Crack in Fairing, how much for repair?

[michael50786]

Hey everyone, I'm sure this has been asked many times, but...as you can see, crack in the fairing, estimate of how much to be fixed and has anyone got some good recommendations???



Plastic storage container blew across the freeway because of a truck, wasnt quite quick enough in my reactions

[House]

Think I've seen this bike at UWA?

I can't tell from the photo, but are there bits of plastic missing or is it just cracked?

If it's just cracked (or if only small bits are missing), then get hold of some Q-Bond. It's a 2 part plastic welding product that's awesome for fixing fairings. The glue part can be used on the outside of the fairing to stabilise the cracked bits, then the powder part and the glue part are used together on the inside of the fairing to give a ridiculously strong "weld". It can also be used to fill in small-ish missing areas of plastic, which the instructions it comes with will tell you how to do. Some spray putty would also help on the outside to get things sanded nice and smooth for painting.

If there's actually large-ish bits of plastic missing, then it gets more complicated. You'll need to get hold of a fibreglass repair kit ($20-30 from bunnings or an auto shop) and some bodywork filler. Fibreglass over the inside of the fairing to cover the missing areas, then put filler on the outside before sanding it back flush with the rest.

Paint may or may not be something you want to do yourself, depending on how concerned you are with your bikes looks. White is THE easiest colour to paint though.

Even if you get it painted professionally, it should be much cheaper if you do the bodywork repairs yourself and take it along already repaired and sanded.

[michael50786]

yes that sounds smart, and yes you have seen this bike at uwa

Yeah there is a little bit of plastic missing, that hole in the picture is the only one and its pretty small (just fit the top of ur finger through it-ish) so i think ill try your idea. Sounds good. Where would i get good quality gloss touch up paint for it?

[House]

If the hole is that small then Q-Bond will be fine. Basically you put some tape on the back of the fairing, then pour the powder into the hole and level it out before using the liquid to set it in place and fill up the missing area. You'd probably want to use some spray putty on it as the Q-bond has a slightly porous texture that can be annoying to sand smooth for painting.

You'll want some wet and dry sandpaper (paint section at bunnings, $1 something a sheet). 400 grit for the initial sanding down and 800 grit for the final sanding before paint.

Touch up paint can be had from just about any auto shop, though you may want to try and track down a paint code for your bike to make sure the touch up paint totally matches the rest of it.

Alternately, there's a place in Bayswater, Automotive Paint Centre if I remember correctly, which can apparently "scan" your paint with a machine that then tells them what paints they need to mix to make some up that matches your bike. They can then put your paint in either a little bottle with a brush or in a spray can.

I'm not sure how much of an issue paint "matching" is with white though, it might not even be a problem at all.

After you put all your coats of paint on, you may want to sand it again to smooth out any imperfections and blend the new paint in with the rest. For that you can use 1500 grit followed by 2000 grit followed by a decent polish to restore the shine (the fine sanding creates a dull surface, polish glosses it up again).

[perdition]

nice replies ID357, imformant and well presented/very cool :-)

[House]

Thanks perdition.

I learned all that the hard way about this time last year

http://www.perthstreetbikes.com/foru...th-pics-35757/

So yeah, I know how much it sucks to be a bike newbie with bodywork damage