scratch repair worth the bother?

I bought a 2004 VFR (ABS) last night from the original owner. He bought it in 2006. The miles were amazingly low, 2,700. Today I found some light scratches. Should I bother trying to fix the scratches? here's the story:

It seemed so totally straight forward--bike collecting dust in a garage in a subdivision in suburbia. The guy's wife is pregnant, he never rides so he's going to sell the bike.

These winter days are so damn short here in CA that I saw the bike at early dusk. I bought the bike a week later after work (5:30pm) when daylight hours are totally gone and it looks like midnight outside.

Here's the thing--admiring the bike today at work on a coffee break I noticed some light scratches on the lower right fairing (pics to come soon). It's a driveway tipover from the looks of it. I talked the guy down to $4,800 (paid too much?) but I'm a little bit pissed because he never mentioned anything about dropping the bike (I know, that's on me to find, buyer beware, yada yada)--but that's bad juju if you ask me. I disclose everything when I sell something and I think most people do.

Bike runs great. And, to be honest the light scrape doesn't bother me except that I'm mad at myself for not noticing because I would have talked him down further.

Is it even possible to buff out, paint, or "fix" light scratching on the bike. I believe the color is called "asphalt black." If somebody has some before/after pics and a method that works....I'll go for it. Otherwise I guess I just stab that dudes voodoo doll with some pins and move on.

And, I absolutely love the bike so far. Plan to ride cross country this spring.

 

That really is a personal thing, I suppose. At least the plastic won't rust or discolor, although whether or not scratched plastic has premature aging issues is beyond me.

All of my vehicles have minor blemishes; some caused by others, some caused by me. I tend to focus on maintenance/reliability and not worry too much about appearance, but that's me. Some of the pictures posted by other members amaze me; there are some impressively clean and detailed bikes out there.

I don't think that you'll be banned for purposely keeping the scratches, though... :smile:

 

Im like you. I see how clean other people keep their cars and bikes and I'm amazed, guilty feeling even. I think "man I can't keep anything that spotless."

So, I not too bothered.

I emailed the guy who sold me the bike today and asked him if he dropped it from the standpoint of curiousity. He says he didn't drop it. So now I'm like, "hey ok good enough for me." He says the scratches are from things brushing up against it in the garage. Maybe so. I don't care.

If there is a quick, cheap, effective way to remove the scrathes I'll try it. But if removing these scratches will take a ton of elbow grease, money, or time...eh, forgetaboutit.

my curiousity is with the paint. It is a flat black, like the Ducati Monster "dark" that I once owned. I'm not sure anything can be done about scratches. I know there's touch up paint or this product or that one, but my gut tells me you can't do anything about scratches to this matte black color.

Oh well, cancel the bad juju, start making plans for a ride.

 

post pics. it'd be easier to point you in the right direction if we could see what the damage is and give you the correct diagnosis.

 

I'll try to get some pics from my phone up tonight.

On closer inspection, and because I want to believe the seller, maybe he didn't drop the bike (not that it matters).

The scratches look like what you'd imagine would happen if you drove past some bushes or something and it brushed against the bike...or they look like a driveway tipover. haha.

I definately need to show you what I'm talking about to give you an idea what could be done.

If I can buff out the scratches that would be awesome. But can you do something like that with this matte black paint? i don't know.

btw, I went for an afternoon coffee break to admire the bike some more and I had a parking ticket!! The damn meter was broken what was I supposed to do? Im fighting this one. San Francisco is so damn broke right now. I guess they need my $65 from a bogus parking ticket to keep the lights on in City Hall.

With the way my luck is going I might need to park the bike until 2012!

 

Just a heads-up,Color Rite offers the NH436 Asphalt Black for your '04 in a rattle can for $38.95.

Here's the link. Click me.>>>>>Honda NH436 Asphalt - ColorRite

Keep in mind that there is no topcoat for the Asphalt Black paint on your bike.

 

I've used ScratchX with pretty good results, although it might be different on that specific paint.

 

Could use a black Sharpie too. It works on black vee-hickles until you wash them vigorously.

 

+1 ^ I just used it to rub some heavy scratches out of my wife's car the other day and have used several times with varying success depending on the depth of the scratches. It is made by Maguires.