repair advice

[edromero]

guys, i want to touch up a small patch of road rash from the previous owner. it's not bad enugh for me to want to spend a lot of time or money on, so i went to colorite website and bought the touch up pen, primer and clearcoat pens to match the existing blue.

anyway, i have a few questions before i make things worse:

1) judging by the pictures, am I going to have to sand it down first? the colorite website was talking about building up small holes in the paint with primer first to make the level even with the outer coat. in my case, do you think the primer will build it up enough to hide the scratches, or will i have to level it all out by sanding first?

2) is this the correct sequence: sand, primer, sand, paint, wetsand clear? or is it primer, paint sand clear? or primer, paint, sand, clear, wetsand, or...? you know what i mean.

i don't know. I'm scared about making things worse, so please be as detailed and specific as possible. thanks a ton!

[Psycho1]

IF those scratches are as deep as they look, you might want to dab some ABS glue into the scratches, let it dry, then dab another thin coat on it etc etc, until the scratches are filled, then sand lightly to smooth it out.

[steves]

I doubt that you'll be able to fix that with touch up pens.

What you would want to do is fill the rash, then sand it smooth...

For best results you'll want to spray the entire panel, otherwise it'll leave a seam in the paint.

I would just leave it as is until you are ready to invest some time in painting it.

[Freebird01]

#2 would be correct. but instead of using a high build primer I would look for a flexible epoxy filler. by using high build primer the top coat will be softer cause the film is thicker.

[JayBell]

IF those scratches are as deep as they look, you might want to dab some ABS glue into the scratches, let it dry, then dab another thin coat on it etc etc, until the scratches are filled, then sand lightly to smooth it out.

exactly right here, since the fairings are flexible, you want to build that up with a ABS glue or a flexible body filler, then sand back to shape.

regular body filler for steel panels is not flexible, and will eventially crack and chip out when the fairings move or flex... since you gotta take the fairings off for a lot of things, like carb work, valve adjusts, clutchh replacemnt, etc.. get some ABS filler glue and do it up.

other issue is, once you do that, a repaint of the whole area is gonna be indicated, as you'll have to feather the edges up good to reshape the filler.

small dings or rock ships can be filled with primer, then sanded smooth, but anything large (like the pic) the primer will sink to fill it, and you'll end up with too much there

[edromero]

exactly right here, since the fairings are flexible, you want to build that up with a ABS glue or a flexible body filler, then sand back to shape.

regular body filler for steel panels is not flexible, and will eventially crack and chip out when the fairings move or flex... since you gotta take the fairings off for a lot of things, like carb work, valve adjusts, clutchh replacemnt, etc.. get some ABS filler glue and do it up.

other issue is, once you do that, a repaint of the whole area is gonna be indicated, as you'll have to feather the edges up good to reshape the filler.

small dings or rock ships can be filled with primer, then sanded smooth, but anything large (like the pic) the primer will sink to fill it, and you'll end up with too much there

do you just paint right over the abs glue, or does it have to be primed first?

[steves]

It probably depends on the product.

[kevin2502000]

When in doubt always prime.

[chris216]

Probably the easiest and least noticable way I would fix it be to fill the scratches, sand smooth, mask, prime and spray paint in a white scallop coming off the turnsignal. I don't think you'll be happy with the outcome of the pen touch-up in the blue. It's very hard to touch up that large of an area with a pen and make it look good. Good luck on the fix though Ed

[Kreylyn]

I would do the following...

Purchase a can of OEM matching rattle can paint. Use 200 then 400 grit sandpaper to sand down and feather into the surrounding areas so that the spot is smooth. You don't need to sand too far away from the scratches, but blend it in nicely. Fill any deep scratches left, resand to smooth in. Tape off at least 6" away from any sanded part. Prime just the sanded area... use 400 to blend in when dry, but don't sand back to black plastic. Then put the matching coat over top. Make sure to blend into the surrounding area... don't heavy coat all the way to the tape.

Then spend the $25 for a good single can of auto clear in a rattle can and clear, also remembering to blend in... don't heavy coat all the way to the tape. Remove tape, let cure a day or so... buff entire bike.

Krey

[edromero]

I would do the following...

Purchase a can of OEM matching rattle can paint. Use 200 then 400 grit sandpaper to sand down and feather into the surrounding areas so that the spot is smooth. You don't need to sand too far away from the scratches, but blend it in nicely. Fill any deep scratches left, resand to smooth in. Tape off at least 6" away from any sanded part. Prime just the sanded area... use 400 to blend in when dry, but don't sand back to black plastic. Then put the matching coat over top. Make sure to blend into the surrounding area... don't heavy coat all the way to the tape.

Then spend the $25 for a good single can of auto clear in a rattle can and clear, also remembering to blend in... don't heavy coat all the way to the tape. Remove tape, let cure a day or so... buff entire bike.

Krey

thanks for the detailed advice. i will post pictures of the progress when my materials get here. i also have a painter friend on standby in case things go awry, but id really like to be able to do it myself.

[edromero]

road rash update

ok. if you look at the first post in this thread, youll see the before pictures. (i also threw a couple befores in here too) im about to post the after. i talked to my painter friend and he said "go ahead and try it, if you F up, ill fix it"

so i tried it. i sanded down the road rash from the PO...here's my opinion:

1) you guys were right. touch up pens dont do the trick
2) i wasn't trying to FIX it as much as make it less noticeable, which i think it is
3) it didn't bother me enough to spend more money at the painter to do the whole panel like he said
4) up close, it looks like a horrible mess. but from 2-3 feet away, you can't even tell (plus it's on the leaning-towards the ground-side of the bike)

maybe in tomorro'ws sunlight ill want to cut my own wrists, but for now, here's how it looks:

[BradsKat]

That's actually a pretty good result considering....

[edromero]

That's actually a pretty good result considering....

thx. if i decide to try it again, the next time i would use a sponge/foam wedge brush. i could have covered up the whole patch with 2 or 3 strokes, and left fewer stroke marks.

[kidblooper]

A little bit of a rough job . but it'll work.