I am taking the center part of the side cover from a 1976 or older, and putting it in the center of a '77/78 K side cover. This enables the use of the old style badges. Yes I know you can buy a decal that looks like the badges, but no. That is not the right way, IMO.Anyone can have that.
My bike is a '77 F and I wanted it different.I decided to skip some work and frustration buy just using a K cover from my year bike rather than adapt an older cover. These covers are made from ABS. Lots of automotive pieces are as well. ABS is a thermoplastic, meaning it can be melts. That is in different than thermosetting plastics which cannot be remelted, only degraded or ruined by excessive heat.But being it is a thermoplastic, this can be easily repaired or modified. You first start by welding the crack, or in my case the entire circumference of the piece I am adding. You weld with a soldering iron. You weld both sides. Then you use an ABS cement. Not a glue, not epoxy. That never works. If you have used that, it will eventually crack. You need a cement. Cement softens and dissolves the plastic. It is a chemical welding process. You cover both sides with the cement. The cement can be found in plumbing supplies. It actually contains some dissolved ABS in the cement. It will fill gaps if needed. It can be sanded, used to fill in more voids and finally treated as you would with any bodywork. here is where I am so fr in the process.
