledge whatsoever) to do that after putting a bit of goo between the two pieces and letting that set up.

The guard looks to have ground edges..like they ground an uneven edge after it cured. I can think of a lot of things I'd rather do that go after a fiberglass piece with a grinder. I would think any edge would be better 'wrapped' around instead of grinding to a 'raw' edge?

How 'bout that? Can't be wrapping too much inside and out, else the thing won't fit on the pipe anymore.

I've seen wheels like that....use'm for quilting, I think........

What's the cure time for fiberglas resin? It depends (like epoxy) on the amount of hardener used?

Consider this.

When I made the guard for the Rev pipe the first step was to wrap the pipe in aluminum foil (the heavier-gauge stuff). After drawing an outline of the guard I slathered on a thin coat of resin on the foil. When it set I removed the foil and trimmed away the excess stuff and pretty much did everything else on the new piece.

Why is all of this important? Well, not much of it really except that I wanted to describe what the foil was used for and suggest perhaps that's a way to attack this. Maybe get some foil on the pipe, bolt the guard on, and apply some resin where you want to. After it sets remove the guard carefully and see if you need to go any further with the cloth. Not only will the foil give things a bit more shape but you won't end up with goo on your pipe to burn.

BTW if you do things perfectly you'll get a little smell the first few times you run your bike.

Trim away excess foil (you'll be hard-pressed to remove the foil completely but that shouldn't be a big deal).

Cure time is highly dependent on temperature. I've had it take overnight in cool temps but only an hour or so when it's within the maker's suggested temp range.

Just buy me some beers and I'll fixer up for ya

I fixed some parts on the ol' Vstrom with fiberglass

I'm famiiar with the foil idea (using it as a protector anyway). Resin alone (with hardener of course) on the foil will harden to the extent you can use the removed foil for a form?

..didn't know that. Good tip!!


There's one beer left from the last six-pack I bought for 'ya. Does that count?