CBR250rr painting/new fairings?

[Icemaestro]

I have an old cbr250rr... the fairings have a couple cracks in them, paint job isn't great, and the tank has quite a number of chips in it that are developing bits of rust in (currently sanded and put masking tape over.

What are my options for making it look better. don't want to spend more than 500$.
paint the tank and fairings myself? get someone else to do it? Get second hand fairings?

What do people reckon...ideas must be under 500$ or so

[NDORFN]

I have an old cbr250rr... the fairings have a couple cracks in them, paint job isn't great, and the tank has quite a number of chips in it that are developing bits of rust in (currently sanded and put masking tape over.

What are my options for making it look better. don't want to spend more than 500$.
paint the tank and fairings myself? get someone else to do it? Get second hand fairings?

What do people reckon...ideas must be under 500$ or so

You could probably get new fairings off E-Bay for a little over $500 delivered, but you'll still have the tank to deal with. I'm in the process of fixing cracks in fairing and repainting my whole bike, but I couldn't tell you the cost because I have a proper spray-both, guns, access to paint at wholesale etc... I can tell you though that I got about $30 worth of fibreglassing gear to fix three large cracks and patch the holes where the indicators came out, so I definately recommend doing that part of it yourself. Stronger than plastic welding by far. If you do get it painted, you should consider buying some sandpaper and stripping it down yourself. Preparation is the bulk of the cost in having a professional do it.

[crystalball]

last guy who owned my bike used fibreglass to repair cracks and was crap. i just peeled off the fibreglass real easyaly. go for plastic welding good and strong. having a professional do the job looks better.

[imdying]

I can tell you though that I got about $30 worth of fibreglassing gear to fix three large cracks and patch the holes where the indicators came out, so I definately recommend doing that part of it yourself. Stronger than plastic welding by far.

Sadly no fibreglass resin can correctly adhere to plastic (it's a chemical thing). Get it plastic welded.

[Icemaestro]

Thanks, so second lot of questions,
where in auckland can i get it plastic welded,
How much am I looking at
Does it then need to be sanded and painted after that?
Can anyone do this for me all for under 500$?:-P - black or dark blue is fine lol as long as it's gloss!

[NDORFN]

Trust me, if you experiment a little, it'll stick. Worst case scenario, use an etch primer (10 bucks at Repco), powder it onto sanded plastic and apply fibreglass to that. Both myself and a guy who I work with have been fixing/modifying our fairings and had no problems with fibreglassing, even with no prior experience in his case. All the plastic welds on my bike have long since broken. Think about what a plastic weld is... it's just melting plastic along the join. A little gorrilla glue will do a much better job, and fibreglassing over the top (on the inside of the fairing) will give added strength. Actually now that I think about it, I used only gorrilla glue on a couple of cracks and it worked fucken brilliantly. I used spot putty before finishing.

[Owl]

and the tank has quite a number of chips in it that are developing bits of rust in (currently sanded and put masking tape over.

Remove the masking tape pronto! It will not keep out water, will dry and be a shit to remove later.

[hayd3n]

well plastic welding has never failed me
all the fairings ive repaired ive pulled the fibre glass off and welded in new pieces a good weld will hold stronger than fibre glass

[Icemaestro]

Remove the masking tape pronto! It will not keep out water, will dry and be a shit to remove later.

What should I do on them instead?

I probably don't have the skills or equipment to do the welding nor fibreglass repair myself...i think I have a soldering iron somewhere?:-P

I'm more concerned about the tank paint right now.

the fairings aren't too bad - all he mounts are still good, still holding together :-) Then I'd like to get the fairings fixed and painted cheaply if poss..

[NDORFN]

What should I do on them instead?

I probably don't have the skills or equipment to do the welding nor fibreglass repair myself...i think I have a soldering iron somewhere?:-P

I'm more concerned about the tank paint right now.

the fairings aren't too bad - all he mounts are still good, still holding together :-) Then I'd like to get the fairings fixed and painted cheaply if poss..

Chuck some paint on them, nail polish if you have to. Failing that, insulation tape... anything to stop the rust from forming. You only want to keep the rust from forming because it'll start to pock the surface of the metal and it's dodgey trying to remove the rust from the pocks on a tank because you may weaken it and eventually get a leak. I don't see what's wrong with masking tape... it might dry out and adhere but your painter will wipe it off no probs with solvent (prepsol maybe).

[Owl]

your painter will wipe it off no probs with solvent (prepsol maybe).

No he won't! He'll grumble something under his breath like "Who's the fucken idiot that put masking tape on this?" Then he'll either sand it off or soak it with prepsol and scrape it off with a steel bog blade.

Your first options in the post were pretty good by the way!

[Icemaestro]

No he won't! He'll grumble something under his breath like "Who's the fucken idiot that put masking tape on this?" Then he'll either sand it off or soak it with prepsol and scrape it off with a steel bog blade.

Your first options in the post were pretty good by the way!

Which ones were they? should i do a quick sand of the tank and get some gloss paint from repco or something and do a couple sprays of black gloss and then an enamel? I reckon that wouldn't cost too much, though would I need to put something under it for the paint to adhere to?

[The Pastor]

i got 2 side pannels painted gloss black, $200 for the set. some of the mounting tabs have broken off, but i never had issues with them missing, and you cant see them.

[Sable]

For the tank, get some rough sandpaper (100-320), sand it down til there's no loose paint or rust any more, wipe the dust off and give it a squirt of primer. Good cheap short-term solution.

[Icemaestro]

For the tank, get some rough sandpaper (100-320), sand it down til there's no loose paint or rust any more, wipe the dust off and give it a squirt of primer. Good cheap short-term solution.

Sweet. Done.. paint looks mean too! Got some etch primer and black gloss...a week or two and i'll do the whole tank properly, will look better than the tank did!.

Does one have to use an etch primer on the fairings? or another kind of primer? I assume i can use the same gloss black and clear coats on top...
last question...how does one put metallic speck in the paint? hehe...i've heard one can do a home job of it and still look cool..