[Autonomity]

So today I took a little spill while playing in the mud, to me it appears the 1100 standard has a few issues regarding its protection.

Currently I only have the lower + "mid" Outback bars + engine guard installed, I wonder if the uppers would've saved my blinker. Another thing I'm questioning is whatever Honda thought with that blinker construction.

One other thing I've noticed is that the handlebar risers are "floating" in rubber, when binning it or even lifting the bike it seems to move quite easily. Of course the Outback bars rely on cooperation of the handlebars + Barkbusters to keep the bike far enough off the ground. Another thing I'm afraid of with that floating handlebar is the button/instrument cluster slamming into the fuel tank. I wonder if anyone has any experience on that front.

Anyways, I guess I'll have to figure out how to do some bodywork now. Also €100 for a blinker, really, Honda?

Any help with how to remove those plastics would be appreciated as well, I found some other forum post here detailing the side cowling but nothing specific to the top parts.

 

[markv8]

Wow that did go over .drop mine a couple of times. Low speed but outbacks kept the top half off the deck. No uppers fitted yet but I might consider them now

 

[Autonomity]

Wow that did go over .drop mine a couple of times. Low speed but outbacks kept the top half off the deck. No uppers fitted yet but I might consider them now

I've dropped mine quite a bunch as well, it just appears that a certain angle/type of spill means the super long OEM blinkers still hit the ground.

 

[DoubleThumper]

Sad to see what happened @Autonomity. Nevertheless, welcome to the Forum.

It kinda sucks that in 202x Honda allows the signals to cave.

My old 2009 Aprilia signals would simply pop out-of-socket when hitting the ground. It was a matter of just popping them back in. That is over 11 years ago. Why couldn't Honda adopt such a strategy? I am sure many possible reasons can be imagined.

 

[Autonomity]

Sad to see what happened @Autonomity. Nevertheless, welcome to the Forum.

It kinda sucks that in 202x Honda allows the signals to cave.

My old 2009 Aprilia signals would simply pop out-of-socket when hitting the ground. It was a matter of just popping them back in. That is over 11 years ago. Why couldn't Honda adopt such a strategy? I am sure many possible reasons can be imagined.

Thank you!

My Vstrom 650 would just break the blinker and its stem, the stem being a significant part of the top fairing on the AT seems a bit wild. That said, those plastics are fairly cheap at about €25.
The bigger problem will probably be labor as I'm assuming I'll have to disassemble half of the front fairing..
Let's hope this doesn't happen again.

 

[SrogATAS]

The plastics are pretty easy compared to the 1000 anyway.
Remove all the panel fixings around that area along with the hex screws above an below the damage. The panels slot into each other and once the fixings are removed you just pull them apart. Gently as you can but they are quite flexible so take a fair amount of pulling apart. The panel under the lower dash unclips from the left and fixed on the right side.
I hope this makes sense. I had my 2021 apart last night to fit a sat nav mounting.

 

[Mastercore]

Ouch!

Yeah plastics are expensive on modern motorcycles. Considering their material costs and that the tooling costs are amortised (you'd hope), then replacements should be quite cheap, but alas this is not how capitalism works.
(I suspect the high cost of replacement plastics IS how the tooling costs are amortised during lifecycle)

I cannot say much for your poor blinker except, ouch. No matter your crash bars, an unlucky root or rock can render your protections irrelevant.

If you are like me and consider the plastics as practical parts of the bike and are not obsessed with than smooth new look like the shiny body work of a car, then you can fix most cracks and damages to fairings yourself with a small blowtorch, hot air gun and some single core copper power wire.

This technique works well and is pretty easy to execute with some simple tools. Remember this is intended as a practical repair, not aesthetic. I bash my AT around like a dirt bike, replacing plastics each time they get damaged would cost me a fortune.
I know these pics do not show too much of how this is done. I was not planning to use them in a how to, so I can only hope they help.

steps
-Remove part.
-Lay on solid surface with an old blanket to protect from needless scratches
-From the reverse side, figure out how the damaged edges of a break can be brought back together
-Gently warm up the damaged area from behind with hot air gun so the plastic becomes a little softer.
-Use hands or even a rubber mallet to get the damaged flattened out approximately to original contours. Remember while warm the plastic is soft, as soon as it cools it hardens again. The aim is to bring the surface contours back to stock. Let the area cool properly
-Strip some single core copper power wire extracting the bare wire.
-Cut 10-20mm lengths
-If the location of the damage is flat on the back side of the fairing, you can use them as is. If like in my case, the break was around a mounting lug, then some bending is required.
-Hold each piece of copper wire in plyers and heat it up with a blow torch.
-While hot lay it down across the break and press it into the plastic as it cools. It melts into and sticks to the plastic and creates very strong "stiches" across your "wounded" fairing. In long spits, go right to the ends of the breaks.
-Be generous with these, they will not be seen on the front side but will create a very solid structural repair.

