Excellent job... Very nice bike!!! I had a 88 with the same color scheme. Just a few more miles than you...sold her with 62K and she was still running strong. Have fun and I hope you like talking to people cause you have a real conversation piece now.

 

That looks AWESOME!!!

One question: how did you repair the fairings? I have some cracks and broken clips and I've tried plastic welding but it doesn't hold, like it's a different plastic that won't mix with whatever I use.

 

There are many methods described in this forum or online but this is what I did over many years. I used a plastic repair kit called Plastex first. It had some mold able clay stuff that you could make parts with if needed. It is a powder that you add the solvent . Fairly expensive but worked OK. Second I tried the plumbers abs cement black and that works well ,Note... You have to get down to the actual plastic , Use thin coats and let dry If needed for strength you can add Fiberglass drywall tape and encase it in the abs cement on the back/ Also if you have a broken fairing or if not just buy a black abs fitting and use a course file, keep the filings and mix with the abs cement .Makes a mold able paste. Lastly I have tried plastic welding with a soldering iron and that works too. Abs is a heat formed plastic and welds good Just make tacks across the crack and use slivers of abs from another fairing or I think there are abs welding rods available , I guess the way I would do it now is to weld and fill so it is a solid weld Then Fill any holes or low spots with abs cement with abs filings then sand and refinish.If needed for strength I would then add a small piece of fiberglass drywall tape to add extra strength I saw demo online with plastic welding and another idea is use some small wire and you tack the part and make the wire like a Z and use the soldering iron to melt the wire into the plastic Also when doing body work you need a plastic compatible body putty. I used Everlast I think which is a 2 part body filler that is made for plastic and other bendable plastic ,

 

Great stuff Randy - thanks for that as I am about to get into some fairing repairs on the '87 CBR1000F.

The filings from ABS plastic is a great idea.

I also use araldite and the stainless inserts from wiper blades as strengtheners.

Cheers, SB

 

Very nice, and very much something to be proud of. It's a whole different feel when it's something you've poured your own time and effort into. Makes it worth it the first drive. God forbid if you ever had to sell it, though. Try to stay away from that!