When attaching the passenger pillion pad to the fender of a Harley Davidson, I noticed that the rear bracket was at a weird angle, digging into the paint, and making some nasty scratches. NOT happy.
I’m not a guy who sits around polishing and waxing and shining motorcycles. I ride them. I’m not THAT obsessed with scratches and dings because you really can’t avoid them, BUT I do think it’s strange that there’s no rubber washer or anything protecting the paint from this sharp rear bracket.
The passenger pillion rear bracket digs into the fender paint.
And then it happens, this is the exact moment the gears start turning in my head. Heh heh, TIME TO CUSTOMIZE.
Let’s see, I need something that I can mold to any shape and thickness that will cure and turn into a flexible, yet sturdy silicone gasket? Of course, it’s my old standby…sugru.
Step 1
I bent the bracket slightly for a more acceptable, fender-matching angle and used a normal palm sander to round off the fender-touching side of the rear bracket.
I bent the rear bracket slightly and rounded off the edge with a palm sander.
Step 2
Smush on the sugru. Let it cure overnight.
This is the one instance I wasn't concerned with how smooth and nice my sugru went on.
Step 3
When the sugru is all set up, get out the X-ACTO and cut out the hole for the screw.
The trusty X-ACTO for a precision cut.
Such a gorgeous shot by Emily at merrypad.com so I had to include another:
Such a gorgeous shot of such a simple step.
BLAM!
A form-fitting rubberized (techincally siliconized) protective layer between the bracket and the fender. Now I need to get some touch-up paint and get the fender fixed up. Maybe I’ll have to get out the Turtle Wax Black Box Car Wax Kit
The fender is now protected from the bracket.
Of course this is just my experience with a Harley-Davidson Sportster Nightster XL1200N. Maybe there’s a part that was missing from my Passenger Pillion Pad kit, but I highly doubt it. The bracket on the main seat connected to a retention nut and washer that fit into a specially-shaped hole in the fender. The rear hole did not accomodate the nut and washer to the bracket seemed to bolt right to the fender with direct metal-to-paint contact.
Any other ideas?
2 Comments
Ryan
I am interested in hearing your thoughts on the Sugru. I am thinking of using it to fix a cracked plastic slide on my kids swing set. There is crack that runs perpendicular to the length of the slide. I figured Sugru would be perfect since it is silicone-based it should allow a little flex and is waterproof. Do you think it will stand up to the sun? How well do you think it will bond to plastic? If you don’t know, that is cool. Thanks in advance.
Pete Fazio
I know it bonds to almost every material with no problem. It will stand up to the sun as well, it’s rated to like 350F without getting softer or harder. I’d give it a try as and experiment. I’d probably do it from underneath because I wonder about it acting a little “grippy” on a butt rather than “slippy” like a slide. Does that make sense? Of course if you feathered it out and figured a way to smooth and polish it out it may not have much grip to it. I’ve had luck molding it and then using my finger with soapy water to make it smooth. Looks like it’s experimenting time. You could contact them on twitter @projectsugru.