83 GL1100a fiberglass cracks and breaks

They are made of plastic, not fiberglass.

Something doesn't sound quite right, unless the replacement parts and your originals had all lead a particularly hard life in strong sunlight or something, they shouldn't all keep cracking.? :?
In the case of the top box, do you have any form of rubber washers on the mounting points or grommets or whatever might ought to be there?
Do the saddlebag lids have any racks or other chrome rails drilled and screwed to them? Are the latches particularly hard to close down? Are the rubber seals in place and nice and soft and flexible still?

One of the reasons that I am pleased to have all Vetter products on the Rats Nest!

Okay, this now seems to throw up another question.... are the ones you are buying actually aftermarket glass fiber ones, or are they original ABS plastic? :?

Ansimp said:

One of the reasons that I am pleased to have all Vetter products on the Rats Nest!

Click to expand...

Take some good bin liners Tony.... all the ones I have come across in the UK have leaked at the pannier lid seals, when in rain conditions. :sadguy:

All replacement parts came from other Honda's being parted out, and from all across the country, which would imply they are fiberglass. But I live in Arizona, and it's summer.

Also, some of the latches are hard to close. And the rubber weather stripping on the lids are showing some wear and I hoped to replace them. But so far no luck in finding replacement stock stripping.

I have no clue where any rubber grommets would go, but have considered placing rubber grommets between the trunk and the racks it mounts to. But I don't know if there would be room.

All thoughts and advice welcome.

Oh and all lids on trunk and saddlebags have racks on them, except for the new saddlebag lid I ordered but its cracking now too.

Something's amiss here. My bags and trunk are original, with lots and lots of miles in the sun, and when not being ridden, sitting in a hot garage and I'm not having that kind of trouble.
I'm pretty sure your trunk and bags should all be sitting on rubber grommets. Are they not? And how is it the lids are cracking too? They are under no stress unless you over fill the bags and then force the lids to close.
Try here for the OEM grommets.
http://www.westernhonda.com/fiche_s...=Motorcycles&make=Honda&year=1983&fveh=132142

If you can get to these cracks before they shatter, you could reinforce them with ABS cement and ABS stock. Then fill cracks on the outside and repaint. I did this with minor and enormous cracks on my Hondline inner fairing(82 1100I) and the repairs were bullitproof even in the 120+ Summer temps here in the Vegas desert.

~O~

The trunk is not on rubber grommets, but I don't see how I would have room to add any either. The front of the trunk has two c shaped hooks lined with plastic, and the rear of it sits on springs with pins that lock in place.

As for the saddle bag lids, their rubber seals were in pieces. I replaced them with the thinnest rubber seals I could find, but they are a little thicker. That said, where can I find stock seals??

The earlier comment about them being fiberglass because they are from all over the country was a dictation error, but I didn't realize they are plastic.

What is ABS? I will google it.

First off, if they are Honda bags and boxes, they are not fiberglass. Not from that era. They are made of ABS plastic. Replicas, aftermarkets.... I can't speak to, but if they are off an 1100, they are ABS.

Now, that being said, ABS can be repaired. You can get ABS primer and glue at the local hardware store. Same as used for black pipe sewer lines. You can get sheets of ABS from plastic supply stores. Here in the west coast of US area, we have TAP Plastics. I get 6" X 6" scraps from them for pennies. It can be heated with a heat gun or real good hair dryer and shaped. Ground down with a grinder or similar, it can be mixed with the glue and made into a paste or putty that can be shaped.

Regarding continued cracking, you must have too much strain or not enough vibration dampeners to cause that. Check your mounts, sounds like they may have been compromised.

Thank you so much! I will find the ABS and get to work on it. I will also figure out where to put the rubber grommets. I understand that they aren't fiberglass, which also means that I can repair them myself. Again, thanks.

Greetings: MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) is the solvent to solvent weld ABS, which is high impact styrene. That is what is in pipe cement, but the pipe cement has other stuff in it also. Go to a chemical outlet and get some MEK. You will get much nicer and much stronger repairs.
Ron

One other thing, MEK is highly flammable, so handle accordingly.
Ron