How to fabricate a sidecover

[Guest]

Unable to find a left side cover here for my GS1000G, I decided to fabricate one from fiberglass. Here is a summary and some pictures http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?9osnyfix1y4

Hope its of use to someone

[BassCliff]

Wow, make your own body parts!

Mr. Matchless,

Excellent! Very creative. You, my friend, are an arteest! Thanks for sharing all your hard work. What did the finished product look like after you finished painting it?

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Go Mifune]

nice! :arrow:

[Matchless]

Mr Basscliff,
The final painting is the next phase as I intend respraying the frame completely, before doing the tank, side panels and backend.
Just a word of thanks for the details you shared with me. Here is a picture of the carrier, I have just finished it. Your information was very, very useful!
I will probably be taking it in for chroming tomorrow. Not sure if I should chrome or powdercoat yet.
I will put some of the steps together and a set of photos and post later in case anyone else is interested in building one.

[Texatl]

What no final finished pics! Nice work, but you left us hanging.

[BassCliff]

The motorcyclist's Van Gogh!

Here is a picture of the carrier, I have just finished it.
I will probably be taking it in for chroming tomorrow. Not sure if I should chrome or powdercoat yet.

Mr. Matchless,

I am very impressed! It makes me wish I had paid more attention in metal shop class. #-oDoh!

I'm partial to chrome, as long as there's not too much of it and it's tastefully balanced with the theme of the bike. Do you plan to powder coat the frame too? I'm looking forward to more pictures. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[gbw]

Can't wait to see the finished product

Very nice work! I will start taking very good care of my side covers. I don't think I could duplicate your results.

[Go Mifune]

Very nice work! I will start taking very good care of my side covers. I don't think I could duplicate your results.

gbw I dont think you have to worry too much there are plenty of covers for yours and my 77 750 on ebay. The hard part is finding some for my 81 gs750l, I have been inspired by matchless to try my had a fabricating some for the 81 L.

[Ironriot]

Very nice, matchless you do this forum a great service.... You too BassCliff. Thank you both

[ccoale]

was thinking about making my own seat. do y'all think that a fella could make a sturdy enough seat pan out of fiberglass????

[TheCafeKid]

For sure...Lots of cafe builders and race builders make em out of fibreglass. You can buy em already made too...

www.airtech-streamlining.com for instance.

[spyug]

With this thread and the one on tank building with the excellent tutorial borrowed from the Barf site no one needs to think about buying body parts ever again. Make 'em yourself.

I enjoyed this tutorial as it is one of the easier projects to do but there is an even easier way for a project of this type.

The side cover is very similar to one I fabed up for my old Virago. Instead of fiberglass I did it in ABS plastic like the original using a technique known as "drape forming". ABS sags when heated and will conform to any shape it covers. This is how the parts are made originally but to help the forming the plastic is heated, laid over a form and pulled down with a vacuum. The vacuum insures a tight fit to the form which insures a crisp definition and a true shell copy. The vacuum is great ( and a vacuum table is easy to make) but not really necessary in a form of this type.

You need sheet ABS plastic in 3 to 5mm thickness. I buy mine from a local plastic supply house and a 4'x8' sheet runs about $50....good for numerous projects.

Make the form the same as Matchles has described but use wood instead of foam as it needs to be a bit firm as you will push the plastic over it in some spots.

Cut a piece of the plastic a few inches larger than the form all the way around. Place on a flat surface.

There are two options for heating the plastic. Heat in an oven or heat in place with hair dryer or paint stripping gun or other heat source. The plastic heats easily and quickly and option 2 gives the best control.

Place the sheet of ABS over the form and start heating from the center out. After a few minutes, it will start to sag and droop over the form. Taking the heat away will cause it to harden in position. In some cases it might be necessary to help the plastic around the edges and in areas of high definitition ( I.e.lines and grooves etc.)wooden paint stirrers and plastic spatulas and the like can be helpful for this. Just be careful not to push hard as you can dent the soft plastic. Gently does it.

Mounting tabs and connectors can be made out of the sheet stock and glued to the piece with ABS glue from the plumbing section of the hardware store. Prime and paint as you like.

Just another method to consider.

cheers,
Spyug.

[Matchless]

With this thread and the one on tank building with the excellent tutorial borrowed from the Barf site no one needs to think about buying body parts ever again. Make 'em yourself.

I enjoyed this tutorial as it is one of the easier projects to do but there is an even easier way for a project of this type.

The side cover is very similar to one I fabed up for my old Virago. Instead of fiberglass I did it in ABS plastic like the original using a technique known as "drape forming". ABS sags when heated and will conform to any shape it covers. This is how the parts are made originally but to help the forming the plastic is heated, laid over a form and pulled down with a vacuum. The vacuum insures a tight fit to the form which insures a crisp definition and a true shell copy. The vacuum is great ( and a vacuum table is easy to make) but not really necessary in a form of this type.

You need sheet ABS plastic in 3 to 5mm thickness. I buy mine from a local plastic supply house and a 4'x8' sheet runs about $50....good for numerous projects.

Make the form the same as Matchles has described but use wood instead of foam as it needs to be a bit firm as you will push the plastic over it in some spots.

Cut a piece of the plastic a few inches larger than the form all the way around. Place on a flat surface.

There are two options for heating the plastic. Heat in an oven or heat in place with hair dryer or paint stripping gun or other heat source. The plastic heats easily and quickly and option 2 gives the best control.

Place the sheet of ABS over the form and start heating from the center out. After a few minutes, it will start to sag and droop over the form. Taking the heat away will cause it to harden in position. In some cases it might be necessary to help the plastic around the edges and in areas of high definitition ( I.e.lines and grooves etc.)wooden paint stirrers and plastic spatulas and the like can be helpful for this. Just be careful not to push hard as you can dent the soft plastic. Gently does it.

Mounting tabs and connectors can be made out of the sheet stock and glued to the piece with ABS glue from the plumbing section of the hardware store. Prime and paint as you like.

Just another method to consider.

cheers,
Spyug.

Excellent! I never thought of trying this. I think the positive mould that I made can just be strengthened with a coat or two of resin painted on and it should easily support the ABS plastic. If anyone ever does this please post the results here, as this has given me some new ideas!
Thanks Spyug!