Plastics: How much scratching is too much to repaint? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Plastics: How much scratching is too much to repaint?

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bombshelter13

Well-known member
I have a number of very minor, hairline scratches on my rear plastics - they're super-shallow, you certainly couldn't feel them by touch, but in bright lighting you can see them if you look closely for them. I'm pretty sure they're from being not especially careful in choosing cloths to wipe the plastics down with and using random towels/rags that were laying around the garage.

My hope is that they're just in the surface layer, and that I can cover them up when I repaint them over the winter (going from a stock gloss black to a matte black).

How likely is it that I'm right about this, and that these sort of scratches are only be in the surface layer? If that's the case, they should be completely invisible/gone once the plastics have been stripped of old paint and repainted flat black, right?

I'll track down new plastics and paint those if I have to, but it's certainly cheaper if I don't have to.
 
You should have no problem if you want to repaint your plastics. You'll be sanding them down so the paint sticks anyways. If you're worried about it for now, I've heard of people heating up their plastics with a hair dryer, then polishing them to get light scratches out. I'd do some reading before trying that though...
 
An aftermarket paint job will usually end up being +5 mil deep, so if you can't feel the scratches I wouldn't worry about it. Even if the scratches were severe, your painter would just use filler if the primer alone wasn't going to do the job. People usually paint their fairings because their farings are scratched and don't want to dish for new ones... you seem to be going backwards here. :p

Ever consider a wrap?
 
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Try polishing it first before you do the paint work, it's cheaper and will most likely get all the minor scratches/swirls off your plastics
 
1WheelDrive, I haven't heard of wrap - from the name I'm guessing it involves covering the plastic with a sheet of some other material instead of painting? What kind of material, and can I find examples of what it might look like somewhere?

And yeah, it does seem a bit silly to buy new ones and paint 'em right away, which is why I'd rather reuse the ones I have. ;) Sadly they don't make stock fairings in the colour I want or I'd just buy those.

Interested in hearing more about this 'wrap' thing! If it can achieve a nice flat black, it might suit my needs.
 
bombshelter13 said:
1WheelDrive, I haven't heard of wrap - from the name I'm guessing it involves covering the plastic with a sheet of some other material instead of painting? What kind of material, and can I find examples of what it might look like somewhere?

And yeah, it does seem a bit silly to buy new ones and paint 'em right away, which is why I'd rather reuse the ones I have. ;) Sadly they don't make stock fairings in the colour I want or I'd just buy those.

Interested in hearing more about this 'wrap' thing! If it can achieve a nice flat black, it might suit my needs.
Click to expand...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=motorcycle+wrap :D
 
I talked to the vehicle wrap guys at Performance World. He said the Mercedes he had wrapped would be $2000-$3000 I was laughing hysterically as I walked away.

Sent from my Desire HD
 
bombshelter13 said:
1WheelDrive, I haven't heard of wrap - from the name I'm guessing it involves covering the plastic with a sheet of some other material instead of painting? What kind of material, and can I find examples of what it might look like somewhere?

And yeah, it does seem a bit silly to buy new ones and paint 'em right away, which is why I'd rather reuse the ones I have. ;) Sadly they don't make stock fairings in the colour I want or I'd just buy those.

Interested in hearing more about this 'wrap' thing! If it can achieve a nice flat black, it might suit my needs.
Click to expand...

I'm in the process of wrapping my bike right now, so I know a little something about it. It's pretty much what you think it is... a big sticker that will cover your fairings. The stuff I've been using is made specificially for wrapping cars with an expected 4 year life. It's the same stuff they use for advertising wraps and the clear chip guards they put on new cars. It doesn't trap air when you put it on, it streches well and can recover its shape with applied heat, won't stick to itself etc etc...

If you go to someone to get it done, it'll cost you in the ballpark of +500 bucks... 3/5th's of which will be labour. If you go to a shop to get it done, make sure you go to one that knows a bit about doing it on bike. Most of these shops do cars and by comparison, they're dead easy. Talk to them about compound bends and tight corners.. make sure they're using edge sealers, primers and stipping tape (for seams). Ask them how many seams will be on each piece etc... the less seams, the more labour it will be.

Make no mistake about it... this isn't easy to do. If you want to take it on for yourself, expect any piece you're going to work on to take 5+ hrs... with the exception of your side fairings which would be the easiest of the lot.

Feel free to PM for details. Good luck.
 
GrantH said:
I talked to the vehicle wrap guys at Performance World. He said the Mercedes he had wrapped would be $2000-$3000 I was laughing hysterically as I walked away.

Sent from my Desire HD
Click to expand...

Clearly I need to go into the wrapping business... jeez.
 
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