yep, chalk me up for my first one. Went down the great ocean road today with a mate on a vtr1000 - weather was ok in melbourne but down the coast was still drizzly and the roads were pretty wet. Still, we got the confidence up after Lorne and patches started to dry - unfortunately there were numerous road work sites and plenty of mud on the road between Lorne and Apollo Bay. At Apollo Bay my mate pissed off home but I though i'd kick on to Port Campbell. There are some classic fast sweeping corners on this section and it seemed to be drying out more. Anyway to cut it short, if you go down this way, WATCH OUT FOR A 5KM VERY TWISTY SECTION BETWEEN LAVERS HILL AND PRINCETOWN (think it was almost at Princetown, not sure, never got there!). It was signposted as next 5km hazardous for motorcyles, but that wasn't obvious enough for me. I usually look for the suggested corner speed signposts before each corner to judge how tight they’ll be, however there weren’t any through this section (just the initial warning sign). I spose I was getting a bit cold, hungry, sore by this stage and lapsing a bit and drifted into a downhill, really tight, really potholed, really damp hairpin and thought something like "i'm in a spot of bother here". Stood the bike up, braked, and then dropped it like a sack of **** once I hit the muddy verge. This at least meant i was going pretty slow when it happened, and so did minimal damage to myself. In fact its amazing, all you can think is how embarrassing it is, did anyone see me, how did I screw that up?? <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_redface.gif" alt="" title="Embarassed" /><!-- s --> The bike is nicely skuffed up on the right side, fairing cracked, exhaust and engine cover scratched up, just cosmetic stuff really. Once i got it up and going again, it rode fine, so i called it a day, did a u-turn and rode back to melbourne. Actually it was better conditions on the way back and after a nervy first few corners i got back in the swing of it and had a good ride home – with a little bit extra concentration. Shame about that damage though, i'm only a few months off looking for a buyer and up until today i'd kept the thing in tip top shape. Is it possible to sand/polish scratches off the can and engine cover?? Or is it time to go for the wallet AGAIN? <!-- s:???: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" alt=":???:" title="Confused" /><!-- s:???: -->
it all depends how clean u want it to be ... you could patch it up in the cheap but it'll look damaged ... you'll probably have to get new bits to get it lookin like iot never happened. sorry to hear man, at least you gained some valuable experience for what its worth ... you might have learned enough to save you a big repair job on a bigger bike in the future!!
Firstly, sorry to hear about the off. You sound like you avoided any injury to yourself but still would be worthwhile getting checked over by a/your doctor. Bummer about the bike... but don't worry too much. Atleast this way you can justify spending a bit on a respray & making it nice and shiny before selling it - might even convince you to hold off on the sale until the start of summer. Polishing up the can, yes most definitely possible - although if you've got a stock FZR can then you might end up losing a bit of the EXUP writing. I'd start with a very fine grit sandpaper to find out how deep the scratches are. If you find they are deep then your gonna have to go with the coarser sandpaper then work your way to finer grades again - before finishing off with a brasso. By the time your finished it should be nice and shiny. Engine cover is most likely painted, but yes you COULD sand it down to smooth out some of the metallic road rash (so to speak).
ok i'm gonna have a crack at putting a couple of photos up. With my computer skills, this may not work. Photos were taken after cleaning the bike up - already started sanding the alternator cover. Any ideas on whether this is fixable or a replacement job for the fairing?
It sounds like you come out of the crash better then your bike... as long as no one gets hurt it's all fun... I might be able to find a replacement for your faring with the original color scheam too... the FZR is a 2KR right?? If not I can plastic weld it for ya...
<i>If not I can plastic weld it for ya...</i> Speaking of which; where does one go to buy MEK & a pipette? I'm in Sydney. Amanda
Hmm I wish I could tell you.. But what exactly is the MEK and a pipette?? Are you refering to plastic welding equipment?? if so don't waste your money as all plastic welding equipment that is comertialy avalable is designed for welding PVC.. I had to make my own equiment...
MEK is methyl ethyl ketone - fibreglass hardener and dangerous stuff - one drop in the eyes causes permanent blindness. Use goggles when handling this stuff.!!! A pipette is a small glass pipe, a bit like a straw used to extract small amounts of chemicals from containers Dave
Sounds like Tbone's definition of plastic welding is vastly different to mine. MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) is a solvent. A pipette is a thin glass straw used for moving the mek from the bottle onto the plastic, where it dissolves the plastic & fuses it back together. Like model aircraft glue. Amanda
OH good god deas any one still use this barbaric method?? The solvent (MEK in this case) never truly leaves the plastic that has been welded and it will seep out over time and desolve any paint... (I have seen this time after time on old farings). This method also can distort the faring far more then the method I use (without the repair molds) and there is virtualy no distortion when used with the proper molds... (there is always local distortion where the actual weld took place). With molds I can also reproduce some of the lost bits...
sorry about late reply - thanks for the offer tb on fixing/replacing the fairing - just out of interest what would be rough cost of replacement fairing as opposed to plastic weld (considering i'd probably have to get replacement stickers after the welding). PM me if you like. Youre right its an '88 2kr. I'm happy for the moment just riding round with the old gaffer tape patch up job but will be after a replacement fairing around summer before selling.
I priced fairings for a 2kr about 3.5 years ago (mine had a small crack - wanted to know what it would cost to just replace). The estimate I had was $200 / side fairing. I could get a complete fairing set for $600 (both sides, front, rears - he even offerred to throw in seats). However, the fairing I needed didn't match my bike so I would need to pay for painting, and the 'set' was mismatched (try finding a complete matching fairing set for an fzr at a wreckers) - and thus I would need to pay for painting again... My choice was to plastex it, and then live with the minor blemishes (it was quite minor).
you will be looking for any thing form $700 to $1000 for the compleate set... I'll ask a mate and see if he wants to part with his sides... they are thesame colour ar yours and in preaty good nick...
thanks man. bear in mind i'm only after the right side fairing, don't need the rest, you'll scare me off with talk of $1000 <!-- s:roll: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_roll.gif" alt=":roll:" title="Rolling LoL" /><!-- s:roll: -->
Its called "Spares", Soook, spares. I'm slowly building a spares pile for my bike. I just picked up a Left Lower for $46 shipped and it is even in my color scheme. Sometimes ebay can be good, most of the time it just takes all of my cash.
