I've been working on the bike for a few years now. Grabbing parts here and there, making sure that all the maintenance is up to date. All this with the help of online forums and friendly bikers that I meet every now and than.
For the past few months, I took upon me a job to make this my dream bike. Actually, It's still not done but I thought that I'd show what I have so far. I know their are people out there that really enjoy looking at pictures (I'm one of them), especially the ones of before and after.
So, to get this project started, I had to buy fairings for one side of the bike. I ended up finding some for $80 on zxforums. They were rashed with a few serious holes but using a magical powder (plastifix), fiberglass sheets, some aluminum tape and some sand paper, I managed to fix them all. I than proceeded to get them painted which took me 3 weeks (mostly because I don't have my own booth or any body paint experience).
Anyhow, enough typing, lets see some pictures...
So as you can see here, a hole exists. So first I took out the dremel, made sure that their were no sharp edges.
Here is a better picture showing how big this missing piece actually is.
Like I said, Aluminum tape.
This is a view from the inside of the fairing. This is actually where plastifix will be laid out. First the powder, than the liquid. Make sure to layer it and not just throw it all on there.
This is after the plastifix is laid on the aluminum tape. You can see it's not completely straight so you'll need to sand it down until its straight. You could get the dremel back but be very careful - that tool is very powerful and could take out more than you need.
A top view of the plastifix filling.
And after some sanding.
The top view after some sanding.
Here is another hole. Remember, first aluminum tape, than plastifix and voila.
Now, you can also make big pieces, just take your time about it. I had a little mishap with my original upper fairing and I ended up losing a whole chunk of it. With a little time, some plastifix and aluminum tape, I fixed it.
Here is a picture of all the prep work done (you just went threw 2 weeks of work in a few minutes. Well two weeks an hour here, hour there... I'm not that slow)
Now this is where I started painting. Really, I'm not going to go to much into it. Now you might be thinking Tremclad but, I didn't use tremclad. Actually, I used automotive paint with the legit automotive clear. After hours of reading and researching, I just didn't find it worth it for a street bike. I wanted something that is strong and will last. For the paint, I went to NAPA and bought some Matte Black and it came with a clear. A few weeks later, lots of sanding and buffing out and I was all done. Well almost all done.
A comparison between my Shoei Matte Black and Fairing Matte Black:
And the entire set of fairings.
Now you're probably thinking, what does the bike look like? Well here are some pictures. We will start of with before, and than move onto after.
For the past few months, I took upon me a job to make this my dream bike. Actually, It's still not done but I thought that I'd show what I have so far. I know their are people out there that really enjoy looking at pictures (I'm one of them), especially the ones of before and after.
So, to get this project started, I had to buy fairings for one side of the bike. I ended up finding some for $80 on zxforums. They were rashed with a few serious holes but using a magical powder (plastifix), fiberglass sheets, some aluminum tape and some sand paper, I managed to fix them all. I than proceeded to get them painted which took me 3 weeks (mostly because I don't have my own booth or any body paint experience).
Anyhow, enough typing, lets see some pictures...
So as you can see here, a hole exists. So first I took out the dremel, made sure that their were no sharp edges.
Here is a better picture showing how big this missing piece actually is.
Like I said, Aluminum tape.
This is a view from the inside of the fairing. This is actually where plastifix will be laid out. First the powder, than the liquid. Make sure to layer it and not just throw it all on there.
This is after the plastifix is laid on the aluminum tape. You can see it's not completely straight so you'll need to sand it down until its straight. You could get the dremel back but be very careful - that tool is very powerful and could take out more than you need.
A top view of the plastifix filling.
And after some sanding.
The top view after some sanding.
Here is another hole. Remember, first aluminum tape, than plastifix and voila.
Now, you can also make big pieces, just take your time about it. I had a little mishap with my original upper fairing and I ended up losing a whole chunk of it. With a little time, some plastifix and aluminum tape, I fixed it.
Here is a picture of all the prep work done (you just went threw 2 weeks of work in a few minutes. Well two weeks an hour here, hour there... I'm not that slow)
Now this is where I started painting. Really, I'm not going to go to much into it. Now you might be thinking Tremclad but, I didn't use tremclad. Actually, I used automotive paint with the legit automotive clear. After hours of reading and researching, I just didn't find it worth it for a street bike. I wanted something that is strong and will last. For the paint, I went to NAPA and bought some Matte Black and it came with a clear. A few weeks later, lots of sanding and buffing out and I was all done. Well almost all done.
A comparison between my Shoei Matte Black and Fairing Matte Black:
And the entire set of fairings.
Now you're probably thinking, what does the bike look like? Well here are some pictures. We will start of with before, and than move onto after.
nice work.
