Fix for translucent cover

[JohnPawlak]

I recently bought a 2008 Lightning Long with the Cherry Bomb translucent air box. The part of the box where the right rear screw would attach was broken, and the original owner said the local Harley dealer broke it during service and refused to replace it (seems amazing to me). Been looking for a replacement, but they are very hard to find. I found a fix using JB weld, some photo paper to make a mold, a letter R drill bit and a red sharpie, which I know sounds pretty sketchy but it actually came out decent. See pics.







I have no idea if this is a common problem, but I could describe in detail how to do it. Basically, you use the shiny shiny side of the photo paper to build a mold around the part, mix and poor the JB weld, wait 24 hours, sand off any excess, use a digital caliper to mark off the exact location of the hole, drill an 1/8" pilot, and then follow that up with a letter R drill (0.339" diameter). The Bushing that fits in the hole is 0.321" diameter and you want a little clearance between the two to allow for misalignment without cracking. The JB weld isn't translucent, but if you color it in with the ink from a red sharpie it's not so noticeable and it's covered by the seat anyway.

Regarding small cracks, I'm planning on using Weldon #4 on one side (water-thin solvent for bonding acrylic) and a vacuum on the other to draw the solvent into the cracks. Curious if anyone else has tried this.

 

[34nineteen]

It seems the translucent covers had issues with cracking. I think Buell even had special attaching hardware for them. Nice fix!

 

[Cooter]

Chippy is right about both those things. The special hardware is a longer sleeved washer for less pressure on the mounts and no rotational force when tightened. You can still buy the hardware.

You can still buy the covers too:
https://twinmotorcycles.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/buell-xb-1125-air-box-cover-cherry-bomb-red-13/

 

[34nineteen]

Chippy is right about both those things

Its "Skippy"

 

[Cooter]

My childhood was a very long (and foggy) time ago.


:sorrow:

 

[JohnPawlak]

Thanks!

Cooter - thanks for the link. I contacted Twin Motorcycles a few weeks ago about purchasing an airbox cover and they said:
1. They don't have the stock ones anymore.
2. They stopped selling the reproduction ones because of quality issues.

but yet the link you sent still works. I try them again when I have a chance.

 

[Cooter]

From a very old thread from thrstmech:
https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthread.php?47173-Translucent-parts&highlight=thailand

I believe SEXT9 s referring to the same people:
Look up Aunchalee Pak out of Bankok Thailand. He's on the Facebook BuellXB.com group