You would be amazed at how effective this can be to get repairs done. Remember that the plastic will soften and be easier to work if you keep it warm. Beware of overheating though.

Damaged fairing

repaired fairing

Back side with copper wire reinforcing. No adhesives used.

Back side with copper wire reinforcing. No adhesives used.

 

[DoubleThumper]

Interesting.

 

[Autonomity]

Ouch!

Yeah plastics are expensive on modern motorcycles. Considering their material costs and that the tooling costs are amortised (you'd hope), then replacements should be quite cheap, but alas this is not how capitalism works.
(I suspect the high cost of replacement plastics IS how the tooling costs are amortised during lifecycle)

I cannot say much for your poor blinker except, ouch. No matter your crash bars, an unlucky root or rock can render your protections irrelevant.

If you are like me and consider the plastics as practical parts of the bike and are not obsessed with than smooth new look like the shiny body work of a car, then you can fix most cracks and damages to fairings yourself with a small blowtorch, hot air gun and some single core copper power wire.

This technique works well and is pretty easy to execute with some simple tools. Remember this is intended as a practical repair, not aesthetic. I bash my AT around like a dirt bike, replacing plastics each time they get damaged would cost me a fortune.
I know these pics do not show too much of how this is done. I was not planning to use them in a how to, so I can only hope they help.

steps
-Remove part.
-Lay on solid surface with an old blanket to protect from needless scratches
-From the reverse side, figure out how the damaged edges of a break can be brought back together
-Gently warm up the damaged area from behind with hot air gun so the plastic becomes a little softer.
-Use hands or even a rubber mallet to get the damaged flattened out approximately to original contours. Remember while warm the plastic is soft, as soon as it cools it hardens again. The aim is to bring the surface contours back to stock. Let the area cool properly
-Strip some single core copper power wire extracting the bare wire.
-Cut 10-20mm lengths
-If the location of the damage is flat on the back side of the fairing, you can use them as is. If like in my case, the break was around a mounting lug, then some bending is required.
-Hold each piece of copper wire in plyers and heat it up with a blow torch.
-While hot lay it down across the break and press it into the plastic as it cools. It melts into and sticks to the plastic and creates very strong "stiches" across your "wounded" fairing. In long spits, go right to the ends of the breaks.
-Be generous with these, they will not be seen on the front side but will create a very solid structural repair.

You would be amazed at how effective this can be to get repairs done. Remember that the plastic will soften and be easier to work if you keep it warm. Beware of overheating though.
View attachment 67781
Damaged fairing

View attachment 67782
repaired fairing

View attachment 67783
Back side with copper wire reinforcing. No adhesives used.
View attachment 67784
Back side with copper wire reinforcing. No adhesives used.

Interesting, I tend to ride my bike like an oversized dirtbike as well. I hope that cracked plastics won't be a common occurrence. Beating them up and scratching is something I couldn't really care about (except the tank, rust is no fun).
In Japan the plastics are way cheaper than in Europe, I think for about €500 you can get the entire cowling/fairing set.

The plastic the blinker is attached too luckily wasn't that expensive (€25 or so), the blinker itself is expensive though. Might have to look into some shorty-replacement if the upper bars + Camel ADV riser won't keep it away from the ground.

 

[ActualZak]

FWIW, I destroyed my ATAS on the dirt track (another story) and although it took a dive in that area - one might say I "augered in" - those outback uppers saved the blinker. I'll definitely have them on the replacement bike, but backorders are a thing right now.

 

[Sliveredge]

FWIW, I destroyed my ATAS on the dirt track (another story) and although it took a dive in that area - one might say I "augered in" - those outback uppers saved the blinker. I'll definitely have them on the replacement bike, but backorders are a thing right now.


View attachment 67931

Ouch hopefully you came out better that then bike. At least it all look fixable

 

[DoubleThumper]

Thank goodness it wasn't on asphalt, ya?

 

[ActualZak]

I'm fine. Sprained both shoulders but lived to tell the tale. I'll make a separate post about it.

The point is yes, the Outback uppers will apparently save your blinkers. Even if the rest of the bike is destroyed.

 

[Autonomity]

I'm fine. Sprained both shoulders but lived to tell the tale. I'll make a separate post about it.

The point is yes, the Outback uppers will apparently save your blinkers. Even if the rest of the bike is destroyed.

Guess I'll 100% have to get the uppers for my future endeavors.
Good to hear you're fine, I've also managed to break my high windscreen on the second day of owning the bike by flying straight through it in a crash ha. Looking at this picture it appears that left blinker had been in the ground before as well.