After my close encounter of the feathered kind I need to glue back the corner of my 75s screen. If it had landed on the grass it would have probably survived. However before laying out $250.00 AU for a new screen I thought I'd have a go at a repair. My original  screen when I first got the bike was replaced as it had a small corner broken off and had small cracks radiating from the mounting holes. The new non OEM screen did not have the black adhesive backing in the corners as per the OEM. In an effort to reinforce the corners and stop the mounting hole cracks I applied boat decking tape to the corners. This has been successful for the last twenty years no cracking.

I now need to find a method of gluing back the corner or alternatively take to a guy I have used previously and have it repaired. I have considered the following acrylic plastic cement (Hobby Shop??), super glue and baking powder or one of those glue pens with the ultra violetlight that is used to harden the glue after application. I can reapply deck tape to cover any repairs but it would have to be sanded smooth. The repair would have to be strong as the repair will be between the mounting holes and the rest of the screen.

Regards Martin.

I would use Super Glue.  The windshield is acrylic and the super glue is acrylic based. 

I would rig up a jig to hold the parts in perfect alignment for the application of the glue.  I think the easiest way would be attach the broken parts to the fairing with a layer of WAXED PAPER under them to avoid gluing the windshield to the fairing.

Get the super thin stuff they sell for model builders in hobby stores that cures with a spray-on catalyst.  The hobby stores also sell a super fine capillary tube that allows pinpoint application.

With the parts in perfect alignment, a couple tiny drops of glue will hold things together so you can remove them and put a final shot of glue on the joint from the back side.

Thanks Gryph off to the Hobby shop and the marine supply shop for more deck tape and one of those big plastic Owls. If I mount the Owl on my helmet is should discourage Kamikaze birds.
Regards Martin.

MartinW wrote: ...If I mount the Owl on my helmet is should discourage Kamikaze birds.   ...

It might attract angry drop bears though - I hear that they don't get on well with owls due to the wise old birds always outwitting them and getting the best branches to hunt from.

I had a similar bird strike a couple of years ago - mine was a hen pheasant (about the size of a chicken) that suddenly emerged from the roadside hedgerow and cracked my screen as it bounced off me at about 40mph. Not much you can do to avoid it apart from ducking quickly to avoid the feathers and residue as it passes by. 

I didn't repair my screen, as the crack went right across the centre of the clear part, but when I did a workshop course many moons back (1988), we had a week or so working with plastics and I seem to recall that we used chloroform to very successfully bond perspex. Probably not widely available these days and certainly not the nicest product to work with - you're probably better off with superglue as recommended by Point-Seven-Five.

Do you use the chloroform on the pheasant or the screen?

Stan wrote:Do you use the chloroform on the pheasant or the screen?

 
Might be handy to have a bottle of the stuff on the bike to anaesthetise some tin box drivers and cyclist.
The pheasant got away, but I doubt if it lived long after its crash landing.

Martin, 

There is a bloke in Melbourne who makes replacement screens and turnaround is about a week. I have bought a 75S & RT screen from him. Screensforbikes.com.  About $140? delivered to your door.  Easy to deal with. 

Dave.

Thanks Dave, I just got back from getting the repair stuff. However at that price I might order one. I did a bit of 80KPH riding definitely very different without the screen, and different noises. I could always cut down the repaired one and have summer and winter screens. I think .75 has a cut down one but I can't remember on which one of his fleet he did.
Regards Martin.

As per Gryph I tried to align it on the bike but was not successful. I couldn't get any wax paper at the three supermarkets I tried online and the one I actually went to. So plan 2 purloined one of the wife's tea candles and waxed up some grease proof paper, tested it and it worked. Had a play with the glue and the kicker. Once I was confident that I wouldn't hash it, I cleaned it with Wax and Grease Remover then glued it and clamped using small spring clamps over my waxed paper. Once it was aligned I hit it with the kicker. I left it for 10 minutes, came back and ran a bead of glue on the rear and hit it with kicker and left it for an hour.

When I came back I carefully sanded out a couple of bumps and gave it a clean. I carefully marked out where I was going to run the deck tape marking the start and finish points with a fine line white paint pen, making sure both sides were the same. Cleaned the screen again with WGR gently heated the screen then the deck tape with a hot air gun on low. I then applied the tape aligning up the marks I had made. After making sure that there were no bubbles I heated it up gently again. Then using a surgical scalpel blade in a holder I ran it along the edge of the screen removing the surplus. Then did the other side the same.


Working from the back I pushed small blade through the mounting holes to form an X. Working from the tape side I pushed a small tapered reamer into the X and reamed out the hole. repeated the process until all the holes were done. I then ran a narrow piece of lightly heated narrow deck tape across the rear aligning it with the front deck tape on both sides. Trimmed off the excess and used the same process to ream out the holes. As long as it holds up I'm happy, but I did send away for a price on a new one from the company Tackler supplied.

Regards Martin.

Martin, you do nice work!

I had a tinted screen made for my RT by the same company a few years ago. great product, great people.

Gawsh Gryph I think I'm blushing. I do love deck tape it covers a multitude of sins as well as protecting. With a bit of heat it will do compound curves. Had to try four places this morning that have previously stocked it, and they no longer do. The last place had one big untouched roll and won't be restocking once it's used up. He couldn't even find a price for it so charged me $7.00 a metre. I also replaced the plastic counter sunk washers and screws with solid aluminium countersunk washers and stainless screws. Stan I sent off an Email to get a quote on a new screen
which I will probably get tomorrow. It's looks like it's a lot cheaper than the local one at $250.00. I'm still undecided as whether to get one.
Regards Martin.

The washers are not aluminium they are zinc plated available in M5 $4.29 Au pack of 12, M6 and M8 they are available from Bunnings. The stainless screws I got from a local bolt shop 10 for $5.00 AU. While I was chasing my deck tape all the marine shops plus BCF had a supply of stainless bolts and screws.  
Regards Martin.

Can someone explain what deck tape is?

Deck tape is a textured PVC sheet with a pressure sensitive adhesive backing.  It is sold in the U.S. in marine stores as non-skid.