Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Plastic or fiberglass Chop

Well, guys...I am now trying to recover the TBA that was damaged during my first motorcycle spill. I was lucky in that the damage to my bike was very limited. My front fender is cracked and shows the marks of a severe rub. I have seen people chop their rear fenders and post pictures in the past. How do you chop plastic? (it may be fiberglass, don't know)...same question, though....... I am not looking to spend a fortune in getting this bike back up to snuff. If I can just chop the front fender and line the edges with weather strip, it sounds good to me. Looking forward to everyone's input;
Jason

Jason, the front fender is plastic, not fibreglass, and is relatively easy to cut. I've made a few cuts into it over the years myself.

Here's how you do it:

Cover the general area over where you think you'll be making the cut with masking tape.

Use a grease pencil to mark where you want to make your cut.

Take a sabre-saw with very fine teeth(made for cutting plastic) and just cut along the line you've drawn.

(BTW...the masking tape is so as you go along the cut-line, the saw's baseplate doesn't mar the paint around the area being cut)

Remove the tape, and use either a rasp or file to smooth out the cut, and always file downward from the top painted surface or parallel to the new edge, as going the opposite way could cause the paint along the edge to flake off.

The tape also helps prevent the saw blade from flaking the good paint on the edge you're trying to save, so don't use blue painters tape. Use some quality masking tape. If you want to go real cheap on the fresh cut edge, just color it with a Sharpie... if it's black that is. The plastic is white.

This might be regarded as a foolish question..........does anyone think a dremel tool will work to put a clean cut on the plastic? Just curious??

Maybe, Jason. But I'd say that all depends on how steady your hand is, and how straight a cut you can make with a tool that's basically a cylindrical barb.

It's too hard to make a straight cut with a Dremal tool. Maby good for cleaning up any burs or rugh spots when finishing.