G-Flex 650 for R-84 Royalite Canoe

I recently picked up a Mohawk Intrepid 16. I have an inquiry into Mohawk to see if my boat is made from Royalex or R-84 Royalite. Still waiting to hear back. The boat was manufactured in 2004 (Hull #: MMN27071C404).

I'm seeing some conflicting things online, so I wanted to ask here and see what the experts say.

G-Flex 650 seems to have a strong bond to regular Royalex, but I'm seeing mixed opinions about the bond G-Flex 650 has to R-84 Royalite. Has anyone had issues using G-Flex 650 on a R-84 Royalite boat?

I was on Mike Yee's website, doing research on rigging my canoe for WW, and I saw that he advertises Stabond for what he calls "R-lite" boats. This is what he says,

"Mike Yee Outfitting now carries Stabond glue, the only adhesive that successfully attaches vinyl anchors to R-Lite hulls. Re-attach your outfitting now with the confidence that it has failed for the last time"

I am assuming that R-Lite is the same as R-84 Royalite. So would Stabond glue be the correct choice for an adhesive on my Mohawk Intrepid 16, or should I stick with G-Flex 650?

According the the following Mohawk spec archive, a 16 foot Intrepid weighs 73 lbs. in Royalex and 63 lbs. in R84. Perhaps you can figure it out your hull material that way.


I don't ever recall using G/Flex to glue pads or anchors to a Royalex hull or any other hull. On my many Royalex canoes I always used a vinyl adhesive (Vynabond), since I was gluing a plastic attachment to the internal vinyl layer of the Royalex. I've never had an R84 hull. For foam knee pads, I've always used contact cement on all hulls.

I'd trust Yee's vast experience if what you are doing is gluing in attachments to a R84 hull. That's not to say some other glue might not be satisfactory for your usage, which is probably not extreme whitewater like Yee paddles.

Haven't done it in a while, but on Royalex I used Vynabond for attaching vinyl D-rings and Weldwood contact cement (red can) for gluing down closed cell foam knee pads. Never had to deal with R-84 Royalite. I think Dagger Canoes used the name R-Lite. Don't know if it is the same as Mowhawk's version.

p.s. - see Glenn just answered - great minds think alike.

Thank you both!

IIRC, Mohawk advertised that their R-84 had vinyl on the inside surface and some other plastic on the outside surface so that outfitting their R-84 canoes could be done the same as for Royalex canoes, though gluing anything on the outside (such as skid plates?) could be more problematic.

PaddlingPika said:

IIRC, Mohawk advertised that their R-84 had vinyl on the inside surface and some other plastic on the outside surface so that outfitting their R-84 canoes could be done the same as for Royalex canoes

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I don't get consistent responses from AI or regular searching as to what kind of plastic the inside skin on a Royalite hull is. It seems to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, or from year to year from the same manufacturer. Some say the inside layer is an acrylic thermoplastic called R-84, which is harder than the soft vinyl inner (and outer) layers on a Royalex hull. Others say the inside layer may be ABS plastic. Finally, some sources say some canoe manufacturers actually did put vinyl layers inside the hull of Royalite canoes for the very reason of allowing the same gluability as a Royalex hull.

It does seem that a vinyl glue is not appropriate for non-vinyl interiors. G/Flex would probably work on anything. NRS sells Yee's Stabond, but it's expensive. Plexus us an MMA glue used by some composite canoe manufactures to glue on foot pegs.

I'm pretty sure different manufacturers did have different versions of "Royalite". I bought an R-84 Mohawk Odyssey about 20 years ago so was paying attention to their descriptions. Here is a Mohawk ad page linked to on the Mohawk website Mohawk ad that describes the layers they used.

PaddlingPika said:

Here is a Mohawk ad page linked to on the Mohawk website Mohawk ad that describes the layers they used.

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That probably settles it for Mohawk: R-84 only on the outside of the sandwich and vinyl inside. Good memory and research.

PaddlingPika said:

IIRC, Mohawk advertised that their R-84 had vinyl on the inside surface and some other plastic on the outside surface so that outfitting their R-84 canoes could be done the same as for Royalex canoes, though gluing anything on the outside (such as skid plates?) could be more problematic.

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Fantastic! Thank you for this info

Glenn MacGrady said:

That probably settles it for Mohawk: R-84 only on the outside of the sandwich and vinyl inside. Good memory and research.

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ok. So vynabond it is then. Thanks so much. Amazing wealth of knowledge here.

PaddlingPika said:

IIRC, Mohawk advertised that their R-84 had vinyl on the inside surface and some other plastic on the outside surface so that outfitting their R-84 canoes could be done the same as for Royalex canoes, though gluing anything on the outside (such as skid plates?) could be more problematic.

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Called Mohawk today. They confirmed what PaddlingPika said. R-84 has vinyl on the inside and an acrylic mixture on the outside. They recommended a vinyl bond for glueing D-rings to the inside of an R-84 hull.