Modern Buddy

The CB125S I'm restoring had damage to both side covers (one of the three pegs that fit into the frame snapped on each cover). While CA glue is good enough to hold the pieces together, its lack of shear strength usually results in the break re-occurring as soon as the pieces are stressed. Additionally, the breaks I was dealing with were in curved areas that did not lend themselves well to being mechanically braced. Being a miserably cheap bastard who enjoys re-inventing wheels, I noodled around with some material combinations and found a solution that's pretty inexpensive and easy. Basically, all you need are a bottle of Gorilla Glue and some self-adhesive fiberglass mesh drywall tape:



After gluing your busted pieces together (don't use the Gorilla Glue for this - it expands as it dries), cut a piece of mesh tape to bridge the repaired area, stick it in place, then apply a liberal coating of the Gorilla glue. It'll be an amber color at the outset, but will become whiter as it dries and turns into a sort of semi-hardened resin. Since GG is designed to cure in the presence of moisture, giving the repaired area a quick shot over a humidifier helps the process along. After it dries, you can repeat the process with as many layers of tape and/or glue as you feel necessary. Here's a photo of how the repair appears right after application of the glue:



And here's how it looks once cured:

nice, charlie! thanks - we, the clumsy, whoops-prone always like new get-well schemes.