Cosmetic repairs

Wasted

Wasted

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So, my bike was dropped by the original owner before I bought it. Got a pretty decent price because it has some left side cosmetic damage. I brought my mechanic out who gave it a cleam bill of health and that was that. I wasn't sure if I was going to fix it or not but as time goes on it's really starting to bug me. I know that the smart money is on me causing more damage down the road but I can live with that becuase I will have done it myself. I really want to fix the scrapes that are on it now and if I lay it down and scuff it up again, so be it.

My question to all of you is about replacing the front cowl. It looks like the OEM is pretty expensive and possibly comes with a lot of peices I don't need. The only thing that's cracked is the plasitc on either side of the ugly decepticon headlight. If there a more frugal way of replacing just the plastic without all of the peripherals, or am I stuck buying the whole thing. I'm seeing these full fairing kits for $500 and $600 and thinking that there must be a way to just buy that 1 peice of black plastic.
The left fairing has a bit of damage too but it's only paint deep and I think that repainting is the way to go there, however thoughts or suggestions are more than welcome.
 
Call scrapyards to see if they have one. Or just use JB PlasticWeld from canadian tire (under $10) to fix the cracks, works amazing. You have to sand it down after it dries but then just spray bomb it. Just get touch up paint for the scratches.
 
I have a few scuffs on my plastics so what do I need to do? Some of the scratches are maybe 1mm deep. Do I sand them back, get touch up paint that matches my bike and then put a clearcoat on? Was wondering about the touch up paint because there's some kind of metalic speckle in the OEM plastics.

Is this difficult to do for say a 5x5 cm patch, can I do it myself or should I just take it to someone to do properly?
 
So the first pic is the scratches on the left side. Pic 2 is a small bit of rash on the front cowl. 3 is the crack in the front cowl beside the light. 4 is a peice of the front cowl that has broken off. And 5 is a pic showing that the front cowl no longer really lines up with the dash anymore.

Any thoughts on how to tackle this?
 

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jc100 said:
I have a few scuffs on my plastics so what do I need to do? Some of the scratches are maybe 1mm deep. Do I sand them back, get touch up paint that matches my bike and then put a clearcoat on? Was wondering about the touch up paint because there's some kind of metalic speckle in the OEM plastics.

Is this difficult to do for say a 5x5 cm patch, can I do it myself or should I just take it to someone to do properly?
Click to expand...

depends how fussy you are with the looks of the bike.
if the factory paint has metallic flake in it you will never match it with a spray bomb due to the fact the fluid tip on a spray bomb is much smaller than a one sprayed from a factory machine.

plus to make it look right the whole panel should be painted, doing a small patch in a middle of a panel will make the metallic look patchy, and out of place
 
#1and#2: if they weren't too deep i would try to get some color match wax and buff it in. I actually used black shoe polish on my cars bumper that had scuffs like that and it covered it up pretty well too.

#3: I would take the plastic off and JB Weld it from the back side taking care not to let it seep through to the front. If it did get to the front wipe it off immediately, get it all off. If it dried on the front you might have to sand it off (lightly), color match wax and buff.

#4: You can try to build it back up using fibreglass and such then repainting and buffing. Thats alot of work as you need a very good eye for detail to match the original contour of the plastic.

#5: I would take the front cowlings off and re-install in that spot first. That way you can see why it doesnt line up any more. Maybe the clip inside is bent or even broken or missing. Its just a matter of taken screws out and remembering where they go. They're different lengths at some spots.

This is what I would do as i like to do stuff with my hands. In reality those are all simple fixes but at the same time you dont want to get ripped off. Maybe there are some recommendations on this site for some good and decent body shops for #4.
 
How strong is JB weld? I've got a small triangle broken off from the front of my fairing. Would it be strong enough to hold it in place? This is a flat piece and I don't really want to put a brace or fiberglass cloth behind it, ideal solution would be a super strong glue just along the cross-section.
 
bboySushi said:
How strong is JB weld? I've got a small triangle broken off from the front of my fairing. Would it be strong enough to hold it in place? This is a flat piece and I don't really want to put a brace or fiberglass cloth behind it, ideal solution would be a super strong glue just along the cross-section.
Click to expand...

JB weld is incredibly strong,
just make sure both pieces are clean before you attach the two togeather
 
JB Weld is amazing. I "glued" an aluminum bracket to the inside of rear seat cover and it holds tough. It's used to bond a wide variety of materials, not just plastic. Super glue has nothing on JB! Also used it on cracked plastics.
 
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