Plastic repair vs. replacement...

Which dent? :biggrin: ... Dont worry I got 2 small dents from my laydown. I dont think any dent puller would relly do the job. I needs to have one of those wel dent pullers to pop those out the mud and paint.... I would keep those for track days and just keep an eye out on ebay .. I saw a front headlight cowl on there the other day for 75.oo. I got some new/old pieces to put mine back together and the red is different (does not look as deep or pearl), but Im going to live with it till I can paint her YELLOW :biggrin:

 

I, too, sent bob some pics of my busted left mid fairing. Quote was $254, plus the cost of return shipping (and obviously the cost of me shipping it to them) and no decal which I would have to buy myself. For about $50 I get a new one, with a decal. Only drawbackis I still have to paint my new one since it is a different color. I might consider sending it to him still, but I need to think on it.

 

Reg,

Bob at empire gt did my tailpiece on my 86 1st gen. his work is impeccable. and if he tells you what he can and can't do the you can believe him. i would recommend his work to anyone. cost to repair and repaint my tail, LOL:biggrin: , $125 plus shipping.

 

i'm a newbie to this discussion board, and since joining, have found an incredible wealth of information about bodywork repair, and replacement. I have a couple of missing tabs on my rear side cowls where the grab rails bolt through to the subframe...not a huge problem, but one that annoys me...couldn't find OEM replacements anywhere for my 1990, so I was going to buy white 1993 cowls, and have them painted by my local shop, about a 400 - 500 job since they have to be stripped, and prepped...then was going to replace the entire rear tailsection with an RC30 kit from Thurn Motorsport in Germany...580.00 USD to get the kit over the pond then another 500 - 600 job for painting, and installation...either way about a 1000.00 to restore or change my tail...besides, the RC30 kit looks kind of bulky, and i like the sleeker lines of the OEM fairing with seat cowl better...so now i read about www.empiregp.com and shoot them an email about just fabricating a couple broken mounting tabs, and it looks like an incredibly easy job for them...if all goes well, they'll make me some tabs, paint the two gelcoat seatcowls i got from vfrchuck on ebay, and maybe the whole bill will be 500.00 or less...i get restored ass end for half of my two original solutions...i can then take my saved nickels, and work on changing the nose on my 1990 to an endurance style single 65mm round headlamp...couldn't have figured out the best solution without all youse guys help here...

 

Has any shop mentioned filling that dent instead of pulling it? If it's not awfully deep it may be easier and cheaper.
My non-expert $0.02, for what it's worth (maybe less than 2 cents).
If you end up painting the whole bike it may make sense.

 

How about doing the bodywork yourself. I've done cars and some on bikes and it really isn't that hard. It's the paint that seems to be the major step. If red is not an absolute ... how about a flat black. You could paint it that color no problem. Then if you have to have red, buy the pieces already done and use the black for track days or just as a change of pace. That way you'd gain the experience and knowledge of repairing your plastics. And if you screw up ... hey, it's just the track set! Crazy thought huh ....

 

I plan on starting my plastic repair again this weekend!

The only problem is I have quite a few steps and I want to post pictures and the whole sha-bang!

Noel2913: Look up "Plast-Aid" It's a product out in Colorado, and it's awesome for making tabs. I bought a cowl for my 97 on e-bay for 30 bucks and it had a broken tab and I used plast-aid to make the new tab, actually part of the new tab, and it is some strong ass stuff. Worked very well!

Reg: The Honda red is hard to match because it is a pearl red. It requires the pearl coat then the top coat. Its so subtle on the 94-97's the bikes look just red until you get up and look close. Go to www.color-rite.com. Their products match awesome, usually...I have seen a few colors be a little off. Give them a call and ask the tech people if the 94-97 colors have had any issues. Great people and great product.

Be patient everyone! How to fix plastic 101 by Bubba Zanetti is coming soon to a thread near you!

BZ

 

...hey, thanks bubba zee...see, i never knew about all this stuff until you guyz came along...

 

Another route you might consider for the tank is Paintless Dent Repair.

Lots of companies are out there doing it - I use Dent Wizard. A good PDR guy can work miracles with a smooth (not creased, paint not broken) dent. The cost is typically a fraction of regular paint / body time.

 

It's easy to buy THE Honda red paint you need. But what can't be matched is the fade that's occurred on the rest of the bike... Gonna have to repaint the whole thing.