The instrument panel on my motorbike has snapped off at the base. I believe it can be plastic welded, but gluing hasnt worked. Im not sure of the type of plastic its made of. I can bring the bike to you. Mail me at iama consumerwhore at hotmail dotcom to discuss terms
Thank you.
I’m unsure if we have the facilities / expertise to help you plastic weld.
We do have the expertise to create a metal supporting bracket though.
Could you post a picture?
ABS is the most common plastic for consumer things like that, but on a motorbike you never know.
ABS should be able to be “solvent welded” with the correct glue and be just about as strong as original.
What glue did you try to join it with?
Hot air welding ABS takes either a bit of skill or an inert gas for the welder. I personally dont have that skill and every time I try hot weld ABS I end up making it look a bit crispy. Buzz did tell me a few weeks ago he was welding some ABS without making it crispy so maybe he can pipe in.
oh - I should say “semi inert gas” Nitrogen is not quite as inert as argon 
Mainly it’s just not having oxygen swirling around to burn the plastic.
As I said I don’t have a nitrogen feed so I only ever weld PVC.
Here are some pics. https://imgur.com/a/LbeKZ
Its be great if it could be done in the space but i only posted here because i thought i might find someone who had the skills and equipment to get it done, or knew someone that did who wanted to make a bit of money.
I dont care about how it looks as long as it is functional and doesnt vibrate off. As you can see it hasnt snapped off cleanly and a little chunk is missing so it might not be possible to completely seal it with welding. I wonder if a new base could be 3d printed and welded on but i dont know anything about designing or 3d printing parts. This bike is 23 years old so i dont know if that would affect the plastic.
Ill ask around and try and find out what kind of plastic it is.
Is it possible for you to bring that in tomorrow night?
I got an idea or 2 on how to fix it but need to see and feel the part.
not tomorrow night. i start work at 5 but i can the night after. Id prefer to just bring the plastic screw base rather than the speedo as well if thats ok.
I have plastic welded ABS successfully before using nothing but a cheap soldering iron and some fresh abs filament. Infact the passenger side mirror on my car was forcibly removed, tearing the insides, and I welded it together, and its still fine now.
The key is to use the iron to heat the abs to the point of soft, but not burned. Keep moving the iron constantly, aiming to get the heat into the old plastic. Adding additional new abs from filament is also important, and you should aim to melt the new onto the softened old, and mix them into each other to create smushy puddle , and push it around. Its slow and painstaking work and the result is utterly fugly, but its structurally sound and can be cleaned up by dremmel later if its going to be seen.
id worry a bit about soldering it because if the plastic warps the orientation of the display could change.
Will anyone be there tonight?
I have a relative in Toowoomba that does (or did) plasitic welding as a profession. If you’d like to follow up with me, I’m usually at the Tuesday open nights - ask for Matthew / the guy from 4zzz fm.