Restoring old plastics

DuneRider250
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DuneRider250
I've got a lot fenders, shrouds etc that have sat out and/or been weathered pretty hard causing many to fade, stiffen, or peel in a way. Was wondering if there is a quick method or good product to restore some of these? Plastics are pricy, and hard to come by, especially vintage bike plastics so please send advice
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Paw Paw 271
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Paw Paw 271 1/4/2017 9:29pm
1/4/2017 9:29pm
About all you can do is ...
1. Scrape them with a good razor blade.
2. Then start sanding repeat, repeat, repeat using finer and finer sanding paper. Start with about 150 and work your way up to about 1000 using water.
3.Then polish.
4. When they look good then spray with Maxima SC1 and buff.

No easy way.

Paw Paw
captmoto
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captmoto 1/4/2017 11:20pm
1/4/2017 11:20pm
Sounds like a good project for when you have a broken leg and are off the bike for a while. There is a facebook page for this but I couldn't find it but it is basically what Paw Paw said. They have a couple tricks for final finish and some people do some amazing things for vintage tanks. For vintage bikes most of the time this is the only.
RussB
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RussB 1/5/2017 12:46am
1/5/2017 12:46am
We had good luck with the 'Plastic Renew' kit on our 89 RM250. The plastics weren't terrible but they were scratched and faded. The clear coat in the kit is really good at making the plastic shine once properly sanded and smoothed.

As above, there is no easy way and its going to take time and hard work to achieve good results, but it can be worth it.
mjr119 1/5/2017 5:42am
1/5/2017 5:42am
You can use any of the methods mentioned above, I use Holloway's floor shine for the final touch. It leaves a clear film on the plastic that gives it a great shine.

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F150Motocrosser 1/5/2017 6:20am
1/5/2017 6:20am
As mentioned, there's a few products that will make them look a little shinier by leaving a glaze coating... but if you want it done right; there's no short cuts. Gotta put the time in if you want the results..

https://youtu.be/yWPwCXLSIdA
DuneRider250
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DuneRider250 1/5/2017 10:20am
1/5/2017 10:20am Edited Date/Time 1/5/2017 10:21am
Haha knew I was in over my head on easy method, but hard work is part of the trade. Thanks guys, I'll see how your methods work in the future
TJ 755
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TJ 755 1/5/2017 12:44pm
1/5/2017 12:44pm
I have about 30hrs into this tank. If I were to do it again it would probably only take 10. Kept switching to lighter grits too early and having to go back with lower grits to get the deeper scratches. Also had to hand sand out some of the swirls from using a DA.





crobargreg
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crobargreg 1/24/2017 4:46pm
1/24/2017 4:46pm
Paw Paw 271 wrote:
About all you can do is ... 1. Scrape them with a good razor blade. 2. Then start sanding repeat, repeat, repeat using finer and finer...
About all you can do is ...
1. Scrape them with a good razor blade.
2. Then start sanding repeat, repeat, repeat using finer and finer sanding paper. Start with about 150 and work your way up to about 1000 using water.
3.Then polish.
4. When they look good then spray with Maxima SC1 and buff.

No easy way.

Paw Paw
I do the same thing but the final step is i heat them with a heat gun till the surface just starts to melt. Gets wet. It melts all the sanding scratches out. Its hard to explain try it on an old peice of faded plastic.
bf884
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bf884 1/25/2017 7:24am
1/25/2017 7:24am
X2 on heat. Bent fenders that get that white crease, a heat gun takes that out and back to color.
Micahdogg
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Micahdogg 1/26/2017 9:41am
1/26/2017 9:41am
Razor out the deep gouges, don't even try to sand those. Also when sanding, do not go in a circular motion. And do not go perpendicular to the direction you went before. Pick a direction and stick with it. I usually plot out a sanding path in my mind before I even start, just to make sure I can get everything without having to change directions. Just like TJ755 did on that KX tank....front to back, stay that way.

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