Inner fairing panel options

[great white]

On my 89, a previous owner filled the little cubby door and filled the res/choke panel. They also painted the plastic on both inner panels gloss black with blue fleck color. Now it's old, doesn't look so great and is cracking around the screw points. Nothing structural, it's like surface cracks in body fill.

I thought about re-doing them in a satin black, but the cracks would eventually just reappear as it looks like they used body fill over the plastic.

Used replacement ones is an option, but they seem pretty hard to find and are fairly expensive when I do find ones to fit my 89. That would be my preferred fix, but I'm also not made of money either.

Then I ran across a gent's post on a German forum where he wrapped it in "faux" carbon fiber wrap:





Seems to look reasonable and would take care of the cracking issue, at least the cosmetic part of the crack. The texture of the CF "sticker applique" would help hide lots of imperfections in the panels too.

I'm not super hot on the look, but it seems a reasonable solution and I've got a dozen or so feet of the stuff lying around from a different project.

I suppose I could try it as it's just "stick on stuff" and if I don't like it I can peel it back off.

Thoughts?

Alternatives?

[FJmonkey]

Lets hope it stays stuck to the plastic when sitting in the sun on a hot afternoon. I think it is good fix. I did the same for my air scoops on my '89 in a black/gold CF.

[great white]

Lets hope it stays stuck to the plastic when sitting in the sun on a hot afternoon. I think it is good fix. I did the same for my air scoops on my '89 in a black/gold CF.

I plan on getting one of those "half covers" for when I park the bike. I've ordered a new gauge clear plastic cover and want to keep the UV off the plastic (IE: cracking/crazing) as much as possible. So even when it's not in the garage, the sun should (for the most part) not be beating down on it directly.

When I'm moving, I'll just have to make sure to keep the speed up enough to keep it "ram air cooled"......

[aviationfred]

I did mine a slightly different way. More permanent and a bit more expensive. Hydro graphics film.


Fred

[great white]

Nice looking, but I'd be right back to the same body filler over plastic cracking problem again with that route...

[ribbert]

I thought about re-doing them in a satin black, but the cracks would eventually just reappear as it looks like they used body fill over the plastic.

Alternatives?

Those panels are not under stress unless over tightened and body filler is flexible, they shouldn't crack again.

IMO

Noel

[gumby302ho]

I did mine a slightly different way. More permanent and a bit more expensive. Hydro graphics film.


Fred

It looks good Fred, how does one work and apply Hydro Graphics Film, and who carries it?

[great white]

1st attempt:



Not bad, bordering on pretty good IMHO.....

Next one should be even better now that I've worked out the technique and know what to expect.

[great white]

I did mine a slightly different way. More permanent and a bit more expensive. Hydro graphics film.


Fred

It looks good Fred, how does one work and apply Hydro Graphics Film, and who carries it?

It's not really a "DIY" type of thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hwnMsDVwmk

In a nutshell, the pattern is "printed" on a clear film. The film is placed in a water tank and an activator is sprayed on which dissolved the film but leave the "paint" floating on the surface. The then item is passed through the surface and the paint/pattern is deposited on the part. Body work and paint is usually required prior to hydrodip in order to make the finished product look as expected...

[great white]

Didn't come out too bad:







Looks much better than it did and other than a bit of time, I've got $0 into it .

[aviationfred]

I did mine a slightly different way. More permanent and a bit more expensive. Hydro graphics film.


Fred

It looks good Fred, how does one work and apply Hydro Graphics Film, and who carries it?

The How it is done question has already been answered. The where is it done has to do with availability of a business that does it. In my area we have an establishment that does both powder coating and hydro graphics. My best suggestion would be to do a google search for your local area.


Fred

[Pat Conlon]

Didn't come out too bad:

Boy, I'll say...That looks very, very nice. Clean cuts. Well done!   Pat

[great white]

Didn't come out too bad:

Boy, I'll say...That looks very, very nice. Clean cuts. Well done!   Pat

Thanks. It's not perfect by any means. There are a few spots I would do differently/fix if I were to do it again. But this will do for a while. At least I don't have to look at psycodelic  black/blue/fleck/cracked inner panels when I ride now....

[johnod]

Looks good from here, got to remember that.

[CutterBill]