Fairing repair & respray

[nateray]

Hi all, just sharing my experience.

Got my hands on a cracked fairing, so thought I'll attempt a quick d.i.y.

Since I got no repair kit, I just sent the fairing to be repaired @ a shop.

 

Image below is after fiberglass resin repair (or whatever its called)

 

 

Shop charged me $35 for their services. Quick job, collected around 3 hours after leaving it there.

Frankly, I was a little disappointed. The finish wasn't sanded. Requested shop to use their machine

to sand down the repair area for a smooth surface (takes under 2 mins), but shop claimed they have no equip to do so.

Mentioned that it's the job of spray shop to putty, sand & spray.

 

However, shop did it's primary job. Repair the fairing and inserted the metal linings and enforcers where needed.

Upon closer inspection, noticed that resin was uneven with some thick blotched patches. Nothing wrong, just means that the guy could had definitely done a better job if he wanted to.

 

Headed off to buy sandpaper & shiny black spray paint. Total $7.50

In this case, no putty involved, just sand and spray on the resin.

(rough sandpaper to wear down the unevenness, smooth sandpaper for fine finish)

 

 

Since I only planned for a quick d.i.y, didn't bother to respray whole fairing, just the damaged area.

This will of course end up with color tone difference, but what the heck

Proceeded to wrap the fairing (parts I plan to leave untouched) with newspaper and masking tape.

Remember to use marking tape to outline the spray area and make sure it's straight and aligned to what you want.

 

 

Taping done. Next is sanding. Wanted a quick job, so no wet sanding (

Cursed multiple times at this stage lol. The uneven finish of the repair gave me additional work.

Also found out areas (resin) that should be thick were thin and vice versa. Again, guy could have done a better job

if he wanted to.

Done after 10-15mins. No pic here, but my arms were screaming so I gave up and settled for a 'semi-decent' job.

 

Next stage, the fun part! Spraying!!

Note that this is the Hardest Part!

If you're terrible in Arts & Craft / D & T (underlined = area of expertise needed)

Please get someone to do it for you. (I got my colleague to do it for me ha ha)

 

Applied multiple layers of paint, leave it dry under sun for 10-15mins and reapplied a few more coats.

 

 

Cont next post.

[nateray]

After final layer of spray...

 

 

Let it dry, remove the wrappings.

Finally, the end product.

You can see here that I did a terrible job during sanding :x

 

 

Lastly, attach fairing back to bike.

 

 

At least its still good from far, even though it's far from good

 

What I learn

1. Spare no efforts at sanding. If arms ache, take a break then cont later

2. Hard stickers (good 1s) can't be peeled. They kinda 'chip off' bit by bit. Don't be lazy, remove them with

alcohol base solution / whatever works. Do NOT spray over. All these add up to the finished product

3. Don't be lazy

4. Have fun & learn at the same time

 

Just sharing over here for others who want to try. No flaming. Thx 4 reading!

 

Edit: Hydher has a nice post on this area too. Seems like he did a much better job.

http://www.singaporebikes.com/forums/showthread.php/357413-DIY-Painters!-Fall-in!

Edited June 15, 2012 by nateray

[samlimyk]

Hi bro , where u repair ur fairing ?

[nateray]

@samlimyk hi bro, i forgot name of shop.

Its the same row as planet motor in ubi. 1st shop right at the other end.

U'll see alot of bikes with damaged fairing there.

Ask for the boss, a thin chinese uncle wear specs.

He'll see your fairing, give u a quote. If agreeable let him do. (maybe can try so bargain a bit too)

But note that its just simply repair. no putty, no sanding, no spraying.

However should still be cheaper than bringing your bike to a shop and let the shop bring it to other places repair.

Let me know how it goes. Gd luck!

[105FX]

Nateray, Thanks for sharing and good write up, need to repair my fairing too.

[firestorm_33]

what the uncle at the shop said is correct, u will need to putty it back before spraying and that's a spray paint shop job but it is good to know that there are shops repairing using fiber at that cheap rate