As Many of you know I took out a tree back in March this year (see the post "high speed tree hugging").
I thought it was high time I gave an update on the progress. It took at least three months before I was fit enough to even take off the fairings completely.
The right side took the hit & smashed the fairing & did a lot of other damage as well. The mechanical stuff is easy to fix but the cosmetic is a different story. Most people only know about plastic welding which is expensive to have done & expensive to set up properly. Being the cheapskate (read "spend thrift") that I am I want it done on the cheap. After a lot of homework looking at a variety of products from 3M etc I settled on one called "Plastex". There is a similar one in the US called "Plastaid". Probably the same thing. This stuff is very time consuming to use but it appears as though it's results are brilliant. Only time will tell when it's under normal usage. Essentially it's a powder that you can mix with a liquid that "melts" into the opened crack. I used a 1/16th drill very short in the drill chuck to grind out a groove & then filled the joint with Plastex. I then rubbed it down & put a very thin coat of polyester as a scratch filler to achieve a good finish. The holes I just made a patch out of scrap & fitted it in with Plastex. Finally primed with a plastic bumper primer. Normal primer is no good as it won't adhere to the plastic properly. It took three weeks for my local crash repairer to find the paint because his supplier had to find the codes but now they have it & it's easy to get. I went out today & had the large CBR 1000f decals made. He made three of them for $30 in about 1 1/2 hours. Can't complain at that. Next time if I need them $15. The Plastex has cost me $60 so far but I have repaired other bits of the bike, a vacuum cleaner & hair clippers as well. Anyway enough chat. Here's some pics of where I'm up to.

 

Cheers. I hope uv but at $30 for three & $15 in the future I'm not worried. Paint only arrived today so I hope to paint her in a couple of weeks when Iv'e rubbed down the rest of the bike. The red I'll do later. Just need to get her on the road asap. Going stir crazy.

 

jaysus............real good job I'd say...........
and I wasn't around when ya went kissing
that damned tree either............good to see
you made it back in the saddle good and
quick.

 

Dam, looks like you did a hell of a good job on that plastic!! Looks like new..
Glad to hear it's coming along...

 

Thanks fellas. I'm humbled. The wife has all but disowned me though. Did lots of other repairs & still lots to do. Hitting trees at the speed I did does a lot of damage not only to the bike but to the bod too. The right hand is still very weak & hurts like hell some times so it'll be easy does it to start off.

 

Glad to hear your all mended Blue and nice to see her taking shape again.

Looks like you made a really good job of it from the pics! Have you had previous experience repairing plastics?

Is she ridable after you've finished the plastics?

 

Total novice. Took her for a ride the other day. No plastic, no lights, no rego, luckily no police. Registered her today so I'll soon find out if she's ok. I'm just a little worried that the Plastex may pucker if it gets hot as it melts easily. I'll soon see. Might all be for nothing but I hope not. Too many hours work.

 

Good to see you're still working on it Blue - really great work so far - be better than new when you're done...............
I'd be stir crazy too...................
Keep us updated Mate !
Squeeze a squash ball all the time to strengthen the busted wing........................

 

Nice job. But what year is yours that it doesn't have the round pucks on the bottom of the fairing or the bar pucks between the heat vent holes?