Fixing Fairings

Hi Mates,

Someone close to me had a slow speed/stationary off with my bike and dropped on RHS. Upper front right fairing had cracks around indicator, also at the main mounting bolt (near front of fuel tank). I don't wanna spend $$ if I can do myself haha
I have approximated cracked pieces with supaglue, reinforced under with fiberglass kit, will fill upper side visible cracks remaining with auto filler and sand back till smooth..... then what?
must be a Honda spray paint available (for the lovely red of the 4th gen 1995 VFR750)/ also, do I need a clear spray after that to bring up the shine?

Has anyone done this with a good result? Any hints or links would be muchly appreciated!

Also, what's the best way to deal with the fine scratches on RHS mid fairing where it hit the gravel?

Thanks all,

Geoff

 

Good morning or evening mate:wave:
This question was ask couple days ago, red will be tough to match but if you don't care that can be done and yes clear coat would help protect the paint
and bring out the shine. I do have sharpies for touch up if you need some ound:

 

A dropped bike is never fun. Hence quite a lot of people end up fitting proper frame sliders - but all too often only after the bike has hit the deck at least once.

I guess if the cracks in the fairing are small then a repair with superglue (which is relatively inflexible) may be OK. But if the split is long, or includes areas subject to stress loadings like a fairing mounting which will flex quite a lot then it may not last. So you may be better off buying a proper ABS plastic repair kit. If you are on a budget then a hot melt glue gun can weld the damaged material back together and even be used as a gap filler. Once it has set, it can be carefully sanded smooth and should last as it flexes at roughly the same rate as ABS. If necessary you may need to use stuff like Sugru to temporarily hold the broken bits in place whilst it is repaired.

As for paint you need to start with the official paint code - I am not sure about 4th gens, but on later models, if you remove the seat you will find the paint code displayed on a plate near the tank. Type that code into Google and you may be able to find local suppliers. Hopefully its not one of the more recent three coat paints which are really expensive. Companies like Colorite in the USA and RSbikepaint in the UK may be able to provide brush on or rattle can paints. Nowadays most bikes have some sort of clear lacquer top-coat which is important to stop the colour coat being scratched.

Good luck and let us know how you get on




SkiMad

 

Thanks Scubalong and skimad4x4,

I would like to fit frame sliders but have had no success locating in Australia. Is there supplier in US that still makes for 95 VFR(4th gen?)?

I had a local auto accessory shop make up can spray using color code from under seat . . unfortunately it is not a good match to original (looks a bit 'orange' compared to deeper red of original). . . I'll keep looking and might try the companies you mentioned, or try to get it color-matched from the existing fairing.

All the best!!

AussieGeoff

 

Sorry mate but you are not going to get a dead on match to that red. Close but not perfect. The chemistry gremlins are against you.


Superglue has many uses, Good stuff here for a general read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate

Hotmelt glue is great too but not for fairings. The stuff is flexible. There are commercial apps and applicators but they are industrial level and may not work either. Temp fixes are temp fixes with emphasis on "temporary" What you are looking for is not adhesion but cohesion or fusion.

Fairings on VFRs are ABS plastic. Any repair work should be done with that in mind.

Best bet IMO is buy a book or check one out on contemporary body and paint work.


Just for fun let's say you use one of those adhesives for a quick fix on your bike. The bond fails from wind pressure, oscillation, vibration ect.. A chunk flies off and is run over by one of those bigass truck trains you blokes have down under. No fun there..

 

The red on our bikes is a THREE stage paint, you'll never be able to match it with one can of paint.

Stage 1 is a light reddish-pink basecoat.
Stage 2 is a tinted pearl
Stage 3 is a clearcoat

That's why I went with a RWB scheme on my bike (even though the white is 3-stage paint)...

 

Hey VT Viffer,

Your bike looks super hot. . great job!
yeah, put my fairings back together (with the 2 tone look haha) because I was hanging out for a ride after 5 weeks.
Dropped into a local bike spraypainter, and he gave me the lowdown on the 3 paint system, where the pink undercoat helps bring out the proper RED tone (plus clear overcoat). When I take the fairings off again, i'll do it properly!! he quoted me $380 to spray 2 pieces (upper right top, and right middle), I'm still planning to do it myself. . . . if I stuff up again, I'll go crawling back to him and try to negotiate down the price lol.

Still have a question. . . .where to source frame sliders suitable for 1995 VFR (4th gen), probably in US. Cant locate in Oz.

Also planning to put Helibars, I have raised clip-ons so far up the fork tubes to get comfort that I am getting concerned they will come off in my hands!
Slight exageration, but you get the picture!

Cheers,

AussieGeoff

 

I just did this last weekend. Used a soldering iron and some scrap abs to replace a bad section of my lower plastic.