Building/Making a hugger LONG

I have had a couple of guys ask me for instructions, so
I'm putting them here so eveyrone that wants can build
one.

Ok so here is where to start.

Remover ANYTHING that's in the way and might get resin dripped on it.
Like your muffler, slip-on, or whatever you have. Tape up the rest, tape
over the chain guard, swing arm, tire, rim, EVERYTHING. Resin doesn't
stick well to blue painters tape or duct tape. But I use duct tape for hard
joints I'll get to that in a bit.

So everything is taped up and moved out of the way. Don't forget the break
line. You can fold it over the tire. Next you can to take your hard board,
card board and cut it to width, it doesn't have to be perfect I would rather it
not be. This gives you room for shaping. But you want it close to the length
over the top of the tire and down to the sing arm. Mine ends at the top of
the swing arm with a little lip for support. The lip can be made with tape to
hold that part in place for the time being. You can now use duct tape and
tape it down to the tire. The thickness of the card board is going to be how
far the hugger sits off the tire. So if you think its too close add another piece.

Next is the chain side and here you can use the thick hard paper like kids use
for school projects. This part is going to rest on top of your current chain guard
and extend to the tire part you already have taped. So what you want to do is
make it the length of the guard and put a bow in it up to the tire. You don't want
it at a 90deg angle to the tire. This is what will give you shape to that part so
you can control how that angle is. A soft taper will be a longer piece, a hard
taper will be shorter. So, you tape this part to the edge outside edge and inside
edge both towards the back. This will help keep it in place while you have the
wider part going up to the tire. If it touches the tire don't worry. We still have to
mold it and get its proper shape. Now you want to tape all parts together with
blue tape and duct tape.

Ok, now, if the part going from the chain guard touches the tire you will want to
add bondo in that bend between the guard and the tire. Just build it up and shape
it to your liking. I use spoons, dipping, and eating size to get the desired shape.
Not using so much hardener in your bondo will give you longer working time but
too little and it wont harden. Now that you have it close to the shape its time to
sand it smooth where you applied bondo. You can chew it up fast with the front
of a belt sanders wheel or take it down slow with hand tools. You can wrap sand
paper around garden hose or PVC pipe to help hold the angle your after between
the tire and chain guard. I would use 60-80 grit here. Your just looking to get it
close, not perfect.

Now that you have it close its time to now tape that part with duct tape. Your
ready for fiberglass. Now if you have never worked with it here is what you want.

medical gloves

polyester resin I use Boat Yard brand from Boaters World 30 bucks a gal

random strand glass. That's the stuff that looks like stings going every which way

acid or throw away paint brushes Walmart sells these for like 50 cents each just get a hand full..

lastly butter tubs or any plastic bowl. Just a couple is fine. If the resin hardens in it you can peel or pop it out of the bowl once hard..

Now prep your glass. Take the random strand and rip it into pieces use your gloves here. Your looking for pieces about the size of a dollar bill or base ball. Its OK if the strands aren't even that's what you want. Do not use anything to cut it, pull it apart.... Now your going to take the edge of the glass and separate it (making it thinner). All of these steps help the glass lay next to each piece and make bends.

Double check your tape job on your bike, do you see anything that should be covered or something you don't want resin on. Now is the time to slap a piece of tape over it. Is the hugger mold the shape your looking for? What I mean is does it cover the part of the tire you want covered and transition to the chain guard? If not do a bit more bondo work.

Ok mix up your resin. Now if you found the boat yard brand you see its purple in color and when you add the hardener and mix it up WELL it will turn to a brown color. The darker the brown the hotter the mix, the faster you have to work. Polyester resin isn't like Epoxy resin where its an exact measurement to get the two chemicals to mix properly and form a solid. This is where you want a couple of plastic bowls. You can mix it with a spoon or with your paint brushes. You should also have a good pile of your torn fiberglass on your work table or near your bike.

Wet out the surface of the hugger. Every place you want to cover with glass wet it out. Now I don't mean GOOP it up, just a nice even coat of resin. Put the bowl down and get your glass laying an even layer on the area your covering. When you wet out the area your just doing so to make these pieces stick. Once the area is covered you will now dab them down with the edge of the paint brush. Pushing it into the resin. If it looks dry simply add more resin to that part. Now, you can make your glass extend past the area you have in mind to be the hugger. This will get sanded to shape, and its best to do so. Once you have all the tape off and lay it back on the bike you may like to change the shape and you will have the material to do so.

Sit back have a beer, coke, smoke, coffee..... The glass is going to kick, if you made your resin really hot it may smoke if so open all windows and doors and don't get high its bad news stuff. Once its tacks or dries (20 or so min) you can now wet out the area again, this is called working wet on wet you don't have to sand the surface to get the next coat to stick or any here after. You now do the same process wet out the area and lay glass and keep doing so until you have it thick enough to your liking. Mine is 1/8" but I would suggest going a bit thicker.

Once the area is covered your looking to cover its time to pop it off after it dries. Again this depends on how much hardener you used. As long as it doesn't feel tacky its dry, also you can use a hair drier to aid in the process, if you use a heat gun just keep it moving or you can burn the glass. More than likely it will take tools to remove the hugger. Flathead screw drivers and such, work in large area's don't try to pull it up from say the chain guard. Remember you pushed out all the air when you were dabbing the glass into the resin so its going to be stuck pretty good. Take your time and work it up.

Once you have it up you can see its shape, now you can take a belt sander or other hand sanders to get the shape your after. Don't worry if you cracked the glass, you can fix it even if its cracked in half it can be fixed.

Now, if you dabbed your glass it should be somewhat smooth on the flat surfaces and edges will look like a torture device. Just sand all that off and rough up the top or flat surfaces. Now your ready to skim coat it with bondo. You can use a credit card, old drivers lic anything like that to smooth out the surface. Make up your bondo and work it like icing on a cake. Trying to keep it level and uniform. Don't worry most of it will get sanded off. Your just trying to level everything off and get out any pin holes. I like to make this part as smooth as possible. Going from 80 grit to 220 or so perhaps even 300. The smoother the better. You can even wet sand it with 400-600. Your now ready for primer. I use a high build spray can primer on mine made by Dupli-color. Use per directions, I used 3 to 4 coats sanding the last with 1000 before the color coat of Flame red by Dupli-color and clear by the same company.

I will be happy to answer any questions in the process and sorry if it seems I was talking in circles. I'm laid up in bed with the funk and also a disease I have. I don't have pictures of my build process but this is the final outcome.

 

I may build another, only extending the chain guard to
hold the tag. If I do I'll take step by step pictures. Its
really pretty easy and most anyone could do it in a
weekend even if they have never worked with glass.
What takes the longest is taping up everything, the
prep work.

 

Nice write-up!!! I have done a little glass work before, but only repairing components, not making them from scratch!!!! I just might have to try this, if I can find the stuff here in Germany. Great info, thanks!!!!

 

Thanks a lot Fly, looks great. I think I'll try a seat cowl first using your glassing technique since that should be a little easier and then tackle the hugger. I'll take lots of pictures and if they turn out reasonable I'll post them. Thanks again.

 

It should work fine for making a seat cowl, though it could be done
easier for that part. If your talking about making a new rear fairing
its easier to make a frame and use cloth like grill cloth or fleece pulling
it over the frame work. Then you paint it with resin let it harden and
you have your form to lay the glass over. Much easier than making
a mold like below if you can make frame work. It would be like building
one end of a canoe if you will. If you need better directions let me know
I can help with that one also.