First scratch and graze repair.

[Blossom]

Way to go Blossom and you're on the right track. 10 points for effort!
If your clutch lever has gouges on it, you'll fix that easily. Any black plastic will no doubt be textured, so be aware that you'll end up with a smooth spot. If the indicator lense is scratched, you'll fix that with ease too. Good luck!

The indicator is chrome coloured plastic...so am feeling a bit chicken about sanding it in case I go though the chrome paint to the 'whatever' colour underneath...any ideas?
I have pretty much fixed the mudguard..you have to get 5in from it on just the right angle to see the slight colour fade where I did the repair.. much better than an ugly scratch/graze. And the wing mirror is so freaken shiny the man cant find the scratches on that... hehhehe...
But the clutch lever still has gouges on the very end.. I did think of putting some sort of gay leather sleeve with tassles to distract people and I am pretty sure it will put everyone else off riding the bike...(and therefore not able to break her again) but I wonder if I would be able to ride her if she had tassles... So Ferris what is the solution to the gouges... sand with 400grit wet and dry? then work up to 2000grit then rechrome?

btw....thanks for all your help.

[vifferman]

The indicator is chrome coloured plastic...so am feeling a bit chicken about sanding it in case I go though the chrome paint to the 'whatever' colour underneath...any ideas?

You're right to be hesitant about that - don't try buffing it, as the chrome is only a poofteeenth of a mm thick. See if you can touch up the scratches with a very fine artist's paintbrush and some silvery paint from a model shop. You'll only need one of those very small (20ml?) tins.

But the clutch lever still has gouges on the very end..

Are you sure that's chromed, and not just polished? You should be able to tell - if it's chromed, you should be able to flake it off immediately adjacent to the gouges, as chrome is kinda brittle compared to alumminiminimium alloy.
AFAIK, the levers are just polished and clear-coated. Assuming any of my bikes had ever had contact with the tarmac in the past - hypothetically speaking, of course - and had gouges of the kind you describe, I would use a fine file first, then follow up with progressively fine sandpaper. Of course, just using sandpaper would work, but the file is quicker and easier to control.

[Blossom]

....chrome is only a poofteeenth of a mm thick.... silvery paint from a model shop.

Ah...good plan.. will do that.

Are you sure that's chromed,

actually now that I know what to look for... then no I don't think its chromed.. what a noob... excellent news for the repair though.. should be easy as now.

[Owl]

Chrome coloured plastic.................I wouldn't touch it unless I was prepared to replace the part.
The clutch lever can be tested with metal polish. Rub some on and if the cloth turns black, it'll be uncoated alloy. Coated alloy or chrome won't show on the cloth.

[Blossom]

Chrome coloured plastic.................I wouldn't touch it unless I was prepared to replace the part.
The clutch lever can be tested with metal polish. Rub some on and if the cloth turns black, it'll be uncoated alloy. Coated alloy or chrome won't show on the cloth.

mmm...interesting. I will have to go and test that out when I have a minute.

Thanks for the info.