saddlebag fitment

I am very interested in fitting some of the Krauser or Hepco -style bags to my paralever R100S I'm building. It will have an R100 mono subframe.

The catch is I want the white bags, as I'm building a Motorsport styled bike based on an R100R. Hepco doesn't make them in white and advises against painting (which might not be the end of it...)

Does anyone know if the twin-shock bags could be fitted to a mono subframe? If so, then I can start the search for a nice set of white bags, if there's any possibility of finding such.

Thanks for any help!

If you decide to paint, use a flex additive called 'Bulldog'...you prime the plastic with a coupla coats of it before you shoot the finish coat...then add 10% of Bulldog to the paint...you should be okay...it's what they use on all the flexible stuff on modern cars...get Bulldog at your local auto body paint supply...

Great info. Probably will need to find a flexible primer as well, or use the additive in the primer, too.

Am thinking if I go the paint route, might very lightly sandblast the plastic to give it some tooth to hold the primer securely.

Thanks!
-Mark M.

Post pictures if you can. Lot's of folks ask about doing just that (paint), but I haven't seen any yet.

For what its worth, I have an original set of white Krausers and they tend to yellow. the interior is bright white still, so I can only assume it has to do with UV rays.

AnnapolisAirhead said:

Post pictures if you can. Lot's of folks ask about doing just that (paint), but I haven't seen any yet.

For what its worth, I have an original set of white Krausers and they tend to yellow. the interior is bright white still, so I can only assume it has to do with UV rays.

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True, UV is the culprit. However, the UV inhibitors in an exterior automotive paint will work much better than those that were formulated into the original thermoplastic material that the bag was molded from.

Paint Adhesion? Mechanical abrasion (light sand blast) versus chemical etching (solvent)... your call. It probably wouldn't hurt to do both as long as you don't destroy the finish. I assume these bags have had years of Amour All or other silicone-based products applied to keep them shiny.

mmmalmberg said:

Great info. Probably will need to find a flexible primer as well, or use the additive in the primer, too.

Am thinking if I go the paint route, might very lightly sandblast the plastic to give it some tooth to hold the primer securely.

Thanks!
-Mark M.

Click to expand...

If you use Bulldog as I suggested, you WON'T need primer...the Bulldog you are spraying on the bare surface acts as your primer...do it exactly as I described, and you should be good...don't over do it, and build the material too much! You want a fairly thin, but even, coat on there...Just don't overdo it!!!

AnnapolisAirhead said:

Post pictures if you can. Lot's of folks ask about doing just that (paint), but I haven't seen any yet.

Click to expand...

Mine are painted. Bigger photo at the CarDomain link in my sig. Click on the upper photo and you can see how yellowed they were.

For what its worth, I have an original set of white Krausers and they tend to yellow. the interior is bright white still, so I can only assume it has to do with UV rays.

Click to expand...

Maybe oxidation, too. I have two sets of white bags (Neither for a paralever, so they won't help you.) and both badly yellowed inside and out. I tried everything I could think of to clean the yellowing and all I got was really clean yellowed bags. So I went out and got some Krylon Fusion?« paint for plastics. I used semigloss Dover White, which is very close to Polizeiwei?ƒ and has a similar sheen to the original plastic. I didn't use a primer, but I was shooting over white, too. It seems to cover well, so you might not need a primer, just a second coat. Two years later, they look fine and no one has ever thought they were anything other than original.