That's what I'm worried about too...that plastic is hard to stick things too.

Hopefully somebody's done this repair, I don't think it's uncommon....

 

Joe how about some pictures of the damage? You might get more ideas

 

That is a terrific idea. I'm going to take them off this weekend to wash all the bike week rain mess off of the bike so I'll post up some pics.

 

I'm in the middle of getting parts ready to paint. Had a bad deep scratch on one of the bags. Asked a fella that works for a body shop for an idea how to fix it. We used some 3M stuff called panel adhesive. I had used it to fix a few parts some time ago but had forgotten. He uses it repair flexible bumper covers. It's tough to sand and shape but certainly strong enough.

It dang sure ain't cheap but works very well.

WP

 

Lord Fusor plastic repair.

 

I had a crack develop in my left saddlebag on my '91 FLSTC. Started small and, as yours did, it grew. I ended up going to Menards (I'm in MN) and picked up the plastic welding kit that I believe others mentioned in their responses. It worked great. Included in the kit was a section of metal screen just like you would have in a screen door as well as some sections of plastic filler rods. The filler rods are just filler material but the screen will reinforce the repair area.
All you have to do is clean and scuff the repair area. Cut a section of the screen large enough to cover the repair area. Heat up the iron and press the screen with the iron into the melting plastic in the repair area. Cover the screen with more filler rods by gradually melting the rods with the iron until covered. You can dress the repair by sanding if you want. I left mine as is but tried to a least blend it or feather it out so that it's not too rough.
Mine has held and is way more ridged than it was previously.
Really easy fix that will only cost you about $20 and an hour or so of your time. Good Luck!

 

Thanks for the input, I will look into this. I've got the bags off but no pics yet, I'll post some this weekend.

 

Look up plasti fix. 35$ for kit and it forms chemicaly and really strong, also preps great for sanding and paint. I just repaired some cracked lower fairings I bought off craigslist. There are videos on YouTube of plasti fix and how to use it. Check it out

 

Thanks for the lead - my mounting holes are pretty cracked up and it's going to be very difficult to weld them.

Have you ever used this product with HDPE plastic, which is indeed what the backs are made of? I've had trouble getting products to stick to that in the past.

Guys thanks for all this insight. I will try to get pics up tonight so you can see what I'm dealing with.

 

Not sure what HDPE is but my lowers are factory HD from a wrecked ultra and they had split on the bottom where the clamp bolt hole was to mount to the engine guard.