Dear fellow st owners, my 2008 pannier rubber seal starting to came apart in our hot and humid year round weather. Any recommend or suggestion, can it be replace, repair or ???
Aging rubber seal
- Thread starter Hellstormer
- Start date
Re: Ageing rubber seal
Which seal? Where is it located?
Edit: got it, "pannier seal". Somehow read 2008 pan instead of pannier.
Which seal? Where is it located?
Edit: got it, "pannier seal". Somehow read 2008 pan instead of pannier.
Last edited:
Didn't have to change them on my 03 yet, but it looks like you can purchase replacements.
Isn't that for the NT, not ST? Guess you coudl cut/gluoe/splice. Better then nothing as long as it is the right thickness and profile.
Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
It's not a separate part; the two parts called out are the left and right saddlebag covers.
Best thing to do to preserver those gaskets is an annual wipedown with food-grade silicone spray. (Just liquid silicone, not the lubricating stuff you use on car door hinges and the like. You can find the right stuff at a dive shop.)
--Mark
They don't sell it as a separate part, comes together with the whole saddlebag cover ($354)...
Thanks for your tips, any ideas how to secure back the seal that has been detached ?
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Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
Yeah, that's a drag.They don't sell it as a separate part, comes together with the whole saddlebag cover ($354)...
I've never removed mine, so I have no idea how it's attached. Based on the picture in the parts catalog, my guess would be that it has an adhesive backing that isn't going to work well once it's been separated. 3M and others make liquid weatherstripping adhesive that you might be able to inject into any detached areas. If the whole seal is out, you'll want to clean the channel where it goes first.
If the seal itself is damaged, some adhesive-backed seal material might be a decent replacement. I don't know what would be available in Singapore, but most of the industrial supply houses in the U.S. have material with an adhesive backing in various shapes sold by length. Something soft like silicone foam seems like the right thing. It wouldn't be a 100% perfect replacement for the factory seal, but it would probably do a good enough job if you made sure the joint where the ends meet is at the bottom of the saddlebag and is sealed up with a little dab of RTV.
If you can post a picture or two of the channel the seal goes in and the condition of everything, I can use that to make better suggestions.
--Mark
Previous owner might did some diy repair by using clear silicone...
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Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
That seal looks like it's had it.
You might be able to replace it with some bulb seal, which is essentially rubber tubing with a self-adhesive flat side that looks like one of these two styles:
You'll want something that's as soft and flexible as what's on the bike and resists water, maybe closed-cell silicone or rubber foam. Make sure the channel is cleaned out down to the plastic before installing anything new. Not sure where to point you for that sort of thing in your part of the world; maybe call a couple of industrial supply houses. If they don't carry it, they can probably point you in the right direction. The dimensions you'll want to measure and have on hand are the width of the channel and the height of the seal so you can select the right stuff.
One more thing: if you install this stuff, there will be a joint where the ends meet. That joint won't be waterproof, so you'll want it at the bottom of the saddlebag, and you may be able to seal it up with a thin coating of silicone adhesive.
Hope that helps.
--Mark
You might be able to replace it with some bulb seal, which is essentially rubber tubing with a self-adhesive flat side that looks like one of these two styles:
You'll want something that's as soft and flexible as what's on the bike and resists water, maybe closed-cell silicone or rubber foam. Make sure the channel is cleaned out down to the plastic before installing anything new. Not sure where to point you for that sort of thing in your part of the world; maybe call a couple of industrial supply houses. If they don't carry it, they can probably point you in the right direction. The dimensions you'll want to measure and have on hand are the width of the channel and the height of the seal so you can select the right stuff.
One more thing: if you install this stuff, there will be a joint where the ends meet. That joint won't be waterproof, so you'll want it at the bottom of the saddlebag, and you may be able to seal it up with a thin coating of silicone adhesive.
Hope that helps.
--Mark
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No help from me on a replacement but I do recommend keeping the seal lubricated. I smear a light coating of Syl-Glyde silicone grease on with my finger. I leave it on a few minutes and wipe the excess off with a rag or paper towel. I've used it for years on various weather sealing parts like the panniers and door and trunk seals.
Not sure it is just the weather causing the degradation. My 03's look practically new although they have seen hotter and just as humid as yours.
Any damage or sticky substance on the mating grooves?
Wondering where the PO had the bike parked, as it seems the windshield is gone too?
Or maybe he just wasn't very careful trying to close overloaded panniers and pinching the load while closing?
Yes, agreed. Maybe previous owners has being letting this gal enjoying our bright, hot and humid sun too much.
Hop, luckily there isn't any sticky substance being spotted...
Cheerz !
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The seal ends at the bottom (center) of the pannier. I'll take some measurement of the seal and update here... Found some one the ebay that come with 3M self adhesive tape.That seal looks like it's had it.
You might be able to replace it with some bulb seal, which is essentially rubber tubing with a self-adhesive flat side that looks like one of these two styles:
You'll want something that's as soft and flexible as what's on the bike and resists water, maybe closed-cell silicone or rubber foam. Make sure the channel is cleaned out down to the plastic before installing anything new. Not sure where to point you for that sort of thing in your part of the world; maybe call a couple of industrial supply houses. If they don't carry it, they can probably point you in the right direction. The dimensions you'll want to measure and have on hand are the width of the channel and the height of the seal so you can select the right stuff.
One more thing: if you install this stuff, there will be a joint where the ends meet. That joint won't be waterproof, so you'll want it at the bottom of the saddlebag, and you may be able to seal it up with a thin coating of silicone adhesive.
Hope that helps.
--Mark
I did the same on one of mine earlier this year (the left side, IIRC) because the seal strip no longer remained where it belonged on its own. The strip itself was intact so the silicone caulk I laid in the groove is essentially a replacement adhesive. So far so good but it's only been a few months.
blrfl said:
I've seen hard plastic internal tubing "joiners" that have one-way texturing on them, so that you can form a complete loop that will tend to stay together (and minimize the gap between the ends of the tubing) instead of wanting to come apart. The joiner is a couple inches long and j-u-s-t slightly larger than the internal diameter of the tubing it connects; it has ridges around it so the tubing has something to grab onto to keep it in place.
Good luck!
Try mcmastercarr.com and search for bulb seal - lets see if this works: Linky
I suspect that McMaster Carr will ship all over the world, but the shipping cost just might make the whole pannier lid seem affordable. And then there are import taxes and the like. And McM C is not known to be inexpensive.....
Thank you, Mark, I had no idea what that stuff was called.
I suspect that McMaster Carr will ship all over the world, but the shipping cost just might make the whole pannier lid seem affordable. And then there are import taxes and the like. And McM C is not known to be inexpensive.....
Thank you, Mark, I had no idea what that stuff was called.
Many years ago, when I was young and poor, I opened commercial accounts all over town by making up fictitious company names (welll, only one or two) and I used those to buy a lot of the materials I needed wholesale. Of course, in those days, credit was a lot easier to come by - hey, I don't know if they even had credit scores back then. When I needed it, I got a tax number to 'prove' the validity of my company and I happily kept track and paid the state sales tax at the end of the year - after all, I was saving quite a bit on my purchases.
All this is not a suggestion to break the law, but if your money is the same as everyone else's, does McM C really care if you are named ABC, LLC or Juan Doe?