fairing pimple

[kat_kitten]

from a drop from the previous owner, there's a blemish on my fairing... this isn't much of an issue scratch wise as I'm going to paint... but, it looks like there's.. well... a boil... a zit, a bubbly-thingy... it's fairly large (about 1/2" diameter... okay, not super huge, but big enough to notice)
if i go to sand this thing down, what are the chances that it's just gonna chip apart and leave me with a gaping hole in the side of my bike? and dear lord, if that happens, how do i fix it?

[chinto]

from a drop from the previous owner, there's a blemish on my fairing... this isn't much of an issue scratch wise as I'm going to paint... but, it looks like there's.. well... a boil... a zit, a bubbly-thingy... it's fairly large (about 1/2" diameter... okay, not super huge, but big enough to notice)
if i go to sand this thing down, what are the chances that it's just gonna chip apart and leave me with a gaping hole in the side of my bike? and dear lord, if that happens, how do i fix it?

we need pics to give you good advice. Never heard of a bike with an acne problem

[StevieB]

Closest thing I can think of is blisters on the hull of fiberglass boats that stay in the water. Had a few on a boat I once re did the bottom paint on. We opened them up, let the water drain, then ground and ground until we were to dry, intact 'glass, then filled them back and moved on. That has GOT to be about the worst case scenario you will come across, and it works. Good luck.

[kat_kitten]

Closest thing I can think of is blisters on the hull of fiberglass boats that stay in the water. Had a few on a boat I once re did the bottom paint on. We opened them up, let the water drain, then ground and ground until we were to dry, intact 'glass, then filled them back and moved on.

it's dry... it just looks like a welt... the paint is starting to chip away from it a bit. looks like the last guy used nail polish to try to cover is up

i'll attempt to take a picture of it when i get home tonight

[88' 600]

ive seen it in hot spots on plastic where the plastic almost boils its starts to give off vapors when this occures but i doubt that its that (im a fire fighter and ive only seen it there on a few calls). but eather way if it is then you sand it down and they make an epoxy or filler for plastic that you put in and sand it down and feather it out until it matches, just like filling scars on ur poor kitty, or it could be just a change in color from the stress of dropping it but pics would help in figuring that out

[zuma]

This may seem radical, or dumb to some, but it worked for me. First off, since I don't know exactly where your flaw is located, this information might be worthless, but maybe not.

I bailed off my 2006 Kat 750 at 65 mph last October. It skidded on its right side for about 90 feet before coming to a halt. It ground down a bit of the bar end, broke the turn indicator cover, and left three scrapes in the fairing. It more or less erased the Katana decal and went all the way through there and two places below it. A new unpainted fairing would have been $425. (correct me if I'm wrong)

I took a Dremel tool and cut the three scratched areas out of the fairing until the original black plastic (under the metallic red paint) wasn't showing. Once that was done, I shaped the cut-out places into teardrops and scooped shapes. Then I shaped chrome wire mesh to fit the original contour of each opening, and epoxied the wire mesh into place from the
backside. My original intention was to do this as a temporary fix, but I've liked the results so well that I'm keeping it like it is. My friends tell me to do the same thing with the other side, not so both sides will match (which they do not....not even from the factory) but because it looks so cool.

So in other words, you might cut the blemish out, shape the opening to fit the contour of the fairing, or just make it a circle, and back it with wire mesh. And if necessary, match the other side with the same. I think the results will surprise you.

[88' 600]

zuma u got any pics??

[Londob5]

[zuma]

Pictures? Not yet...right now I'm in the process of removing the black paint off my rims...takes about three hours per side of wheel (must have weak paint remover...but it's looking good). Okay, I'll see if my wife will take some shots of my bike and I'll post...I don't have a lot of spare time...but I'll work on it. I'd take them myself, but I have the techno-barbarian syndrome. Will work on it.